AI phone call glossary: IVR, patch-in, STIR/SHAKEN and more

By the CallForMe team at Great Work LLC · Updated Oct 29, 2026 · 3 min read

Short answer: The terms that come up when an AI agent makes phone calls, defined in a line or two each: phone menus (IVR), hold, call screening, caller ID and spam labels (CNAM, STIR/SHAKEN), voicemail detection, patch-in, recording consent, and the agent side (MCP, remote MCP server, OAuth, tools).

When your agent reports back on a call, a few phone-industry terms keep coming up. Here they are in plain words, with a link to the guide that goes deeper.

On the call

• IVR (phone menu, phone tree). The recorded menu that answers many business lines: "For service, press 1." The assistant listens and presses keys or speaks the option. See phone menus and hold.
• Hold. Waiting for a person after the menu. The assistant waits, up to the 30-minute call limit, so you don't have to. See phone menus and hold.
• Operator / front desk. The catch-all person behind "press 0". When a menu route dead-ends, a retry tries this route instead.
• Call screening. An assistant on the phone being called that asks who's calling before it rings through. The CallForMe assistant answers with who it's calling for and why.
• AI receptionist. A business's own AI answering its phone. Two AIs can talk to each other fine; the assistant still asks for a person when it needs one.
• Voicemail detection. Telling a voicemail greeting from a person. CallForMe hangs up on voicemail for free unless you ask it to leave a message. See when a call reaches voicemail.
• Patch-in (warm transfer). Once a person answers, your phone is connected into the call so you can take over. See hold and patch-in.
• Mid-call question. When the business asks something your request didn't cover, the question goes to your agent while they wait. See when the business asks something unknown.

Caller ID and trust

• Caller ID. The number the business sees. CallForMe calls come from (469) 966-0062. See caller ID and callbacks.
• CNAM. The name shown next to the number on some phones and desk phones, looked up from a carrier database.
• STIR/SHAKEN. The carrier system that signs calls to show the number wasn't spoofed. Signed calls are less likely to be blocked or labeled spam.
• Spam label ("Spam Likely"). A warning carriers or phone apps show for numbers with bad call patterns. A steady, low volume of real business calls keeps a number clean.

Rules and consent

• Recording consent. Some states require everyone on a call to agree to recording ("two-party" or "all-party" consent). CallForMe says "on a recorded line" at the start of every call. See recording consent by state.
• AI disclosure. Telling the other side they're talking to an AI. The assistant opens as "an assistant calling for" you and says it's an AI whenever asked. See is it legal for AI to call a business.
• TCPA. The US law that restricts automated calls and texts, mostly to personal phones. CallForMe calls businesses about an errand you asked for, never personal numbers, and isn't for telemarketing.
• Opt-out. A business can ask not to be called again, and CallForMe stops calling it.

The agent side

• AI agent. The assistant you already use (Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor and others) that plans the call and reads the result. CallForMe is its phone, not a separate agent.
• MCP (Model Context Protocol). The standard way agents connect to outside tools. See MCP reference.
• Remote MCP server. An MCP server reached by URL instead of installed on your computer. CallForMe's is https://callforme.tel/mcp.
• OAuth connect. The sign-in step your agent runs when you add a connector. CallForMe's asks you for nothing. See how setup links work.
• Tool call. One action an agent takes through a server, like place_call or get_call.
• Agent skill. A file that teaches an agent how to use a service well. See the CallForMe skill.

Related

• What an AI call sounds like to the business
• What an AI phone call can't do
• Can AI make phone calls for me?

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