In Real Time, if enabled, a supervisor, with required permissions, can listen to an inbound or outbound call in progress. The supervisor can listen to the call in three different modes:

• 3-Way. In 3-Way mode, the supervisor joins the call as a third party, similar to being in a conference call. The supervisor can speak and be heard by the agent and the customer. All three parties are recorded if the call is recorded.
• Secret monitor. In secret monitor mode, the supervisor cannot be heard on the call by either the agent or the customer. Only the agent and the customer are recorded if the call is recorded.
• Whisper Coaching. In whisper coaching mode, the supervisor can listen to the conversation between the agent and the customer. The supervisor can speak to and coach the agent live during the call, but the customer cannot hear anything that the supervisor says. If the call is recorded, that the supervisor makes are also recorded.

Listening to an agent on a call provides invaluable insight into how the agent interacts with a customer. Supervisors can use such observations to coach the agents in the future or even live.

For information about configuring and using the Supervisor Monitoring feature, see Configuring Supervisor Monitoring and Supervising a call.