The mike on the phone is activated so that the caller can hear all of the conversations in the room.

Instead of being answered instantly by a human voice, callers at busy times may just hear a recorded message.

The caller trying to get through will hear a busy signal or may be switched to an answering machine.

If you are walking outside on a breezy day, callers will hear nothing but feedback.

While the service is looking up a request, callers might hear another 10- or 15-second message from a sponsor.

On reaching some of the access numbers, callers also hear a commercial.

So the company replaced the recording with an American-style system in which the caller heard only ringing.

A caller will then hear the lowest price for that day at a gas station near the specified location.

The place is fully booked months in advance, but callers never hear the situation described that way.

Some systems have muting so the dispatcher can be on a telephone call and the caller cannot hear what is said over the radio.