Bip Called

Sometimes when marketers telephone your house they rely on robots to dial your number. When the machine on their side detects a human voice on your side after you pick up, the call is quickly routed to a human on the marketer's side who can carry on a conversation with you.

I say quickly, but the truth is that there is a moment's lag while the switching takes place. It's not a terribly long time, but it is enough to tip off the person being called.

This moment of silence at the beginning of many marketing calls happens sufficiently often that I have a gag for it: I say that I have the ghost of Marcel Marceau on the line, and I've given such interactions the descriptor of "Mime Calls."