1. A call screener apparatus, comprising: a telephone system interface having at least one port for connection to a telephone network and at least one port for connection to the telephone device of a user and being operable to selectively respond to calls originating from said telephone network to said telephone device; a dialogue system coupled to said telephone system interface that elicits speech from an incoming caller and causes said telephone system interface to respond to a call from said incoming caller based on a comparison of said elicited speech with a set of stored speaker models, or based on the content of what the incoming caller says in response to a prompt.