Call screening in a cordless digital system

A cordless digital telephone system which allows call screening is provided. Time division multiple access (TDMA) cordless phone systems provide a base station (11) that is able to provide connections for a plurality of mobile units (12, 14, 16), such as handsets. With time division, the mobile units are synchronized to different time slots. A broadcast mode is provided that causes the mobile units (12, 14, 16) to be placed in a receive only mode and to synchronize to the same time slot where a broadcast message is sent. In this way, an incoming call can be recorded substantially simultaneously with being broadcast to any number of mobile units (12, 14, 16), any of which can elect to pick up the incoming call. Once so elected, the base station (11) is reset to a standard mode thereby permitting an uninterrupted conversation between a caller and a user of the mobile unit as a call