Mute (function)
Mute was a function of starship communications in which the audio feeds were disconnected to allow the person transmitting to confer with advisers surreptitiously. In ship-to-ship communications, a commanding officer could either state "mute" to the communications officer or make a gesture indicating mute. (, et al.)

In 2371, Captain Kathryn Janeway used the mute function when her analysis was disturbed by The Doctor who was on the main viewer of the bridge. ()

Communications technology