“This call may be recorded for quality purposes.” Most likely, you’ve heard such a message when making a phone call to a specific business just before the support team answered the call. In the business world, phone recordings are crucial as they provide data that companies can interpret and use for decision-making.
The calls employees make and receive every day can be a good performance indicator for an organization. Recording these conversations allows the firm to obtain the information it can utilize to achieve certain organizational objectives.
Perhaps you have the idea of recording phone calls in your organization and can’t figure out how to do it. You may also be wondering how long you can store the recordings and the legalities surrounding them. Well, worry not, as this article will answer all your questions.
Why You Should Record Phone Calls
For a business, phone recordings are a gold mine for valuable data. Just as it sounds, the process involves recording inbound and outbound calls to leverage the information contained therein. Phone recording has become popular over the last few years for several reasons.
- Quality Monitoring
The business landscape has become overly competitive. It becomes paramount for a firm to ensure it delivers excellent value to its clientele to remain relevant. Call recording is a sure way of monitoring employee-customer interaction. Analysis ensures call operators adhere to operational procedures and that they serve customers diligently.
- Better Customer Service
As mentioned above, phone call recordings allow you to monitor inbound and outbound calls for quality purposes. Doing so will enable you to identify areas that need improvement when it comes to offering quality customer service. By listening to previously recorded calls, you can spot issues that need refining for a better customer experience.
- Proof of Transactions and Communications
Phone call recordings give you an audio trail for future reference. In case an issue arises with the caller, you can use the recording to verify and clarify any disputes. The recording provides all the information you may need to prove a transaction or the establishment of a document. It further protects both the client and staff from unwarranted conjecture.
- Market Research
When conducting market research, phone call recordings can provide valuable insights from customers. A firm can interpret this data and apply the knowledge gained when making strategic organizational decisions. However, it isn’t easy to process such kind of data in its raw form, and that’s why most firms resort to transcribe phone calls by contacting companies like GoTranscript.
The Legality of Phone Call Recording
Though indispensable, setting up a phone recording system in an organization is not all that rosy. Unlike recording calls for personal use, there are legal formalities that a business needs to adhere to for smooth operation. For your firm to use a phone call recording feature, you have to comply with the regulations imposed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The central point being you must obtain consent.
There are several legislations stipulated in the constitution that govern the recording of phone calls and distribution and use of such data. They include:
- Human Rights Act 1998
- Data Protection Act 1998
- Telecommunication Regulations (Data Protection and Privacy) 1999
- Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA)
- Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000
In the US, individual states have different laws concerning phone call recording. Some states require one-party notification, while others impose a need for two-party notification. In the UK, businesses do not need to inform the other party that they are recording the call if the data is solely for the detection or prevention of crime, verifying a business transaction, and meeting regulatory requirements.
Your Obligations as a Business
Despite the laws and obligations surrounding the recording of phone calls, as a business, you need to inform the participant that the call will be recorded and be sure to obtain their verbal consent.
Don’t get carried away with the amount of data that you can obtain from phone data that you forget about the regulations. As you are setting up the infrastructure, ensure that you are legally and ethically compliant to avoid legal sanctions.
Once you sort that out, set up a strategy to transcribe these recorded calls to better your customer service and other departments. We can’t overstate the benefits of doing so.
