Call recording is the capturing of telephone conversations into a digital file format. Call recording’s primary purpose is the replaying and sharing of call audio.
Why Record Phone Calls?
Companies need to record customer phone calls to be legally compliant. Enterprises use call recorders for many reasons based on the requirements of each industry. To give an example,
- Financial institutions are required to capture incoming calls as well as outgoing calls. They’re responsible for storing them to verify service and privacy notices, check agent compliance, and for settling disputes.
- Medical organizations record patient phone conversations for quality assurance and agent training
- Government agencies collect call audio and use analytics to provide accountability to the public
- Utility companies record customer calls as well as their dispatchers and service technicians for quality assurance
These and other organizations use call recorders to recall phone calls for quality checks and to mask customer data.
Call recording is different from call monitoring and call tracking, but both are often performed alongside each other. Call monitoring allows supervisors to listen in on employee calls to ensure that company practices are being followed. Call tracking is used to determine how callers found your business. Many companies use call tracking to measure the effectiveness of various marketing initiatives, such as performance-based advertising (like Google AdWords).
Call Recording Benefits
The benefits of call recording are numerous, but it’s also legally necessary for some businesses to operate. Laws like Dodd-Frank, HIPAA, and MiFID II regulate the recording, storage, transmission, and redaction of recorded customer phone calls.
Using a Call Recorder Provides Legal Protection
Call recordings become a company’s first line of defense in dispute resolution. Having a secure recording of a disputed customer interaction during litigation may prevent a customer from taking legal action outright.
The timestamp made by a call recorder app can prove if an issue received a response in a timely manner. File encryption makes calls shareable across the internet without breaking compliance. Using a secure storage plan for your recordings saves your company money in the short and long run. Having a record of incoming phone numbers linked to your call recordings helps during a dispute.
Recording Calls Ensures Best Practices
Every recorded conversation paints a picture of a call center’s performance, overall and at the agent level. Call center agents are often trained using existing call recordings that have undergone interaction analysis. A trainer will show new agents a successful interaction to set a benchmark.
Reviewing Calls Adds Customer Insight
With the addition of analytics software, an enterprise’s recorded customer calls can be converted into actionable data. Through emotive analysis and language processing, an organization can focus on the voice of the customer and check for employee compliance.
Analytics tools reveal insights, like how many times a customer contacted your company about a given issue. Analytics discover how well agents are following your call script. Call transcriptions can also be mined for sales and marketing data. Analytics can also provide a detailed overview of your most popular products and services.
Call Recording Is Needed for Compliance
Most industries record customer calls, and several rely on compliance recording as a vital tool for meeting compliance laws.
Retail and Consumer Sales Markets—PCI-DSS
Financial and Trading Markets—Dodd-Frank, MiFID II
Health Provider and Insurance Markets—HIPAA
To learn more about call recording and industry compliance, visit us at callcabinet.com.