Recording incoming phone calls is an excellent way to monitor your team’s performance, and can make disputing claims much easier. Unfortunately, there could be some severe consequences for your business if you do not perform call recording correctly. Here is what you should know about call recording in order to ensure you are in compliance.
Federal law requires that if you record incoming calls for any reason, you have a duty to notify the party being recorded ahead of time. If you fail to give notification, there could be substantial fines and penalties assessed as a result. The exact fines vary from one state to another, but can be as high as $2,500 per phone call recorded. As a result, this could easily add up to millions of dollars over time.
You’re not off the hook if you have a third party screening your phone calls. If you outsource some of your phone center operations, the company that handles this for you must also be in compliance; otherwise, both of you risk being slapped with fines and penalties.
In order to ensure you are in compliance, you should always notify the caller whenever a conversation is being recorded, and make sure that any third party vendors you use do the same. Your best bet is to play a pre-recorded announcement for people to hear whenever they reach your business, as this makes everyone aware every time. There should also be a contingency plan in place in the event this recording fails to work for any reason.
Call recording can be a valuable tool to use in your business, provided you comply with the law. To find out more about how call recording can help your business, contact us.
