Is call recording just for compliance? 

Call recording is a common practice that businesses use, often integrated into their phone system in order to record external and sometimes internal calls. It is a process that collects audio data during phone conversations and with some call recording software, it can even record screen activity.  

It is not something new. For a long time, businesses have used call recording in their contact centre technology to learn from conversations and drive for better outcomes on processes, improve company practices and develop customer service. According to a Hubspot survey, 69% of businesses record calls in order to assess their customer service agents and ensure quality service.

But is call recording something that you need in your business, especially when it comes to compliance and service? In this post, we explore how call recording is beneficial for your firm and by the end of this article, you can determine whether it is needed in your company, depending on your operations, business practices and industry. 

Call recording is a necessary tool to monitor conversations. Whether you are a small business or a large corporation, you can learn from your mistakes and back yourself in case of a legal dispute. 

If you are deciding whether to implement this into your communications, think of it like this: has there ever been a time when a customer has taken disputes too far over the phone and you wish you had that on record? Or another time when you forgot some vital details on a sales call that potentially led to your company not getting the deal? Call recording keeps that information on file, so you can backtrack to those key conversions and analyse them when needed. 

If your company has not yet implemented this tool into your organisation, whether you are a small business or large corporation, then we highly recommend that it is something you look into. 

Some companies are legally required to record calls. So does your corporation fall under this category? Some businesses need to complete this for compliance purposes to ensure those firms can protect themselves against disputes in court. This can include those in the financial services, lawyers, banks and insurers.  

However, these businesses need to follow the imposed regulations of the GDPR act that came into force in 2018 and need to ensure that their customers are aware of call recording. 

Following the implementation of the 2018 GDPR law in the EU, this introduced sweeping regulations relating to EU citizen data collection, and it applies to every business that collects data on EU citizens. 

Within the GDPR act, there are specific rules about consent and call recording, which include the following:

1. Always ask for consent and ensure all parties consent before recording calls.
2. Secure your data safely. Always keep sensitive data, including call recordings, in a protected and encrypted place where it is safe from data theft. 
3. Carry out GDPR training with your employees so that they completely understand the rules when conducting call recording. 

Businesses must ensure that they can comply with all relevant parameters of the GDPR. Failing to do so and they could be paying a hefty price for their mistake. For more information on call recording laws in the UK, EU, the US and other jurisdictions, head to Hubspot’s blog. 

From small businesses to large corporations, every organisation can highly benefit from adding this feature to their phone systems. The following are some of the top reasons why adding call recording to your company strategy is beneficial and excellent for business growth. 

Dispute resolution 

No company is immune to complaints and conflict from customers. Even the top businesses in the world that offer outstanding customer service can face conflict from consumers. Call recording is a useful way to protect your company against issues that may potentially lead to a legal dispute. This way, when a client complains, you can go back and listen to conversations and use this in court if necessary. 

Protecting your employees 

Call centre abuse is on the rise. According to research from the Institute of Customer Service, 60% of customer service workers have experienced hostility in the past year. A great way to deter the abuse your employees might encounter is to let your customers know that calls are being recorded. Welcoming your callers with a message immediately alerts them that their behaviour is being observed and will reduce the chance of abusive behaviour.

Keeping valuable records 

Call recording is a very effective way of keeping and storing customer records as it enables you to automatically store details in customer files. By keeping a record of call conversations, you can help to sell to those consumers better, input important information onto CRM systems and better understand their needs. 

Identify common issues

When evaluating your recorded calls, you can identify the common areas where issues keep popping up in conversions that negatively impact your business. This could be a common issue that your customers are facing or a problem with staff members that are perhaps not completing their jobs to the best of their abilities. Call recording is a great investigation tool to evaluate your customer service, find areas for improvement and increase client satisfaction. 

Recording calls also minimises the chance that employees may be unprofessional when disputes occur. This enables managers to find out exactly what was said and find an appropriate solution to issues that have taken place with their agents and customers. Following this, recording your calls can help improve working processes and detect employee training where it is required. 

Training purposes 

The last point (identifying common issues) takes us to this - training. Call recording is great for identifying where training is needed, based on common problems that crop up in conversations. If there are areas that you need to improve, you can provide staff training to clear up those issues and enhance workforce talent.  

Training is also useful when onboarding new recruits by showing them examples of how to deal with complaints and issues over the phone, close deals, communication best practices and more. 

Boosting sales

Have you ever encountered a time when you have forgotten a crucial piece of a conversion in a sales call, and ultimately, you missed out on the sale? Well, say no more with call recording as you can backtrack through those conversations and note down key parts of the call after the conversation has finished. 

Using the data you collect after the call, you can better analyse those conversations and then put significant points into CRM systems. This allows you to find ways of selling to your customers and later target them through marketing and promotions. 

If your sales team makes outbound prospecting calls, you can determine the quality (or lack) of the leads they are generating.

Moreover, if your team advertises your special offers or promotions to callers on the phone, then call recording lets you monitor that and track if those promotions are doing well. If not, then you can determine what you need to do better next time to increase those sales.

Onwards and upwards - for continuous improvement 

Call recording is great for finding weaknesses in your current communications. By checking your recorded calls, you can determine whether your communications strategy is effective or needs improvement in order to reach your business goals. You can find whether employees need training, scripts need updating or call processes require tweaking. It provides excellent learning opportunities so that you can grow your business and improve service. 

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Does your company require call recording in order to improve business operations? Or perhaps you need it for compliance purposes? Then get in contact with T2k today. We’re communication experts that have over 25 years of experience behind us to help assist with your communication needs. If you want to add call recording to your phone system, or if you need a new phone system that allows call recording (such as Gamma Horizon), get in touch with us today for a consultation with one of our experts.