An average person thinks that call recording is something which only the multinational companies or police department use. This used to be generally true regarding PSTN lines, which require hardware and software for call recording, along with legal consent.
In several countries, it is illegal to wiretap private entities. In fact, law enforcement may take a harsh view of anybody doing so, even if that person uses it simply for a prank or for some other harmless purpose.
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It is possible to record VoIP phone calls?
Since the majority of businesses are switching to VoIP phone technology, many people wonder if the VoIP phone calls can be recorded. Actually, there are two possible answers to this question, based on which viewpoint is needed:
- First, recording calls with VoIP is technically not very hard since they are just digital packets being transmitted over the internet. Majority of VoIP service providers offer a few types of call recording VoIP features, whether included free of charge or with extra charges.
bbb - Second, is the perspective of privacy and legal considerations. Several countries might have different legislation which oversees who can record calls, when and if consent is needed from the other party. For example, few nations make it unlawful for people to record phone calls regardless of the circumstances while organisations can do so under certain guidelines. In others, both organisations and individuals can record phone calls if each party in the care are made aware that it’s being recorded.
Sometimes the laws may even be different within the same nation. Such as, in the US, a lot of states function under a ‘one party consent’ law that states that phone calls can be recorded if you are a party to the call. While in other states, each party in the call have to consent before hosted call recording can progress. It’s best to remember the difference whether you can record phone calls vs. whether you must.
Reasons to Record VoIP Phone Calls
Generally, for people recording VoIP phone calls is not an everyday requirement, however, it’s something that is required perhaps several times every year. Professionals might require recording calls particularly if they interview people frequently over the phone for new reports, publish podcasts, work as a publicist, etc. for businesses, the purpose of VoIP call recording can be extremely different and needed on a daily basis.
Companies might have to record phone calls in order to review the interactions of customer services representatives with customers to enhance quality, to train new employees and for workers evaluation. They might have to comply with regulatory and legal requirements, particularly if the company is involved in legal action.
Also, business call recording is beneficial for keeping a record of all interactions with distributors, suppliers, important clients, and partners. Progressively, security has become the major reason for recording VoIP phone calls.
Often, companies are being breached through the information available by conversations with their workers through unauthorised users. Also, organisations are concerned with losing their confidential contracts, data or revenue because of information being leaked, accidentally or intentionally.
How You Can Record VoIP Phone Calls?
There are actually two ways that you can record VoIP phone calls – commonly known as active and passive recording. Passive call recording happens when digital packets are taken using a packet sniffing tool. While the active call recording happens when the provider’s software becomes a part of the conversation by listening in. The majority of providers offer some kind of active call recording solution for businesses.
Generally, recording VoIP phone calls doesn’t need special hardware or even a particular software program. It’s a feature which is built into whatever app is offered by the provider or third-party client. All it takes is to turn on the settings or to just press a button in the software.
VoIP service providers offer some fine control over who can record VoIP calls, under what conditions and whether to include a voiceover which informs every party about the call recording. Sometimes organisations might want to enable hosted PBX call recording feature for everyone in a department or just for particular individuals.
The settings might even be modified on an individual or per phone call basis which doesn’t interfere with the global setting. Once the phone call has been recorded, then it can be saved as an audio file then stored or archived and then played back later just like a music file.
Interesting related article: “What is Compliance?“