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“This call may be recorded for quality and training purposes.”

You’ve heard it many times before. Most call centers record at least some of their calls so they can use them later as examples of good and bad calls when training new agents, or so they can evaluate individual agents when it comes time for raises, promotions or terminations. 

Many other call centers record 100 percent of calls, not only for training and evaluation, but for legal purposes: financial services companies, for example, are required to record all calls in accordance with federal law. It protects both the company and the consumer.

Recording calls, while it seems routine, is sometimes a dicey prospect, however, when it comes to privacy and wiretapping laws, and it’s important for call centers to understand what they need to do to remain compliant and on the right side of the law. This is extra critical if a call center has facilities or even customers in California, which has some of the strictest call recording rules in the nation.

The California law firm of Keller Grover, based in Los Angeles and San Francisco, takes on cases of improper call recording and violation of privacy, and the firm is very busy. Keller Grove is currently handling a series of cases involving California’s Invasion of Privacy Act — which not only prohibits the recording of confidential telephone conversations without the consent of all parties to the communication, but provides for statutory damages in the amount of $5,000 per consumer, per unauthorized recording.

Each of these cases is a class action lawsuit, in which a lead plaintiff represents a larger class of similarly situated plaintiffs, all of whom claim to have seen their privacy infringed by a defendant’s failure to conform to the California law.

Some of the companies Keller Grove is pursuing action against include ticket reseller StubHub, Inc. as well as Hyundai Motor America, both of which are accused of recording customers without their consent.

For call centers operating anywhere in the U.S. but particularly in California, the message is clear. You MUST notify all callers that calls are being recorded before the conversation even begins. The same applies to agents, who also have rights when it comes to call recording.

Ensure that every agent signs a disclosure agreement that he or she understands calls will be recorded before that agent ever takes a call.

It’s more than just privacy, however, when it comes to call center business. Recorded calls and computer screens can contain credit card numbers and other sensitive data, and the recordings may be subject to the same security standards as other information systems.

Many call centers, aware of the costs of a misstep, choose to partner with call recording solutions providers who are on top of federal and state call recording laws. It’s a way of providing extra insurance that all recorded calls are fully in compliance with rules and won’t lead to prosecution. 

The right call recording partner could prevent a number of headaches for you.

For more information about state and federal regulations and policies, and which apply to you, download this comprehensive white paper from call recording solutions provider Call Copy. 

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