Call recording: why it’s great for your business and how to get started

Have you ever wondered what more you can do to improve customer satisfaction?

Wouldn’t it be great if you can hear your customers’ calls again and review them so you can serve them better?

Are you looking to level-up your training program with real-life scenarios for your team to learn from?

What you need can be as simple as having a call recording system for your business phone.

The law requires certain businesses to record their inbound and outbound calls.

But most businesses can make the most of this service to improve their customer support, so it’s worth looking into to keep up with competitors.

In this article, you’ll learn about call recording for your business phone calls.

You’ll learn how it can help you to provide a better quality service to your clients.

Here is a summary of what you’ll learn as you keep reading:

In this guide you’ll find:

Here we go:

What are the Benefits of Call Recording?

1.      Build a Better Customer Service

Bulk call recording records every single call that goes through your phone systems.

Whatever the situation, you’re assured that you have a copy of the conversation on file should any issue arise.

With this feature, you will be able to review sales fulfilment, product inquiries and customer management style.

This helps you learn how you can improve your communications with your consumer base.

As you know, happy customers equal profits.

2.      Settle disputes

Recording your calls can significantly help with settling disputes.

Should the need arise, you can go back to hear what verbal agreements were made.

This is especially useful when your customers are having issues, as you can reassure them that nothing they communicated has been missed.

3.      Protection for your staff

If ever you or your team encounters an abusive client on the phone, the recording of that specific call can help protect you.

It can be a vital piece of substantial evidence should it lead to an investigation or a legal case.

This benefit will give you and your staff a sense of security and peace of mind.

4.      Improve your team’s performance

You can improve employee performance by listening to how they handle customer calls.

You’ll quickly learn their strengths and weaknesses.

Having this information allows you to then focus on those that need further training and what skills to work on.

How do you record calls?

There are a few different ways that call recording can work, based on your phone technology and what you need to capture.

VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call recording digitally reads data that is transferred over a port in your network.

The VoIP equipment is connected to the web and records the calls that pass through it.

Because this is a software-based system, recorded calls will be stored in the cloud.

Station-Side – Station-side call recording keeps tracks of all your calls using a record channel for all your phones.

This is a style of bulk recording, so no matter whether it is an inbound, outbound, or station-to-station call, this system records every communication made on each phone in the order.

Trunk-Side – This type of call recording utilises your line provider to record calls.

This can be useful to ensure your customer’s call is recorded from the start up until the end, even if the call was routed between departments or staff.

Which calls should you record?

Bulk – When you record all your calls, you will have a wealth of in-depth information, insights and training material at your disposal.

This feature will prove essential in helping you provide better service and handle customer concerns in the future.

Random – As the name suggests, random call recording records a select number of calls only.

This option is mainly used for training and monitoring purposes.

On Demand by Agent – This type of call recording allows your employees to decide which calls need to be recorded.

This way most standard calls are not recorded, but if there is an issue, such as if a caller starts to become irate, the operator can easily record the call for documentation purposes.

On Demand by a Supervisor – This is ideal for when a supervisor needs to record specific calls to assess an employee’s strengths or take note of their weak spots.

Such recordings are great for training as you can provide examples of right calls and use tough calls as case studies.

How are recordings stored?

A call recording system records your calls and keeps them either online or on a storage device.

You can access all your recorded inbound and outbound calls from anywhere in the world.

You can even download the recordings for your files and play them back at training.

The Stand-alone Device

A stand-alone device can be used to record and store your inbound and outbound calls.

Different devices offer different features.

Some models have integrated recording programs while others use third-party software to do it.

Stand-alone recording equipment only works with one type of device, such as landline telephones.

So while this is a simple option, it has its limits and may or may not serve your purposes.

Cloud-based Services

Cloud-based recording systems are great for businesses with multiple phone lines.

A cloud communications provider is, therefore, the ideal option for bigger businesses such as call centres.

You will be able to access the calls from your provider’s cloud-based recording service, without taking on the logistics of buying, housing and maintaining the system yourself.

With a cloud-based system, you can record your calls from different devices such as a desktop or mobile phones and even computers.

All your recordings are kept in a single storage system as opposed to stand-alone that need different units for each phone type.

Call recording and the law

It is essential that you understand and comply with the regulations if you are going to record any calls.

Call recording is covered by some laws in the UK, so it is advisable to get some independent legal advice before you start a call recording program.

Here are the main reasons that you can record telephone calls as a business, according to communications watchdog Ofcom:

• Provide evidence of a business transaction
• To ensure that a company complies with regulatory procedures
• See that quality standards or targets are being met
• To investigate the unauthorised use of a telecom system

How Much Does Call Recording Cost?

Call recording services vary from one provider to another, and so do costs.

However, it is likely going to be cheapest to buy a call recording service from your existing communications provider.

Most providers will have call recording packages that are either included in your telecommunication package or can be added for a fee.

It will help to know which type of call recording you need from the lists above before you go to providers.

But you give you a sense of ballpark costs, here is a list of 4 providers, what they include the cost:

Tips on Finding the Best Call Recording System

If your current phone supplier isn’t the right choice for your call recording system, then these are the factors you will want to consider when choosing your supplier.

Here are a few tips to help you make an informed decision and help you narrow the options down to only the worthy contenders.

1. How many staff you have

Call recording services are dependent on the number of people that will be using it.

You need to know the exact number of phones, phone lines, and the users you have.

As for many products, getting items in bulk can be more cost-effective, but don’t pay for more users than you need to.

Talk to your supplier about the number of users or phones you have and how many of them you want to have the call recording feature.

They can give you a reasonable estimate of how much the service will cost you and possibly even a tiered rate or discount.

2. How much recording you need

Again, prices vary depending on which calls you to want to be recorded.

The technology and methods differ, and you will encounter a myriad of choices.

From analogue to extensions to VoIP, the options can be mind-boggling, so it’s best to consult with different service providers.

Discuss your needs and your budget so they can offer the best services to match that.

3. If you want any advanced features

All suppliers that provide call recording services have the vital record and playback functions.

However, each of them is sure to offer something that goes beyond the basics.

Some suppliers offer quality monitoring features that would be great for customer service businesses.

There are also features that purposefully exclude sensitive details from recordings, such as physical addresses or credit card details.

Who is call recording for?

As stated at the onset, most customer services orientated businesses can benefit from call recording.

Whether you are running a big business or just starting out, a call recording service will help you improve your service.

It’s also a good idea to record calls for practical and legal reasons.

If training and coaching staff are essential to your success, you will want a reliable call recording service to monitor quality assurance.

Final verdict

The bottom line is commonplace for businesses to record customer calls these days.

Obviously, the advantages outweigh the costs.

Not only that, you will see improvements in customer support as a result.

Excellent customer service is key to retention, so add call recording to your toolbox to keep standards high.