Blog · Trust and etiquette
Call recording consent: the basics, and why we keep text not audio
Whether a phone call can be recorded depends on where the people on it are sitting. Here's the general picture, and the reason our line keeps the words and not the sound.
By the CosVoice team · · 5 minute read
Why do companies tell you the call may be recorded?
You've heard it a thousand times. "This call may be recorded for quality and training purposes." Ever wondered why they bother? Because in a lot of places, recording a phone call without telling the other person isn't allowed, and an announcement at the start is the simplest way to make sure everybody knows.
That's the idea behind call recording consent. Before a conversation is recorded, some or all of the people in it have to have agreed. How many of them, and what counts as agreeing, changes with where you are. In the US it changes from state to state.
One thing before going further. This is general information, not legal advice. We make a phone product, and we're in no position to tell you what the rule is where you live. Check it, and if recording is central to your business, ask someone qualified.
One-party and all-party, in general terms
You'll run into two phrases. One-party consent means a call can be recorded so long as one person taking part knows and agrees, and that person can be the one doing the recording. All-party consent (often called two-party) means everyone on the call has to agree.
US states sit in one camp or the other, with differences in the detail. We're not going to list which is which. Lists like that go stale, and the detail matters more than the label. Your state's own website is the place to look.
Notice what's being regulated in both cases. The recording. Not the call, and not the fact that you remember what was said.
When the call crosses a state line
This is where it gets awkward. You're in one state, the person you rang is in another, and the two have different rules. Which one applies?
There isn't a tidy answer we can hand you, and anyone who gives you one in a sentence is guessing. The cautious habit is to behave as though the stricter rule covers every call. Say at the start that you're recording, and give people the chance to say no.
It's good manners anyway. Nobody enjoys finding out afterwards.
What counts as agreeing
Usually one of two things. Someone says yes when asked, or they hear a clear announcement and carry on with the call. That's why the announcement comes first, before anybody has said anything worth recording.
What we wouldn't rely on is burying it. A line in the small print of a website the caller never visited is not the same as telling them. If you record, say so out loud, early, in words a person would use.
Why a written record avoids a lot of this
Think about what people did before recording was easy. They took notes. A receptionist wrote "water heater, Thursday after two, try the mobile first" on a pad, and the pad did the job.
A written record does most of what people wanted the recording for. Who rang, what they asked, what was agreed, what happens next. You can search it, forward it, read it in ten seconds in a parked van. What it doesn't hold is somebody's voice in a file, ready to be replayed, passed around or copied.
That takes care of a lot of the practical worry. No audio to leak. No clip to play to a room.
We don't want to oversell it. A written record isn't a free pass. Places differ in how they treat notes and transcripts made by software, some may look at them much as they look at recordings, and privacy rules can cover written records as well. So the advice to check where you are still stands.
What our line keeps, and what it doesn't
We keep the written call, not the audio. After every call you get a summary, the details (names, amounts, dates, the next step) and a transcript. The sound of the call isn't stored.
That call content is sealed to your line. Our staff don't read it, and your calls are never used to train models. Close your line and the call content is deleted within 30 days. The trust page sets this out, and who can read your AI's call transcripts? goes through it person by person.
We made the choice early and we'd make it again. When the question is "what did the roofer quote?", the answer is a number on a page. For how recording fits with the other rules around AI on the phone, there's our guide, can an AI legally make phone calls for you?
If you really do need audio
Some businesses do. Disputes, staff training, work where somebody else requires it. A recording captures tone, and sometimes tone is the point. A transcript can't tell you whether the customer was joking, and a person listening back can. If that's you, a written record won't replace a recording, and our line is the wrong tool for that part of the job.
Whatever you use, a few habits are worth having.
- Announce it first. Before the conversation starts, in plain words.
- Offer a way out. If someone doesn't want to be recorded, be able to carry on without it.
- Decide how long you keep recordings. Then delete them when you said you would.
- Limit who can listen. Fewer people need access than you'd think.
- Check the rule for both ends of the call. Yours and theirs.
Common questions
Is a transcript the same as a recording?
Not in the everyday sense, because there's no audio to play back. How the rules treat a transcript made by software differs from place to place, so don't assume it's exempt where you are.
Does CosVoice record calls?
We keep the written call: the summary, the details and the transcript. Audio is not stored.
Can I get the audio of a call my line handled?
No. The audio isn't stored, so there's nothing to send. You get the transcript and the written summary after every call.
Should I tell callers that notes are being taken?
Rules vary, so check yours. As plain manners, callers like knowing what happens to what they say, and "I'll write this down and pass it on" is a reassuring thing to hear from anyone answering a phone.
Read next: Who can read your AI's call transcripts? · AI calls and robocall rules · What to do instead of voicemail
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