What You Need to Know About Call Recording in the UK

You probably know that we offer call recording services. And you have probably wondered whether they would ever benefit your company. But you could also be one of several people who do not truly understand call recording, not in the truest sense.

If that is the case, then this is going to be very educational for you. Call recording has a number of facets associated with it. They include the following:

Purpose

Call recording isn’t a luxury. The feature serves a purpose, particularly within the confines of a company. You can use it to solve disputes between customer support personnel and callers by studying previous conversations.

Some businesses use call recording to make sure that industry standards and laws are being adhered to. The feature can also be used for quality control purposes, training, fact verification, to prevent crime, etc.

There is no end to the number of objectives call recording can achieve, especially if it is done properly and legally.

Law

UK residents have made quite a bit of noise about the issue of privacy in recent years. So you wouldn’t be faulted for questioning whether call recording is even legal.

Logically speaking, the concept sounds like it contravenes every law in every civilized society. But that isn’t actually true. Companies have legal permission to monitor and record the calls they receive from customers.

However, the companies in question must first ask the callers for permission before recording their conversations. For that matter, businesses must inform callers that they will be recorded, not to mention telling them how those recordings will be used and the means through which they will be stored.

Call recording is regulated by legislation such as the Human Rights Act of 1998, the Data Protection Act of 1998 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000).

Ethics

For some people, the legality of call recording isn’t enough. They also want to know whether the idea is even ethical in the first place. You are bound to encounter a number of dissenting views on this issue.

But most people agree that call recording is perfectly ethical so long as all the parties involved are aware of what is happening and the recorded calls are only used internally.

Home

Yes, businesses have a right to record phone calls. And it isn’t that hard to understand how the practice would benefit their bottom line. But what about individuals? Can the average consumer record the calls they receive on their home phone without drawing the ire of the government?

Surprisingly enough, nothing in the law prohibits individuals from recording calls on their personal devices. You don’t even have to inform your callers that you intend to record them. However, you have to keep such recordings to yourself. As far as the law is concerned, you only cross the line when you make your personal recordings accessible to other parties.

Employer

An employer cannot record the phone calls of his or her employees without their permission. The law protects the privacy of employees even when they are at work.

Access

There are provisions in the Law that give customers the right to gain access to any recordings a company might have of them. You won’t find these provisions used that often these days but they exist.

Call recording is an interesting field, one that companies should manoeuver carefully to avoid falling foul of the law. Fortunately, At Planet Telecom, we are always available to provide the necessary guidance on this issue.

To find out more about our Call Recording, please visit our page on it, or call free on 0800 0886 886 and speak with one of our friendly team.