How To Remain Compliant With All-Party Notification For Outbound Calls

Companies across different market verticals realize the benefits of call recording. They use call recording to ensure excellent customer service, improve performance, train staff, resolve disputes over orders, etc.

Regarding the legal side of using call recording, the main concern is whether organizations must notify all parties of call recording or if it is enough to tell their employees only. Both federal and state laws govern the answer to that legal question (differs from state to state).

Note: MiaRec does not offer legal advice; please consult your legal counsel for guidance on the compliance activities that are appropriate for your organization.

What Is One-Party Consent & Why Is It Important

On a federal level, the requirement is to notify employees only and obtain their written or electronic permission to record business phone conversations. This addresses the organization’s compliance with call recording for One-Party Consent.

In addition to federal law, thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia have adopted "One-Party Consent" laws and permit individuals/companies to record conversations to which they are a party or when one party of the communication consents. 

Some states require that all parties be notified and agree on call recording. Even if your business is located in the state with One-Party Consent requirements but operates nationwide or in states with all-party notification, all parties of a telephone conversation, or calling from/to the states with all-party notification must be notified.

For example, if you have an e-commerce business operating from the head office in Colorado (a state with one-party consent), but you have customers in California (a state with all-party consent) and receive calls from these customers, you must comply with Californian law and notify both your employees and your customers of call recording.

All-Party Consent & How To Stay Compliant

All-Party Consent requires additional efforts from organizations to stay compliant. Usually, for inbound calls, it is relatively easily achieved and configured on an IVR system.

When a customer is calling the company’s contact center, they will hear a message: “Your call may be monitored or recorded.” An IVR system automatically replays this before the call is routed to an agent. But what about outbound calls? Such notification can not be configured on an IVR side, as the calls are not routed through an IVR system.

In outbound call scenarios, organizations have several options to stay compliant:

Do Not Record Outbound Calls

Some companies choose to switch off call recording for outbound calls to avoid legal litigation. This is the easiest way but not a solution for most companies. Due to the nature of calls (such as telemarketing or collection calls in the contact center), outbound calls may be the majority of calls in the contact center.

Beeping

Customers will hear a ‘beep played periodically during outbound calls, implying a call is being recorded. Such an approach may or may not meet the company’s obligations, depending on state requirements and legal counsel’s interpretation. This still leaves room for misunderstanding, as customers may not correctly understand the meaning of beeping.

Human Announcement

Organizations can have their agents notify the customer. This can be done immediately at the beginning of the conversation through a scripted introduction. For example, “Hello, this is Peter with MiaRec calling on a recorded line….”

Recording Notification From Call Recording Software

Customers will hear a pre-recorded announcement at the beginning of the conversation, usually the phrase: “Your call may be monitored or recorded for quality and training purposes.” This announcement message should be recorded into an audio file with the conversation and may be used as proof of all-party notification.

MiaRec solutions offer a built-in recording notification to help you comply with legal requirements and avoid litigation. To find out how MiaRec can help your company, don't hesitate to contact a MiaRec representative to schedule a demo today.