6 reasons to use call recording in your business

Introduction

Call recording is an incredibly beneficial tool for understanding how your business operations are running, how satisfied your customers are, and the circumstances under which your calls are taking place. From improving customer experience, to employee training, to data management and compliance, call recording allows you a deeper understanding of how well your business is running and which areas need to be improved. Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits:

1. Improved customer experience

Call recording allows businesses to analyse conversations between customers and representatives, which means weak areas can be identified, and relationships and attitudes towards the business from the public can be understood. By understanding a customer’s preferences, attitudes and behaviours, it is easier to tailor products and services to meet specific needs, promptly and efficiently, for greater levels of satisfaction and consumer loyalty. And with 95% of customers more likely to stay loyal to a company that resolves their complaints quickly (Zendesk), this is key for building lasting relationships with consumers.

2. Enhanced performance 

Recording calls is not only beneficial for understanding customer needs, but also for monitoring how employees perform in order to identify strengths and weaknesses. This doesn’t have to be a stressful or daunting feat for employees if done correctly and respectfully - supervisors can use the collected information to provide feedback and conduct training sessions in a constructive environment, and in a way that strives for continuous improvement and development across teams. Call recording creates a benchmark for call standards and helps to maintain a level of consistent standards across the board.

Linking to customer satisfaction and employee performance, call recording means that factors such as call handling, script adherence, and resolution times can be monitored to ensure quality of customer service and enhance performance.

3. Legal and regulatory compliance

Although some industries have stricter and more stringent rules around call recording and data capture (see our ‘things to consider’ section below for specific regulation examples) call recording can ensure accurate records of conversations, transactions, personal information and agreements. In the financial industry for example, 97% of firms are required to record and retain customer calls for compliance purposes (Ovum), while the average cost of a data breach is estimated at $4.24 million (IMB). These recordings can then serve as evidence should they be needed in legal proceedings, audits, and regulatory inspections. 

4. Training, development, and evaluation

Recorded calls serve as valuable real-world training resources for onboarding new employees, and can be used in refresher sessions with existing members of staff. Trainees are able to learn from a plethora of likely scenarios, and become familiar with best practices and company policies. In terms of existing employees, performance evaluations based on real recordings provide insights into competency, communication, and ability, in a variety of settings and situations. This ensures a fair approach to criticism and guidance, fostering healthy and respectful working dynamics between employees and management.

5. Customer insight 

Only 36% of customers believe their feedback is used to improve their experience (Temkin Group, 2023). Analysing patterns, trends, and feedback in calls provides businesses with valuable insight into customer preferences and sentiment, and allows managers and supervisors to view their company from a third-party perspective - ultimately shaping their practices to best suit the consumer. Emerging needs, trends, and opportunities can be identified across departments, leading to data-driven decisions that better align with customer expectations and needs.

6. Risk management 

Similarly to potential legal disputes, call recording acts as a proactive measure against potential threats and fraudulent activity. By monitoring and analysing recorded calls, businesses can detect any irregularities and quickly take corrective actions in threatening situations. This data can also be used to monitor how fraudulent activity is handled, and train staff on the correct measures to take.

Considerations

When implementing call recording into your business, there are some things to consider in order to ensure efficiency and compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

Industry-specific guidelines - Regulations will vary significantly depending on the industry. For example, fields such as finance, law, and healthcare may have stricter guidelines. In the financial services sector, recording and retention of communications are often required for compliance purposes, and must fall under MiFID II rules. These dictate how calls in the financial market are recorded and stored, and for how long. The healthcare sector needs to comply with HIPAA regulations in terms of sensitive data encryption and safe-guarding when storing phone recordings, and calls recorded here need to have all patient information redacted from interaction records.

Transparency and consent - It is also key to consider transparency in terms of call recording, and to gain customer consent. For example, stating at the beginning of a call that it may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes gives the consumer the option to hang up and makes them explicitly aware of the capture of their data. Especially in the current digital climate, security and data privacy are a major concern for consumers, and so ensuring calls are encrypted to prevent unauthorised access is key to business credibility and reputation. 

Location - Laws around call recording will vary depending on location, which will particularly impact international companies. For instance, GDPR compliance in the EU imposes strict requirements for the storage of data - including call recordings. It is important to make sure that regional rules are met before implementing call recording, especially involving customers and external clients.

Final thoughts

By ensuring best practices are met and considering customer and business needs, companies can strengthen their business practices, reputation, and foster loyalty with consumers, which is key in saturated industries and competitive spheres.