Here are some recording questions and answers to help you decide if you need to record phone calls or radio transmissions using a recorder supplied by CallTech. If you’ve got any other questions please contact us.
1. Why should I record telephone calls or radio transmissions?
- Public Safety. If your work relates to public safety then recording may be a legal requirement. Recordings can assist in emergency situations or for event reconstruction. Types of organisations required to record calls and radio include fire and emergency services, police and transport hubs such as airports or train stations.
- Dispute Resolution. If your business buys or sells over the telephone there is a good chance there will be disputes about prices or quantities discussed. If your conversations are recorded there will be far less disputes and they will be resolved quickly.
- Training. Call centre staff dealing with customers need to say the right things at the right time. By replaying calls to staff you can highlight what was said correctly and provide training for areas that need improvement.
2. Can I legally record telephone calls or radio chatter?
There are Australian and state laws regarding the monitoring of communications. Some public safety organisations are legally required to record calls or radio transmissions. Other organisations can record for dispute resolution or training purposes but they must inform the other party that the conversation will be recorded. You can read more about recording rules by clicking the links below:
3. Why should I purchase a Recorder from CallTech?
CallTech has been supplying voice recorders to Australian businesses since 2007. We only supply reliable recording solutions that have been proven over many years.
We won’t just install a recorder then leave it for you to figure out. We provide training and continued support for your recording solution. For Red Box and Eventide recorders, we make an effort to inspect and update your recorder at least twice a year and respond quickly to any recorder related questions or concerns. CallTech also has spare recorders and parts so in the unlikely event that your physical recorder is partially or completely broken, we can get you recording again quickly.
4. Is call recording expensive?
Call recording doesn’t have to be expensive and can often save you money. We once supplied a call recorder to a marine search and rescue group. Within a month of the recorder being installed, the radio operators received a mayday call for someone who claimed they were in trouble at sea. Search and rescue teams were sent out in boats and aircraft. It turned out to be a hoax and the distress call was captured by the recorder. The recording was used to identify and prosecute the offender. The offender was ordered to pay the search and rescue costs which were more than the cost of the new recorder.
CallTech can supply you with a recorder that suits your requirements and budget. We won’t force you to install a fancy recorder with all the bells and whistles if you only need to record a single channel. Our range of recorders means you can choose a solution that you pay to own or pay on a subscription basis.
5. Will I still be able to record if I replace my phone system in the future?
For Red Box and Eventide recorders, you can record many different telephone systems from all of the major manufacturers. These include Avaya, Aastra, Alcatel, Cisco, Genesys, Mitel, NEC, MS Lync, Panasonic and Siemens. This means if you change to a different supported telephone system then you can still record with your original recording solution. This will probably require some recorder configuration changes and possibly a license update on a Red Box recorder.
6. My business wants to record a telephone and radio network. Do I need 2 separate recorders?
Of course not, don’t be ridiculous! A single recorder is capable of recording several telephone and radio systems at the same time. As long as the audio from your telephone and radio systems can be sent to a single location we can record it all.
7. How secure will my recordings be?
Extremely secure! Red Box recorders use a secure frame based recording method which is still the envy of other recorder manufacturers today. This method splits a recording into many fragments and spreads these fragments across multiple files. This means, the only way to access a recording is for an authorised user to log in to the recorder. Eventide recorders are built on Linux and security updates can be provided on a regular basis. Dubber takes security seriously so they store your recordings on Australian servers and require authorised users to log in for recording access. Recordari recordings also require an authorised user to log in and do not need to be connected to a computer network if you don’t want them to be.
8. How many years can I keep recordings for?
As many years as you like. Our various recording solutions allow you to export recordings and some have extended and network archiving options
9. Can I use the recorder to hear live conversations?
With most of CallTech’s recording solutions you can either listen to a live recording with a short delay or listen to the recording immediately after the call has ended.
10. My business discusses sensitive financial information with callers that we don’t want recorded. Can this be removed from recordings?
Yes. Recording solutions other than Recordari meet the requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). This means recorders can be configured to not record sensitive financial information.
11. My business has several departments. Can I setup the recorder so staff can only replay recordings from their own department?
Certainly. We can supply recording solutions that allow you to setup groups. You can assign telephone extensions to a specific group and restrict staff access to that group. You could have a salesperson who can only access sales department recordings. You can even restrict a staff member so they can only listen to recordings for their own telephone.
12. Do you have a solution for a company that can’t afford to miss any recordings even in the event of a disaster?
Parallel Recording Solution
You want 2 recorders running in parallel. You could run these at the same location or have one recorder running at a separate disaster recovery site. You can have a primary recorder which stores and archives all recordings and a secondary recorder that just keeps 2 hours of recordings. The secondary recorder will take over recording and archiving in the event of a primary recorder failure. Another option is to have both recorders constantly recording and archiving so everything is duplicated.
For further resilience you can send recordings to a remote network storage location. Recordings can also be archived to Blu-ray (BD RE) discs for offsite storage.
For a Dubber cloud-based recorder, you have 2 Australian recorders for redundancy but in extreme cases you can configure it so your business does not take calls if your recorder is out of action.
13. Besides landline telephones and radio, what else can be recorded?
- Microphones. In a control room or meeting room you might want to record everything that is discussed. You can setup microphones in the room to be recorded by some recording solutions. This is known as ambient recording.
- PA Systems. Some Public Address systems work across a VoIP network. This means announcements can usually be sent to a call recorder on the same network.
- Computer screens. When an operator is on a call you might like to see what they are viewing on their PC at the same time. With synchronised screen and voice recording you can ensure business applications are being used correctly and identify areas for improvement.