FreeYour phone greeting + a recording settingAbout 25 min
Record Calls Only With Consent
Recording calls helps you train staff and settle disputes. The law on who must agree to be recorded varies by state. When in doubt, tell everyone at the start.
Why This Matters
The worst mistake is turning recording on and telling nobody. California is an all party state, which means every person on the call has to agree. A secret recording can cause a lawsuit.
✓ How To Do It
- Decide if you need recordings at all. If the only reason is curiosity, skip it. Notes after each call work fine.
- If you do need them, write the reason in one line, like training and quality.
- Look up your state law on a state government site and the laws of the states where your callers live. Note whether it needs one party or all parties to agree.
- Treat every call as all party. It is the safest rule and the easiest to run.
- Record a short greeting that plays before the call connects. Say This call may be recorded for quality and training.
- Test it. Call your own line from another phone and listen to the first ten seconds.
- Make staff say it out loud on any call that was transferred or started outside the system.
- If a caller says no, stop the recording or end the recording feature for that call. Write down that they said no.
- Decide how long you keep recordings and who may hear them. Delete old ones on a schedule.
- Never post a recording or share it outside the business without written permission.
Done WhenSave a recording of your own greeting and a note of the rule you follow.
Reference List
Tips & Pitfalls
- A voicemail greeting counts too. Say that messages are recorded.
- Do not record calls in places where a person expects privacy, like a bathroom call from a job site.
- If a legal question comes up, ask a lawyer licensed in your state.