4 Things to Consider When Buying a Call Recording Solution

Call recording solutions can be a truly profitable investment that should not be taken lightly. The right call recording solution will not only help you to comply with any internal and external regulations, but it can also provide valuable insight to help improve your operational efficiencies and staff profitability. In this article we highlight 4 features you should look out for when researching a call recording solution that could make a big difference down the line.

Access control and user right permissions

Regardless of what industry you operate in, call recordings can contain sensitive information and you should make sure you entrust the right people with the right level of access. For instance, if you operate in a highly regulated environment you will want to certify that your recordings are not at risk of being tampered with from unauthorised users.

On the other hand, in a contact centre environment, call recordings can offer a wealth of information for improving business processes as well as agent training. Team leaders should have access to their agents’ recordings in order to evaluate and identify areas for improvement. You might also want to go one step further and provide agents with user right permission to access their own calls for self-evaluation purposes. By doing so, agents have the opportunity to listen to their own calls and recognise areas for improvement on their own accord without having to rely solely on their team leaders.

To achieve this, your supplier will need to configure your system to define user privileges that meet your business requirements, for example any compliance regulations which need to be met and any internal risk management protocols the organisations has in place.

Call Recording search capabilities

The extent of Search capabilities will define the ease and speed with which you will be able to find calls. It’s no longer good enough to be able to search for a call by extension or date and time. Over the years we have seen many of our customers require more targeted parameters to retrieve the right record. Having access to multiple search criteria allows for the necessary flexibility to find the rights recording fast.

• Date and time
• CLI/dialled number
• Channel
• Call direction (incoming/outgoing)
• Marked calls
• Name
• Notes fields
• User fields (max. 20)

Service and Support

Technology manufacturers are not always geared up for supporting their products in the long run, as more emphasis and resources may be placed on product development. Call recording systems and their complimentary applications require adequate support pre and post implementation so to match the exact needs of the business and ensure you get the maximum value from it. Moreover, does your contact centre work over the weekends? Does your call recording needs to be operational 24h for trading purposes? It is important you make sure your support contract matches your operational requirements.

It is always worth to shop around to see who can provide flexible and varying levels of support contracts without necessarily having to rely on the manufacturer. Look for service and support from someone who has a proven track record of managing your chosen systems and is capable of dealing promptly with any issues that may arise.

Access to legacy call recordings

Heavily regulated industries, such as the financial services and insurance, are obliged to retain call recordings for a number of years. When investing in a new call recording system, it is advisable to consider how easily you will be able to access recordings from older legacy systems alongside more recent recordings should the regulator demand it. There are technology solutions, such as WordWatch, capable of providing a single user interface to find and playback calls across multiple recording systems, old and new, onsite and offsite. This type of technology can help greatly reduce the costs of maintaining older systems and the risk of non compliance.