Coping with challenges around accessing and managing call recording data

With the introduction of MiFID II back in January last year and with regulations set to increase and become more burdensome, Financial organisations are faced with constant challenges around managing and accessing their call recording data.
Organisations need to be able to demonstrate immutable records of all their dealings and be able to retrieve these communications with precision and speed in the event of an audit or investigation.
It’s not just one or two issues that need to be managed – there’s a whole raft of challenges that at first glance can seem overwhelming.  Faced with infrastructure complexity and records spanning decades, accessibility isn’t that simple and easy.
Obstacles getting in the way

So why isn’t it that simple and easy?  What obstacles are getting in the way of organisations being able to easily access data in the event of an audit or investigation?

• They have systems which are end-of-life (software and OS), but they still need to access the data.
• They have legacy systems from multiple vendors which are causing technical challenges when recordings need to be pinpointed quickly.
• They are unable to perform bulk extracts from their legacy and live voice systems.
• They have no global view of their live and legacy voice data.
• They need open access to all their voice data through APIs.
• They have systems that are supported but don’t allow them to use their data to meet changing regulatory and business needs.
• They need to keep their core data in its original format to ensure the integrity is not diminished.
• As channels are evolving such as email, SMS, Skype, etc. capturing and managing data has become more complex.
• They are waiting for a telephony upgrade and therefore cannot upgrade their system to give them the access or functionality they require.
• They have a growing infrastructure which means growing costs.
• They need their compliance teams to be able to self-serve but their data is in separate silos and there isn’t a holistic view.

So how does an organisation deal with these challenges and issues?   What if issues arise over mis-selling or compliance – will they be able to defend their position?  If they can’t access their calls quickly, the greater the chance of redress – it’s a huge reputational risk.
So what’s the answer?
So what’s the answer if organisations have multiple systems from multiple vendors, some being end-of-life/legacy, some live, some on-premise and some in the cloud. To add to this complex estate, the recorders could reside in different locations and even different countries/continents.
Some organisations are choosing to use the vendor’s own extraction tools kits, which is fine if all their systems are from one vendor or if they don’t anticipate introducing multiple capture engines later down the line.
But if you are faced with the scenario of multiple systems, multiple vendors, live & legacy data then you need to find a smarter way of working.  You don’t want to spend weeks on end sifting through monotonous call recordings to extract the relevant interactions.
So in comes Wordwatch!
The practical panacea for managing all of this is a central, vendor-neutral portal.  Wordwatch is a unique portal that draws recording data from multiple call recording systems from multiple vendors (such as Redbox, NICE and Verint) whether they are live, legacy, cloud-based or on-premise.  The data is presented in a single portal which allows the user to manage, replay, store, extract and report on.
Certainly, as both the communications volumes and regulatory burden continues to grow and become more onerous, it will take a forward-looking approach to stay in control.
So if your organisation needs to keep on top of regulatory compliance and is faced with a complex recording infrastructure and records spanning decades, then talk to our team about how Wordwatch can help.