Can You Record Phone Call Without Recording Other Person's Voice?

[Urzu1000]

The title pretty much sums it up. I work in an office where a lot of phone calls are made, and I became curious one day if it would be possible to record phone calls, but only OUR side of the call, for legal purposes?

 

[Ubrales]

Not legal to record any kind of audio.

 

[makkem]

Hi
Insurance companies in the UK routinely record phone calls (both sides of the conversation) in case of a dispute but they are required to notify the customer beforehand.
Now,the easiest way to record just the companies side would be to attach a microphone to the telephone and record off this.

 

[Urzu1000]

Makes sense, but that seems difficult to set up on a large corporate scale.
Occasionally we get a customer calling in stating that a representative was very rude to them, so it would be nice to be able to refer back to something to check that. Is there any small phone microphones that could store the recordings remotely on the company's server?

 

[USAFRet]

Not legal to record any kind of audio.

It is if you inform the other party first. "This call may be recorded for quality control purposes" or some such text.

 

[Ubrales]

Makes sense, but that seems difficult to set up on a large corporate scale.
Occasionally we get a customer calling in stating that a representative was very rude to them, so it would be nice to be able to refer back to something to check that. Is there any small phone microphones that could store the recordings remotely on the company's server?

The way to accomplish this objective is to preface every phone call with the phrase "This call may be monitored or recorded for quality and training purposes".

Now it is safe to record all calls in their totality; not partial calls here and there. Partial conversations may not hold up in court.

 

[USAFRet]

Right. I can't see the value in only recording one side of the conversation. Without the full context, one side is meaningless.

 

[Urzu1000]

We formerly used to announce that the call is being recorded, however, new laws recently passed within the state made that not legal anymore. We still announce it, but we can't actually record customers.

 

[Ubrales]

We formerly used to announce that the call is being recorded, however, new laws recently passed within the state made that not legal anymore. We still announce it, but we can't actually record customers.

Correct! Merely announcing that the call may be recorded is ASSUMING consent of the other party. The permission to record must be express, not implied.

The message "This call may be monitored or recorded ..... " is more to warn the recipient not to use profane or abusive language. It is NOT permission to record.

 

[Urzu1000]

Indeed lol. Legality aside, could anyone recommend good and very small microphones that could be purchased in bulk to attach onto the phones to record our side of the conversation?

It's really just to make sure that our employees don't say anything rude to the customers. IE, when a customer calls in to complain that they were yelled at or something, we can pull up the recording and address the issue.

Context isn't terribly important if an employee tells someone to "go to hell" or something of that nature. Not that such a thing commonly occurs, but other less serious things may be said. It isn't for any court disputes that may arise but merely to maintain quality interaction between our employees and our customers.

 

[Ubrales]

Indeed lol. Legality aside, could anyone recommend good and very small microphones that could be purchased in bulk to attach onto the phones to record our side of the conversation?

It's really just to make sure that our employees don't say anything rude to the customers. IE, when a customer calls in to complain that they were yelled at or something, we can pull up the recording and address the issue.

Context isn't terribly important if an employee tells someone to "go to hell" or something of that nature. Not that such a thing commonly occurs, but other less serious things may be said. It isn't for any court disputes that may arise but merely to maintain quality interaction between our employees and our customers.

Good intentions!

However this is a legal issue, and there is no way of skirting around the issue and still maintaining legality.

 

[Urzu1000]

Ah, well, I had to ask. Thank you Ubrales, you've been extremely helpful. I appreciate you taking the time to sit down and give me some feedback on the matter.

 

[Ubrales]

Ah, well, I had to ask. Thank you Ubrales, you've been extremely helpful. I appreciate you taking the time to sit down and give me some feedback on the matter.

You are welcome!

This whole thing goes back to pre-video days. At that time audio was the only thing available that could be recorded, and legislators decided to ban audio recording. Later when video (TV) was invented the laws were not changed. Therefore it is ok to legally record video, and not audio.

Some strange laws are still there on the books. The only two things that can be littered on the highways in California are pure water and chicken feathers! In the early days farmers used to transport live chickens to the market in open trucks with feathers flying all over. They managed to convince the lawmakers to permit chicken feathers on the highways. Today after the need was gone the law still remains on the books!