It’s completely legal to record business phone calls in the UK and it’s something that more and more organisations are starting to do. Long calls, short calls, good calls, bad calls – no matter how they go, there is value in recorded phone calls that you can invest into future customer interactions.  

So, in this blog we’ll outline what you need to do to make sure your calls are completely lawful and why you should start to document them.  

First, is call recording legal? 

The short answer? Yes.  

There are some important restrictions you'll need to be aware of remain compliant, including UKGDPR and you should obtain legal advice if you are unsure of these. 

UKGDPR now requires businesses to clearly state the purposes that the recorded data will specifically be used for. To lawfully justify recording a business call, you need to fulfil one of the following conditions:  

• Call participants have consented to be recorded.   
• It's necessary to fulfil a contract to which the participant in the call is a party. 
• For fulfilling a legal obligation to which the data controller is subject. 
• Recording is in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller. 
• Or, recording is in the legitimate interests of the data controller, unless those interests are overridden by the interests of the participants in the call which require protection of personal data.  

Satisfying these conditions  

Sector-specific regulations mean that some organisations will easily satisfy one of the conditions.  For example, banks and financial services firms are legally required to record their transactions.  

But businesses that record calls only for quality and training purposes will need the customer’s consent: their freely given and informed permission, for the specific purpose of recording the conversation.   

Using the call recordings 

Ensuring compliance can feel like a lot of work – so is it worth it? We absolutely think it is. No matter your sector or service, your business can improve operations by recording and learning from every single customer interaction.  

Internal training

Employees learn best when they’re dealing with real situations. Call recordings give them the perfect insight into what typical customers are saying and how they should respond in those moments. Even the most negative of customer interactions can be harnessed as the foundation your team needs to offer an improved service in the future.  

Listening back to calls is a process that’s often overlooked. It’s labelled as being time-consuming or awkward for those involved. However, to put it quite simply – we learn from our mistakes. Take a variety of calls, dissect them and determine what went well and what didn’t. Then, in the future, employees will be more likely to avoid the same mistakes.  

Improving your service

Take some time to actually listen to what your customers are saying on calls. What are they frustrated with? Which aspects of their experience have been the most positive? Are there any frequently asked questions? 

This data is incredibly valuable and is hard to obtain in any other way. You might find opportunities to streamline processes or even gaps in the market that you can target with future products or services.  

Monitor quality

It can be difficult to gauge how your sales team are performing on their calls. By recording them, you gain insight into their typical approach to a call. It might be that an individual is quick to temper or neglecting to do everything they can to assist a customer.  

Spot checking calls is a simple way of ensuring 100% quality control. It’s more than just staff performance too, you’re able to monitor the actual technical quality of the calls. Are customers struggling to hear your staff? Are calls being dropped too frequently? Do customers spend too long on hold while they’re transferred to the right person? 

Using the right call recording app

Phone recording lets you work on improving your call centres, sales teams and any part of the business that spends time on the phone. As CircleLoop integrates with the best CRM and helpdesk tools on the market, you can record any call you make within those systems. 

You can rest easy knowing that all calls that are recorded are done so in a completely UKGDPR-compliant way. With CircleLoop, it’s as simple as downloading our app and following a few simple steps to set up call recording. This, along with a host of other features and integrations, makes CircleLoop a powerful tool for businesses of any size looking for a phone system for their company or team. 

For a closer look at CircleLoop and the call recording feature that’s available on the phone system, book a free demonstration. Our specialist Dom will outline the many powerful phone systems features that CircleLoop offers to your business. Find a demo slot that works for you by clicking the link below.