Awhile back, a customer of our called us because their phone bill was quite higher in the last few months than the previous and as a service we offer free analyses and audit telecom expenses. With This particular phone bill we realized there were some charges that weren’t related directly to the phone bill. As we dug into the situation, we realized that a 3rd party company had started billing them for some yellow page advertisement. We verified with the customer if they authorized the service and they replied “No” (besides who uses the yellow pages now a days anyways?). When we spoke with the advertising company we found out who and when this “so called” authorization took place. They gave the name of the individual and the date of when it was. We double checked with the specific person and again the answer was “No”.

After thinking back, he remembered on numerous occasions of getting solicited calls about yellow page advertising. This individual happens to be in sales and he records all of his calls. DING, DING, DING. I asked him, why do you record all of your calls? He quickly replied “A couple reasons, One, I can reflect back on good or bad sales calls and two I can reference back on details I may have missed on the initial call.  Since all his calls are recorded, he went back through his recorded calls and found the call. There it was plain and simple, an open and closed shut case. To make a long story short, we called the advertising company back, played them the recorded message and they removed the charge and credited back the previous months totally $2,000.

Don’t get me wrong, I know we could have battled this and eventually won the case. However, this made the process that much quicker (and I mean a lot quicker) because we had the proof right there.

This is one example of why all businesses should have Call Recording within the organization. Here is a few reason that Call Recording is a must have within a business to make them more efficient both for the team members and customers.

Quality Control

Having the Ability to audit oneself by listening to a call from a 3rd person’s point of view allows for self-improvement. For example, if person in sales loses a deal or wins a deal he can quickly replay the call and learn why the outcome was what it was and what he or she could have done differently. Good or Bad. For training purposes the same reasons follow. If a superior needs to perform Quality Control on its staff it can easily and quickly do so.

The Devil is in the Details

We all heard that expressions before I’m sure. As demonic as it may sound it is true. A customer of ours uses their Call Recording feature to record weekly conference calls. Every week they have a conference typically anywhere from 2-5 groups on a call and a lot of discussion.

Here’s one way they use it.

  1. After the conference call they archive the recording so any one of the team members can go back and listen to it. This is a proven effective way to make sure no details are left out. So when the next week’s conference call comes, all details are covered and no time wasted on missed details.

Training Purposes

Training is one of the most important factors of a successful business. Properly trained team members are crucial for the growth and success of a business. Having the capability of Call Recording, you are able to share recorded calls amongst staff both present and future in a training environment.

 

Things to consider when using Call Recording

  1. State and Federal laws
  2. Federal Law – Federal law and many state wiretapping statutes permit recording if one party (including you) to the phone call or conversation consents. Other states require that all parties to the communication consent. http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/recording-phone-calls-and-conversations
  3. State Law – Check with your state for its law on Call Recording. http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/state-law-recording

 

  1. Storage Space – Typically a 1 minute Recorded Call is 1 megabyte of storage.