Why all business owners need to record phone calls

State-of-the-art technology is revolutionising the telecommunications industry and offers business owners a valuable opportunity to improve accountability, productivity and customer satisfaction.

Business owners, staff and customers should embrace having their calls recorded because everyone benefits.

Recording phone calls isn’t “big brother” listening, it’s more about protecting all parties.

Why business owners should record phone conversations:

• It encourages accountability – knowing they are being recorded improves the professionalism and integrity of staff and customers.
• It improves communication – staff are able to listen to the conversation again and gain a better understanding of the customer’s needs.
• It enhances compliance – maintaining a database of recorded calls helps compliance with legal, industry and service-level guidelines.
• It improves efficiency – training and development feedback ensures staff are best meeting the needs of customers.

New cloud-based recording technology provides business owners with valuable insights into their most important resources: customers and staff.

An exciting development of this new technology is it caters for a remote workforce, allowing calls to be easily recorded on mobile phones.

Algorithms provide business owners with information about customer engagement and experience – there is even a happiness rating.

Managers will know if a staff member needs more training and will receive alerts if there is a compliance risk.

Many businesses are adopting the new cloud-based recording service.

The benefits of businesses recording phone calls has been recognised by the Federal Government because it provides evidence and encourages compliance.

Australia’s 6000 mortgage brokers are the latest to be ordered to keep records of their conversations with customers after legislation was recently passed in Parliament.

The directive was in response to the 2019 final report by the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

It is expected all brokers and salespeople in the financial industry will soon have to record their conversations with customers.

It could also be extended to financial advisers, real estate agents and accountants.

The Royal Commission received more than 10,000 complaints about financial services and much of the misconduct and illegal practices uncovered stemmed from a company’s pursuit of profit and an individual’s pursuit of gain.

Mortgage brokers have until January next year to organise their recording devices.

In Australia it is legal to record phone conversations if all parties consent.

Mark Horwood, CEO, Captivate Connect