Glossary of Terms

What is Call Recording?

Call recording is the process of capturing the audio and sometimes images (agent screens) of a customer service call. It can also refer to the actual file that contains the record.

Call recording is a common practice among contact centers. Most contact centers use call recording software to capture a portion or all of their voice interactions. In some industries, for example, financial services, call recording may be required by law. But most contact centers choose to record calls for other business reasons. A primary use of call recordings is quality management. Contact centers typically evaluate a sample of calls each month to determine overall quality and identify agents who need additional coaching or training.

Call recordings contain a wealth of information about what customers are thinking, feeling, and talking about. As such, they can be used to build a more holistic Voice of the Customer (VOC). To get the most from call recordings, organizations can use that can comb through all interactions from all channels and identify keywords, trends, emerging problems, customer sentiment, and more.

But the uses for call recordings don’t end with quality management and VOC. Contact centers also use them for:

• Dispute resolution. Because call recordings are direct records of what occurred during an interaction, they can be used to resolve disputes with customers.

• Training. Good and bad call recordings can be used as real-life examples during agent training.

• Problem identification. Listening to calls can help identify problems with products, packaging, the company website, etc. When the problems are fixed, customer frustration and call volume should decrease.
• Agent recognition. Agents that produce exceptional interactions can be rewarded and their call recordings can be used as an example to other agents.