Should I announce that I'm recording the call?

The Legal Bit

The information in this article does not constitute legal advice.

In the US, call recording laws vary at the Federal and State level. Federal law makes single party consent mandatory. However, 12 states have adopted "two-party" consent (requiring all participants to be notified).

In the EEA, call recordings are subject to GDPR. You should always obtain consent from each participant if recording the call.

For other countries, laws will differ and you should always seek legal advice. The jurisdiction a call falls under can be unclear. For example, calls from a one-party consent state to a two-party consent state may be ruled to fall under the two-party consent state jurisdiction.

What constitutes consent?

In the US, it is widely agreed that implied consent is sufficient and that you do not require the other parties to verbally say "I agree to be recorded". Instead, staying connected to the call implies consent was given. In the EEA, this is not necessarily the case.

Approaches

Participants can be notified in a number of ways:

1. Verbal notification: Telling the person the call is being recorded

2. Audio notification: A periodic beep in the background of the call

3. Written notification: A written disclaimer on a calendar invite

4. Visual notification: A visual cue in the web conference

To avoid the question of which level of consent is required, it is simplest to adopt a single approach that satisfies the needs of the most restrictive jurisdictions by always notifying all parties that the call is being recorded. You may also wish to use different types of notification for different calls.

Scheduled Calls

For booked meetings, a good approach is to notify the other attendee(s) in the footer of the calendar invite e.g. "Calls with InsightSquared are recorded for training purposes." In some cases, you can also make this an automatic verbal announcement or an audible beep (see How IS2 can help below).

Calls using the Dialer

For outbound calls, you could state the conversation is being recorded in your greeting and then move directly into your pitch:

"Hi, it's Tom calling from InsightSquared on a recorded line. Is now a good time for us to speak?"

"I like to record my calls so I can be completely focused on our conversation instead of taking notes. Is this okay with you?”

"My colleague wanted to join today but can't - do you mind if I record our call for him?"

"As we cover your needs and goals, do you mind if I record? I'd like to reference them later to ensure I’m providing the best solution."

How IS2 can help

For scheduled calls, InsightSquared aims to provide you with as much flexibility as possible. Your manager may have set up a rule to enforce a particular setting or you may be able to decide this yourself.

If you are able to decide, in Settings > Profile > Conference you will see options under Announce

• On will provide a verbal announcement to the participant when they dial-in. The announcement states: "Welcome to InsightSquared Conference. Please note this call is being recorded."

• Beep provides an audible beep when the participant joins.

• Off will mean no announcement is made. If you toggle recording on/off during a conference, a visual cue is always made to all web participants at the top of the screen.