Please note that, while Talkdesk offers the option for you to record calls, if you choose to use this service, then you must comply with all state and federal laws, regulations, and rules prior to recording any telephone calls. Check with your legal department or lawyer to make sure you are compliant. Please refer to our Terms of Service for more information on this.
Administrators can configure Talkdesk to record Inbound Calls, Outbound calls, both or none.
Follow the guidelines below to configure your call recording settings and permissions to access call recordings:
- Configuring Call Recording Settings
- Permission to Access Call Recordings
- Permission to Download Call Recordings
- Retention of Call Recordings
- Agent to Agent Call Recording
- Consulting Recordings
- Contact Recording Settings
- Inbound and Outbound Call Recording
- Continue Recording on External Transfer
- Continue Recording on Call Without Agents
- Continue Recording Conferences when Agents Leave the Call
- Agent-Initiated Pause Recording
- Dual Channels Recording
Configuring Call Recording Settings
To configure your account settings related to call recordings, please follow these steps:
1. Log in to your Talkdesk account as an Administrator.
2. Select the Admin section [1].
3. Click the Channels item [2] under Service Settings.
4. On the Channels list tab, Select Voice [3].
5. Select the Recordings tab [4].
6. Select Edit [5] to allow for the recording settings to be changed.
7. Select the configuration option you wish to change.
Note: Unless “Continue recording on external transfer” is disabled, when call recording is enabled, calls will continue to be recorded even after the call is blind/warm transferred.
These account-wide settings can be overwritten for specific phone numbers.
You can also decide if you wish to allow agents to be able to manually pause and resume call recordings directly from the Talkdesk interface, and if you wish Talkdesk to automatically delete all call recordings after a predetermined amount of time.
Permission to Access Call Recordings
Once call recordings are enabled, keep in mind that by default, all roles can listen to all call recordings in the Calls and Reporting sections. To edit a role’s permission to listen to call recordings, please follow these instructions:
1. Log in to your Talkdesk account as an Administrator.
2. Select the Admin section [1].
3. Click on Roles and Permissions [2].
4. Select the relevant role [3] and once within the role’s page, click on “Permissions”, followed by “Edit”.
5. Scroll down to “Calls” [4].
6. Select View, as well as Listen to Recording [5] to allow the role to listen to call recordings.
7. In the “Select scope” drop-down [6], define the level of access to the call recordings:
-
- Select All if you want the role to have access to all call recordings in the account.
- Alternatively, select Ring Group or Agent to allow access to only the recordings of the calls handled by the role’s ring groups or only the recordings of the calls handled by the agent, respectively. Note: The play button is displayed for all calls with an available call recording, but only if the user has permission to access them.
8. When finished, click Save to apply these settings.
The set permissions will be reflected on the Calls section as well as on Explore, namely on the Calls Dashboard and the Calls Report. This means that users with access to this dashboard and/or report will be able to play call recordings according to the permissions set for the Calls section.
Permission to Download Call Recordings
Once call recordings are enabled, keep in mind that by default, all roles are not able to download all call recordings in the Calls and Reporting sections. To edit a role’s permission to download call recordings, please follow these instructions:
1. Log in to your Talkdesk account as an Administrator.
2. Select the Admin section [1].
3. Click on Roles and Permissions[2].
4. Select the relevant role [3] to access the role’s page. Then, click on “Permissions”, followed by “Edit”.
5. Scroll down to “Calls” [4].
6. Select Download Recording [5] to allow the role to listen to call recordings.
7. In the “Select scope” drop-down [6], define the level of access to the call recordings:
- Select All if you want the role to be able to download all call recordings in the account.
- Alternatively, select Ring Group or Agent to allow the download of only the recordings of the calls handled by the role’s ring groups or only the recordings of the calls handled by the agent, respectively. Note: The play button is displayed for all calls with an available call recording, but only if the user has permission to download them.
8. When finished, click Save to apply these settings.
The permissions set here will be reflected on the Calls section as well as on Explore, namely on the Calls Dashboard and the Calls Report. In other words, this means that the users with access to this dashboard and/or report can download call recordings according to the permissions set for the Calls section.
Retention of Call Recordings
By default, call recordings are deleted after 6 months. To learn how to configure the retention policy of your call recordings, please check the article Call and Voicemail Recording Retention Policy.
Consulting Recordings
This feature allows contact center administrators to capture and store recordings of consultation calls which occur during the course of another call. These recordings are enabled at account level and would apply whether the consultation is to another internal Talkdesk agent or even a 3rd party telephone number.
How It Works
The recording capability will apply to all Talkdesk agents. When enabled any calls made using the consultation feature within Conversations will be recorded in full, from the moment the call is established until it ends.
Note: Recording of the consultation will happen regardless of whether the consulted party is another agent or 3rd party telephone number and will be recorded whether the consultation results in a completed transfer, the call ending or in a conference call.
Enabling the Feature
This feature can be enabled/disabled through the Talkdesk Admin console. To switch it on and off, please follow the instructions below.
- Within Talkdesk Workspace, continue through to Talkdesk Admin [1].
- Then, select “Channels” [2].
- On the tab bar, select Recordings [3] to manage specific recording-related features.
- Once inside the Recordings settings, select Edit [4] to modify the available recording settings.
- If Call recordings are not enabled on your system go ahead and enable it by switching the toggle to the “On” position.
- With Call recordings enabled you can now enable or disable Recording Consultations. Review the setting under “Record Consultations” and set to your desired behavior. The default setting is “Disabled”. Administrators have the ability to independently enable or disable Recording Consultations. E.g., consultations may be enabled, while Inbound and Outbound are not.
- Click the Save [5] button to validate the changes.
- Your Recording settings should now reflect that Recording Consultations are enabled.
Viewing Recordings
Consultation recordings are stored just like any other call recording and they follow the existing retention policies. To view consultative recordings, access the Talkdesk Activities user interface.
Contact Recording Settings
This feature allows customer administrators to comply with regulations in jurisdictions where recording the contact party’s side of a call is not desired for compliance reasons.
This feature allows customer administrators to suppress the recording of the contact side entirely - only recording the agent portion of the conversation. By implementing this feature, organizations can reduce the risk of inadvertently recording personal data without proper legal basis or compliance processes.
Prerequisites
- Administrator access to the Talkdesk Admin Console.
- Recording must be enabled on the customer account.
Example Use Cases
This feature is enabled/disabled on an account-wide basis and also provides the granularity to Enable or Disable independently for Inbound and Outbound calls.
- Inbound Call
Pre-Conditions:
-
- Record contact person on Inbound: DISABLED
- Alice: Contact
- Bob: Agent
- Acme: Company operating a Talkdesk contact center
Use Case:
-
- Alice calls the Acme contact center
- The call is distributed to Bob, an agent for Acme
- Alice and Bob discuss
- The contact (Alice’s) portion of the call is not recorded
If the setting is ENABLED, both sides of the call would have been recorded.
- Outbound Call
Pre-Conditions:
-
- Record contact person on Outbound: DISABLED
- Alice: Contact.
- Bob: Agent.
- Acme: Company operating a Talkdesk contact center.
Use Case:
-
- Bob makes an outbound call to Alice.
- Alice answers the call.
- Alice and Bob discuss.
- The contact (Alice’s) portion of the call is not recorded.
If the setting is ENABLED, both sides of the call will be recorded.
Forward to External
The feature will not affect calls redirected to a third-party telephone number using the Forward to External component within Studio, as these calls do not involve Talkdesk Agents.
Configuring the Feature
To switch this feature on and off you can follow the instructions below.
1. Within Talkdesk Workspace continue through to Talkdesk Admin.
2. Once in Talkdesk Admin, select “Channels”.
3. On the tab bar, select Recordings [2] to administer specific recording-related features.
4. Once inside the Recordings settings, select Edit [3] to modify the available recording settings.
5. Scroll down to where you see settings for Contact recording [4].
6. Select whether you want the Contact side of the call to be recorded and if so, whether it should be recorded on both Inbound and Outbound call types. When the feature is Enabled, the contact side of the call will be recorded, while if the feature is Disabled only the agent side of the call will be recorded.
7. Select whether you want to enable or disable Inbound or Outbound call recordings.
8. Click Save [5] to commit the changes.
Inbound and Outbound Call Recording
Inbound and Outbound call recording can be controlled at multiple tiers within the Talkdesk CX Suite. The following setting controls whether manually dialed outbound calls are recorded and whether calls received directly to a Talkdesk agent will be recorded.
These settings operate independently of the Recording setting held within a Studio Flow. That is to say that when Recording is specified within a Studio flow that setting will override the configuration here.
Disable/Enable
To switch this feature on and off you can follow the instructions below.
1. Within Talkdesk Workspace continue through to Talkdesk Admin.
2. Once in Talkdesk Admin, select “Channels”
3. On the tab bar, select “Recordings” to administer specific Recording related features
4. Once inside “Recordings” settings, select “Edit” to modify the available recording settings
5. Scroll down to where you see settings for Call recordings
6. Select whether you want the ability to configure Inbound and Outbound call recordings. Note: This configuration controls recording of outbound calls made directly by the agent and calls received by an agent. This configuration setting is overridden if a Recording setting is configured within a Studio flow.
7. Select whether you want to enable or disable Inbound or Outbound call recordings.
8. Click “Save” to commit the changes.
Continue Recording on External Transfer
With the new External Transfers setting administrators can now enable and disable whether a call continues to be recorded following a transfer to an external number.
This new feature is controlled by the Continue Recording on External Transfer administration setting as explained below. The setting is controlled at the account level, when enabled or disabled the rule will apply to all calls on a customer CX Cloud instance.
When Enabled, any calls which are externally transferred by an agent will have their recordings continue even after the transfer. This is the default setting.
When Disabled, any calls which are externally transferred by an agent will not have their recordings continued after the transfer. Example scenarios:
- The Inbound contact call comes in to Agent. Agent blind transfers the call externally. When the setting is Disabled, the external transfer portion of the call will not be recorded. The first portion of the call will be recorded.
- The agent places an Outbound call to contact. Agent blind transfers the call externally. When the setting is Disabled, the external transfer portion of the call will not be recorded. The first portion of the call will be recorded.
This setting will not affect the following call types:
- Transfers to Agents
- Transfers to Ring Groups
- Transfers to Private Extensions (e.g. Extensions on 3rd party PBX, Talkdesk Phone and Microsoft Teams)
Disable/Enable
To switch this feature on and off, you can follow the instructions below.
1. Within Talkdesk Workspace, continue through to Talkdesk Admin.
2. Once in Talkdesk Admin, select Channels.
3. On the tab bar, select Recordings to administer specific Recording-related features.
4. Once inside the Recordings settings, select Edit to modify the available recording settings.
5. Scroll down to where you see settings for “External Transfers” and select whether you want recordings to continue after an external transfer (“Enabled”) or if you want them to stop (“Disabled”).
6. Click Save to commit the changes.
Continue Recording on Call without Agents
With the new Calls without Agents setting, administrators can now enable and disable whether a call continues to be recorded when Agents leave a conference call or transfer to an external number.
Both features are controlled by the Continue Recording on External Transfer and Continue recording conferences when agents leave the call administration settings as explained below. The settings are controlled at the account level and, when enabled or disabled the rule will apply to all calls on a customer CX Cloud instance.
Continue Recording on External Transfer
When Enabled, any calls that are externally transferred by an agent will have their recordings continue even after the transfer. This is the default setting.
When Disabled, any calls that are externally transferred by an agent will not have their recordings continued after the transfer.
Example scenario:
1. The Agent has an ongoing call with a contact (inbound or outbound).
2. Agent blind transfers the call externally. When the setting is Disabled, the external transfer portion of the call will not be recorded. The first portion of the call will be recorded.
This setting will not affect the following call types:
- Transfers to Agents
- Transfers to Ring Groups
- Transfers to Private Extensions (e.g. Extensions on 3rd party PBX, Talkdesk Phone, and Microsoft Teams)
Continue Recording Conferences when Agents Leave the Call
When Enabled, any conference calls where Agents leave the call letting it continue only with external participants will continue to be recorded even after all the Agents leave. This is the default setting.
When Disabled, any conference calls where Agents leave the call letting it continue only with external participants will stop being recorded after all the Agents leave.
Example scenario:
1. The Agent has an ongoing call with a contact (inbound or outbound).
2. Agent adds other numbers as guests upgrading the call to a conference.
3. Agent adds another Agent as a guest.
4. Agent leaves the call passing the host role to the previously added Agent. The call continues to be recorded normally independently of the setting value as there is still an Agent on the call.
5. The agent leaves the call allowing current participants to continue to talk. When the setting is Enabled, if the call is being recorded, it will continue to be recorded. If Disabled, the call stops being recorded the moment the Agent leaves the call.
Disable/Enable
To switch this feature on and off, you can follow the instructions below.
1. Within Talkdesk Workspace, continue through to Talkdesk Admin.
2. Once in Talkdesk Admin, select Channels.
3. On the tab bar, select Recordings to administer specific Recording-related features.
4. Once inside the Recordings settings, select Edit to modify the available recording settings.
5. Scroll down to where you see settings for “Calls without Agents” and select whether:
- you want recordings to continue after an external transfer (“Enabled”) or if you want them to stop (“Disabled”).
- you want recordings to continue after all Agents leave a conference call (“Enabled”) or if you want them to stop (“Disabled”).
6. Click Save to commit the changes.
Agent-Initiated Pause Recording
In Talkdesk, agents can manually pause and resume call recordings.
Once an administrator has enabled this feature, agents will see a recording button in Conversations.
This is a useful feature if you wish to, for instance, prevent the recording of any sensitive information during a call (e.g., credit card details). The feature can even be used in conference scenarios, where the hosting agent will be the one having control of the recording.
To enable "Pause Recording" for the entire account, please follow these instructions:
1. From within the Recordings tab (Admin > Service settings > Channels > Voice), click Edit to enable changing of settings.
2. Scroll down to the Agent related settings and locate Agent-initiated pause recording.
3. Select whether you wish this feature Enabled or Disabled.
4. Save your changes.
It is also possible to define different "Pause Recording" settings on a phone number basis.
To do so, please follow these instructions:
1. Go to the Admin app [1].
2. Select the Numbers tab [2].
3. Click the phone number for which you would like to configure this setting [3].
4. Scroll down and click on Go to legacy settings.
5. Click the Custom Settings tab [4].
6. Select Yes next to "Override Account Settings" [5].
7. Select Yes next to "Agent-initiated Pause Recording" [6].
8. Press Save at the bottom of the page to apply your changes.
Note: If no rule is set for Agent-initiated Pause Recording, the phone numbers will inherit the account settings.
Learn more about how to pause call recordings in Conversations.
Dual Channels Recording
Dual channel recording allows you to obtain a stereo recording of your call with two distinct channels, one per party in the conversation: Channel A for the contact and Channel B for the agent. When played over stereo speakers, the left speaker becomes Channel A and the right speaker becomes Channel B. This can allow your organization to save time when analyzing call recordings by only focusing on one party at a time.
As your call volume grows, listening back to calls and analyzing your customer’s sentiment manually for quality assurance purposes can become a strenuous task; moreover, you may need an easier way to pick out the two parties on a call. With each party’s audio separated into its own track using dual channel, you can more easily automate actions such as transcription and topic analysis, as well as automated scoring for quality assurance purposes.
We recommend exploring Talkdesk Customer Experience Analytics (inclusive of Talkdesk Interaction Analytics™ and Talkdesk QM Assist™) to use Artificial Intelligence and gain deeper insight into the key conversation drivers of your interactions, identify automation opportunities through self-service or agent assistance, while also streamlining the quality management process to boost CX.
How to Disable Dual Channel Recordings
By default, the dual channel recordings feature is enabled for all new accounts, however, if you still prefer to listen to your call recordings in one single mono channel, please follow the instructions below.
1. From within the Recordings tab, click Edit to enable the changing of settings.
2. Scroll down to the Dual Channel recordings setting.
3. Select whether you wish this feature Enabled or Disabled.
4. Save your changes.
Important Note: Disabling dual-channel recordings will stop post-call transcriptions (based on call recordings) and cease your Customer Experience Analytics product from functioning to its full potential, as transcriptions won’t be made as per change date and still billed as they are processed but not used due to clashing format. Digital channel data or Virtual Agents won’t be affected and data will flow normally.