While most call centers record calls between agents and customers, the industry has a bit of a dirty secret: not a whole lot of call centers actually use these recordings effectively, or, in some cases, at all.
“This call may be monitored for training purposes” is an oft-heard phrase. Call centers record for many reasons: to award merit bonuses or extra training to agents, to play as examples in classroom-based training using both good and bad calls, or simply because they are required to according to federal or state law – or company policy.
Digital call recordings are a valuable source of information for companies. Combined with analytics that can mine through the recorded calls for valuable data and intelligence, call recording can be one of the best ways a call center can optimize its operations, and even its marketing campaigns.
For many companies, however, this type of analytics-recording operation is either beyond their technical capabilities or their interest, since many companies are ignorant of the kind of benefits they can enjoy.
According to a recent article on IT News Africa, call recording, for many call centers, is the ultimate “grudge purchase,” or equipment bought simply because the company is compelled to do so by rules and regulations. This is a mistake, and can lead to security breaches, particularly since “grudge purchases” often result in a company grabbing the cheapest possible call recording option.
“Installing ‘cheap and nasty’ off-the-shelf recording tools simply to record and store conversations defeats the object of recording, and leaves gaping holes in enterprise security and risk management,” said IT News Africa.
Call recordings often contain a host of vital personal customer information – account numbers, social security numbers, credit card numbers, birth dates, PIN codes and more. Improperly cataloged and secured call recordings can be an open invitation for identity thieves to comb through the recordings looking for customers’ personal information with which to wreak havoc.
“The potential losses and reputational damage if this data should fall into the wrong hands are huge,” writes IT News Africa. “While most systems do include some form of tamper record, recorded data is simply not treated with the same levels of security as other enterprise data. Too many contact centers are vague on how the data should be stored and even the length of time the recordings must be stored for – even though, by law, some must be kept for up to 10 years.”
That’s a security hole big enough to drive a truck through.
Purchasing a quality call recording product that includes both analytics and robust security accomplishes a number of goals. First, it allows the call center to actually use the calls they record to good purpose, farming intelligence and data that can be used to optimize the contact center processes and the customer experience. Second, it allows the call center to secure the valuable data it possesses in the form of recorded calls, which helps keep law enforcement – and lawsuits – away.