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Tag: call recording

Hosted Call Recording: Top 7 Benefits

Posted on by Miguel Isabal

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#75769701 ID#27446420

Hosted call recording can help you improve productivity and efficiency in the office. You can also use the system to conduct quality assurance and performance analysis. Here are the top 7 benefits of hosted call recording for businesses.

Benefits of Hosted Call Recording

Hosted call recording or cloud call recording is a recording system hosted in the cloud. Hosted call recording (with translation and transcription add-ons) is offered by telephony providers like United World Telecom. Most small- to medium-sized businesses can use this service without worrying about any hardware or maintenance costs. All you pay for is your subscription with the provider.

More and more businesses are getting cloud call recording services to increase productivity within the office. So, why should your business invest in a hosted call recording software? Here we will look at the various advantages of using hosted call recording to aid productivity and performance.

1. Keep Records and Documentation

Having a hosted call recording software can help you and your team keep records of all important calls and interactions, transactions, receipts, and more between your business and its clients. Reviewing these recordings can help your team understand customer behavior and preferences and serve them better.

2. Improve Quality Assurance

Most small- to medium-sized businesses use call recording to improve quality assurance within the customer service team. In other words, you can review recordings to see which approaches are more successful than others. This way, your customer service team can be trained to provide good customer support.

3. Conduct Performance Analysis

Call recording can also be used when conducting your agents’ performance analysis. There are many ways to record VoIP calls for review during yearly evaluations and help agents do better or reward them for being efficient.

4. Protect from Liabilities

Furthermore, in case of any misunderstanding or fraudulent activity, call recordings can protect your business from liabilities. Recordings can present as proof or evidence to prevent liabilities or keep your company safe.

5. Collect Customer Feedback

Businesses need to focus on customer experience and customer happiness to remain successful. You can use hosted call recording to run surveys and collect valuable feedback from customers. Then, review the feedback to improve your service and increase customer satisfaction.

6. Comply with Regulations

Financial institutions and companies are required to comply with recording regulations such as the Dodd-Frank Act and MiFID II. These regulations call for transparency during business calls and avoiding fraudulent behavior. Recording business calls will ensure that your finance company remains in compliance with these regulations.

7. Increase Productivity in the Office

Ultimately, all of the above reasons ensure that your office and teams remain productive. You can keep track of your employees’ performance which gives them the incentive to do a good job. Furthermore, you can keep your business safe from fraudulent activity and liabilities. All in all, hosted call recording will help you create a better work atmosphere and improve quality assurance.

Get Hosted Call Recording

You can get call recording from United World Telecom by adding it to your virtual phone number plans. You can record up to 100% of all incoming and outgoing calls and store them for up to 6 years. Call us today at 1 (877) 898 8646 to learn more or to get hosted call recording for your business!

5 Most Effective Ways to Record VoIP Calls

Posted on by Luke Genoyer

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#153696482 ID#27446420

Need to record, store, and analyze your business phone calls? In this article we evaluate five different ways to record VoIP calls.

How to Record Your Business VoIP Calls

Call recording is a requirement for companies in a myriad of industries worldwide, including healthcare and financial services. New regulations like HIPAA, Dodd-Frank, and MiFID II now require certain companies to record all customer interactions, including phone calls.

Most businesses choose to record their VoIP calls for a variety of reasons. Some of these benefits include using recordings:

  • To make and store a copy of transactions
  • As evidence against false claims
  • For training and educational material
  • As protection against liabilities
  • To conduct performance reviews, improve customer relations, maintain quality assurance, and more

5 Ways to Record VoIP Calls

There are a few different ways to record VoIP calls. Here we list the top 5 ways to effectively record calls, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages

1. Port Mirroring

Port mirroring is a traditional recording solution, used on a network switch. Port mirroring works by sending copies of network packets seen on one switch port to another. Network applications that require constant monitoring can make use of this type of recording. Common uses are intrusion detection, real user monitoring, or recording VoIP calls. You can use port mirroring to copy inbound and outbound traffic on multiple platforms.

One of the top disadvantages associated with port mirroring is the fact that it is on-premise hardware. This means it requires installation, maintenance, and configuration. If not operated and managed appropriately, it can result in loss of data and calls.

2. Call Recording Devices

This refers to using a recording device attached to the phone such as a stand-alone recorder. You can purchase a good recording device for as little as $100, connect it to your calling device (computer, desk phone, smartphone, etc.), and click the record button every time you want to record a call.

A disadvantage of getting standalone recording devices is the need for multiple devices if you want to record all calls made by employees. Each employee will need a device and all recordings will be made available separately. Additionally, there is a certain degree of manual use involved. That is, the employee will need to ensure they are recording their VoIP calls and then transfer the recording to the desired folder without fail. Plus, there may be limited storage available with such devices.

3. Local Recording Clients

Local recording allows users to record voice and video calls locally to their computer or laptop. Services such as Skype, Zoom, etc., enable local recording. The recordings can then be uploaded to Google Drive, Dropbox, YouTube, etc. Whether or not you can record VoIP calls this way depends on the service.

Those who need small-scale recording will find this type of call recording useful. However, if you have a large inbound and outbound call volume and wish to record all calls, using local recording can be a bit tedious as recording must be repeated for each call or user. Furthermore, some services require a subscription to enable recording while others provide it for free.

An image of VoIP call recording devices.

4. Online Recording Applications and Tools

You may also choose to download a recording application, use your desktop recorder, or get an online tool such as a web extension. However, these tools while easy to access, may not produce high-quality recordings and differ in terms of storage capacity and sharing abilities.

5. Hosted Recording

Finally, you may consider hosted call recording from your VoIP service provider that records all inbound and outbound calls automatically. For example, United World Telecom offers call recording as a premium feature that can be added to your VoIP plan.

Hosted call recording enables you to set the percentage of calls to be recorded as well as how long you wish to store the recordings (up to 6 years). Since this works along with your service provider, all business voice-over IP or VoIP calls are automatically recorded within the business’ control panel, which is easily accessible on any device.

Learn about the benefits of hosted call recording in this blog article.

Choosing the Right Way to Record VoIP Calls

The most effective way to record VoIP calls depends on your recording needs and budget. If you have small-scale needs where you only record select calls, then using a local recording client or an online app may seem more suitable. However, if you need to record all calls, then subscribing to your business VoIP provider’s call recording software may seem like a more cost-effective and scalable solution. To learn more about hosted call recording, speak to one of our experts today!

Learn more about VoIP and how it works in this video.

Tips for Running a Successful Virtual Call Center

Posted on by Meryl D'Sa-Wilson

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#11796646 ID#27446420

Thinking of opening a cloud or virtual call center? Well, you are in luck. It is now easier than ever to start and run a full online call center, thanks to advancements in telecom technology. You will business phone service with features and tools that assist your communications. Outbound calling and call recording software are two must-haves for a cloud call center to be successful.

Running a Virtual Call Center

As a virtual call center, you will be working with inbound and outbound calling for different businesses. That means you will engage in making and receiving customer calls. These calls revolve around technical and product support, sales and lead generation, and more. To run a successful call center, you must adopt important virtual communication tools. Let’s look at how outbound calling and call recording, specifically, can boost business dealings.

Benefits of Cloud Call Centers

With a virtual call center, your business can go beyond its immediate location and restrictions and enter global spaces. And, your teams become more equipped to manage calls, assist customers, and maintain productivity even when working virtually or remotely. Here are the top reasons to run a cloud call center:

  • Mobile and flexible
  • Scalable and reliable
  • Low infrastructure and maintenance costs
  • One unified platform to connect distributed teams
  • Options for multichannel communication
  • High cloud communication security
  • Global reach and coverage
  • Call analytics and metrics tracking.

Top Virtual Call Center Features

Two of the main cloud call center features include outbound calling and hosted call recording. These features have been growing in popularity recently with more and more call centers switching over to the cloud.

Benefits of Outbound Calling

Outbound calling refers to calls made by a company to its customers. This can be done in-house through a virtual outbound calling service or by outsourcing to a call center. Outbound calls occur for sales and telemarketing, feedback or verification purposes, or to update contact lists and customer data.

You can get outbound calling for your business by signing up online. Purchase virtual numbers from United World Telecom and customize your caller ID to display one of these numbers. For example, you can have local and international numbers for different cities and states. Then, when you call a specific location, you can use a local number instead of a toll free or international number that customers are not familiar with. Unknown numbers are often ignored. Individuals are much more likely to answer the call of a local number. Outbound Calling, therefore, enables you to make long-distance and international calls with that location’s caller ID.

With outbound calling, you can follow up on customers, send them appointment and payment reminders, update customer data, collect feedback, raise funds, and more. This service gives you yet another means of staying in touch with clients and strengthening relations. Here are some tips to improve your outbound calling strategy.

Call Recording for Quality Assurance

It’s simple: you cannot operate an efficient call center without good agents. One way to monitor and train your reps is by recording calls and reviewing them. This is a good way to maintain quality assurance and call center standards. It also enables record-keeping which can protect your virtual call center from business and personal liabilities and misunderstandings. More and more corporations are adopting call recording software to keep records of their customer and contact list.

A call recording service from United World Telecom lets you record up to 100% of your calls and store them as MP3 files for up to 6 years. Additionally, you can add Call Recording to Outbound Calling to record outgoing calls as well. You can add this feature to your cart when shopping for virtual numbers.

This service can also be used to maintain compliance, depending on what sector the business you are representing comes under. For example, the financial services industry functions under the Dodd-Frank, MiFID II, and GDPR regulations and finance companies must keep up with their laws. While using call recording software, make sure you are aware of local and state regulations. Some countries do not allow recording unless one or both parties consent verbally or in their contract agreements. And so, it is important to keep these regulations in mind when choosing to record business calls.

Get Outbound Calling and Call Recording with United World Telecom

Boost your communications and sales by adding Outbound Calling and Hosted Call Recording to your office phone system. Contact us to find out how you can use these services or sign up for a virtual number and start building your virtual call center today!

Improve Communication With Business VoIP

Posted on by Meryl D'Sa-Wilson

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#16365337 ID#27446420

As a business owner, you may have often wondered, is there a way to improve business interactions without overspending? Well, yes, there is. Business VoIP is a cloud-based communications solution that is cost-effective and sustainable. But first, you need to understand what VoIP is and how you can use it best.

Business VoIP: Using VoIP in the Workplace

Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) enables you to make and receive phone calls over the internet instead of a phone line. Therefore, VoIP lets you engage in phone conversations through any device (smartphone, laptop, deskphone, etc) and from anywhere in the world. In recent years, VoIP has been growing more and more popular with US companies across different industries.

Besides phone calls, you can also send and receive video, audio, text messages, and files from one system to another. You can also transform any device into a business phone that has VoIP capabilities. And so, even when you are traveling, you can conduct business as well.

Let’s look at the many reasons why business VoIP should be the next switch for your corporation.

Lower Costs and Increased Accessibility

Most companies are switching to business VoIP because VoIP phone systems are cheaper to purchase and install. They do not require expensive hardware or elaborate set-ups. More importantly, because they transmit calls over the internet instead of traditional phone lines, call charges are considerably less. This allows you to make international calls without paying high long-distance calling charges.

A virtual communications provider will offer different plans that you can choose from based on your call volume and business size. Then you pay for how much you use, and you remain accessible no matter where you are. You can get virtual local and international numbers with familiar country and area codes. Individuals are more likely to call or answer a call from a number code that is local and that they recognize.

Personalize with Advanced Features

Every enterprise needs to create and maintain an image of professionalism and customer care. Becoming accessible is one way to do so. Another way is to use additional communication features to personalize and control business interactions. When you get business VoIP from a cloud-based communications provider, you get access to other exciting features that help organize and streamline company calls. Here are some features that United World Telecom offers:

  • Call Forwarding – Forward incoming calls to desired numbers
  • Interactive Voice Response (IVR) – Automated response assists and directs them to the right department through a series of menus
  • Outbound Calling with Customizable Caller ID – Display desired caller ID when making outbound calls for sales and lead generation
  • Customized Greetings – IVR feature that greets customers and offers information about the company
  • Call Recording – Record incoming and outgoing calls for quality assurance and compliance purposes
  • Time of Day Routing – Route calls to certain numbers during specific times of the day
  • SMS to Email, Voicemail to Email – Receive texts and voicemail copies in your inbox
  • Call Tracking – Track incoming and outgoing calls with multiple virtual numbers

Encourages Collaboration Across Teams

With call transfer, multiple extensions, and the ability to communicate from anywhere, business VoIP makes it easier to communicate within teams. This is especially beneficial for companies with remote employees and offices. Through high-quality audio and video communication, you can also be in the know. This leads to more productivity and fewer interruptions.

Bolster Office Communication

With advancements in technology, it is easier than ever to improve office communication to make processes more efficient. So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for a business phone number and start building your VoIP system. Not convinced yet? Talk to an expert to learn more. We are here to help.

GDPR Compliance: Everything You Should Know

Posted on by Meryl D'Sa-Wilson

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#316138756 ID#27446420

Are you a company or enterprise doing business with an EU-related organization or client? If so, the GDPR compliance is something you need to be aware of. The EU brought a new regulation into effect on May 25, 2018, which imposes obligations on all organizations targeting and collecting data of people in the EU. And aspects of this regulation affect businesses’ data processing abilities as well as storing personal data, call recording, etc.

What is GDPR Compliance?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the strictest privacy and security law in the world. Advancements in technology and the invention of the internet have paved a new way for invaders and hackers to gain personal data. And this has brought light to the need for modern protection. In this day and age, individuals are more trusting of the internet and cloud services and are often sharing personal and sensitive information in places where they can be abused.

The GDPR regulation provides a strong stance on data privacy and security. Any company not paying attention to GDPR’s laws and in accordance with GDPR compliance can suffer harsh fines and penalties. However, because of its length and depth, it can be an overwhelming prospect to understand and follow, especially for small businesses.

Important GDRP Principles

If you are a company processing customer data on the daily, then GDPR compliance is a requirement for your business. Here are the seven principles that serve the protection of data as well as accountability:

  1. Lawfulness, fairness, transparency ‒ Process personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in relation to the data subject
  2. Purpose limitation ‒ Process and collect data for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes and not a manner incompatible with those purposes
  3. Data minimization ‒ Collect data that is adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary to be processed
  4. Accuracy ‒ Keep accurate and up to date information. Inaccurate data should be erased or corrected without delay
  5. Storage limitation ‒ Store for no longer than necessary unless stored for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical, or statistical purposes.
  6. Integrity and confidentiality ‒ Process in a way that ensures the security of personal data and protection of unlawful or unauthorized processing
  7. Accountability ‒ Controller should be responsible for and demonstrate compliance with all of the above

Call Recording and GDPR Compliance

These principles ensure that enterprises requiring data processing and retention follow GDPR compliance. Not many realize that call recording is one means to collect and store customer data. Call recording can serve as a highly resourceful tool to improve a business’ communication and customer interaction. With the ability to reference old calls, mistakes, and achievements, companies can use recordings to improve how they interact with their clients. Recording business calls is a form of data processing because these calls often contain the exchange and sharing of personal data.

GDPR compliance for call recording outlines when a recording may occur and how it should be treated. Tacit consent is not sufficient. Instead, individuals must agree and provide consent to have their call recorded. This consent should be clear, specific, and unambiguous. To justify their need to record calls, one of the below conditions should be fulfilled:

  • Individuals participating in the call have given consent — verbal acceptance during the call, consent after receiving a message, or consent as part of a customer agreement — to be recorded
  • Recording the conversation is necessary to fulfill a contract
  • Call recording is in the public interest
  • Recording the call is required to fulfill a legal obligation
  • Call recording is necessary to protect one or more participants
  • Recording conversations are in the recorder’s interest unless those interests are less important than the interests of all participants of the call

However, besides following these conditions and receiving appropriate consent to record, businesses also need to arrange and store their files in a way that is easily accessible. They should be able to recall audio files as requested and delete personal data upon request. Your company should follow these regulations to be GDPR compliant and avoid heavy fines.

Record Calls With United World Telecom

Now that you know what GDPR compliance entails, it is time to reconsider how and when you need to record calls with customers and clients. Contact us today at 1 (877) 898 8646 to find out how you can get call recording for your business.

MiFID II Definition, Regulations, and Requirements

Posted on by Meryl D'Sa-Wilson

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#267892186 ID#27446420

Want to know if the MiFID II regulation affects your business? MiFID II is legislation impacting the financial services industry with an attempt to increase transparency and reduce harmful financial practices. Let’s look at the communication regulations under MiFID II.

What is MiFID II?

The Market in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) is a European Union legislation that came into force in 2018. This legislation builds on MiFID I and focuses on preventing breaches and abusive trading or financial services. It regulates firms offering financial services to customers like interdealer brokers, investment managers, venture capitalists, stockbrokers, Independent Financial Advisors (IFA), etc. And similar to the Dodd-Frank Act, a major part of this legislation is the requirement for financial institutions to conduct mobile and voice recording.

How Does MiFID II Affect Financial Services Companies in the EU

MiFID II dictates that certain telephone conversations and electronic communications must be recorded by firms. According to the MiFID II policy statement from Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), firms must record correspondences that “result in transactions concluded when dealing on own account and the provision of client order services that relate to the reception, transmission, and execution of client orders.” In addition to this, certain correspondences relating to firms offering corporate finance services may fall within recording requirements. Other types of communication that might fall under the MiFID II requirements include those between:

  • A bank and selling shareholder or bank and buyers relating to the purchase of a block of securities by the bank and the resale of securities.
  • A bank and its corporate client and bank and sellers related to the purchase of securities in “buy-back” transactions.
  • A bank and buyers regarding re-selling shares purchased by an underwriting bank.
  • A bank and its clients and the bank and a third-party seller or broker regarding the purchase of securities as part of stakebuilding.

MiFID II Call Recording Regulations

If you are a financial services company, it is highly recommended to comply with the regulations and requirements of MiFID II. However, traditional recording technology, as well as recording and storing all calls, can be expensive.

Fortunately, cloud-based solutions make call recording and storing processes easier. For many companies, MiFID II provides a good reason to switch to a cloud-based communication platform. One of the benefits of a virtual communication system is the ability to record calls and access them for future use. Additionally, having the ability to record communication over different channels and devices is exceptionally convenient.

With a virtual telecom services provider like United World Telecom, you can choose to record 100% of your calls. These calls are stored as MP3 files for later use. Additionally, you can get the feature with your virtual business number and so, you don’t need to purchase any additional equipment to record calls.

Other Call Recording Requirements

Call recording is often used to reduce business and personal liability and to record important transactions and maintain compliance. Besides recording your calls to comply with MiFID II, you can also use recordings to improve business-customer interactions. For example, you can review recorded calls for quality assurance by referring to them during training and performance analysis. Teach and train your employees to meet your company’s standards. Reward good customer service practices and highlight interactions that need improvements. Some advantages of call recording:

  • Improve staff performance
  • Receive customer feedback
  • Monitor marketing campaigns and ROI
  • Find and recover missed opportunities
  • Gather sales training material and more.

Record Calls with United World Telecom

United World Telecom’s Call Recording feature will provide you a safe space to record and store both incoming and outgoing calls. Record calls and store MP3 files that are easily accessible. Sign up for a business number or transfer your existing number to us and get this feature today.