Phone Recording Software - "Your being recorded"

Phone recording software is now as pervasive as CCTV surveillance cameras. Whether or not a legal disclaimer is played, it's prudent to assume that all business phone conversations are recorded.

Developments in technology are driving the trend. Call monitoring software has become very sophisticated. For a start the default medium for recording phone conversations is no longer magnetic tape, it's hard disk drives with capacities of tens, hundreds or even thousands of gigabytes. If required an enterprise can blanket record every in-coming and out-going phone call across any number of locations.

As calls are recorded to random access media it means that they can be retrieved instantly and on demand using a secure Web interface. Recorded phone calls can be attached to emails, customer records, insurance claims, contract files, personnel files ... and can survive in perpetuity on servers connected to intranets or the Internet.

Phone recording software intended for use by large scale enterprises may also support speech and data analytics. These tools permit millions of recorded phone calls to be analyzed in real time to identify conversations where specified words or terms are used or their frequency of use is above a nominated level. They can also identify conversations where higher than normal levels of stress are involved. These facilities are commonly used for purposes including call center monitoring, but they are also used extensively by totalitarian regimes to monitor the thoughts and conversations of private citizens.

Irrespective of whether an organization is using TDM, VoIP, SIP or a hybrid technology there are phone recording software options available. The increasing uptake of VoIP is in fact another catalyst that's made it even easier for businesses to employ call monitoring software. As both VoIP PBX and call recording systems are software applications, they can either be installed on head office servers or hosted by third party service providers. In either case there is no requirement for additional equipment to be co-located in the proximity of telephone handsets.

The ability to host call center recording software from a central facility and then record conversations anywhere across a VoIP network including remote locations, makes it a highly cost effective solution for distributed call centers.

VoIP recording solutions are now commonly packaged with hosted VoIP PBX services. The attraction to small and medium sized businesses is that there is no capital expenditure involved. An agreed number of extension lines or seats can be bundled into a monthly plan and that number can then be increased or decreased as business conditions change. It's a winning formula as indicated by the fact that the hosted VoIP PBX market is growing at an 80% compounded rate according to industry analyst Info Tech. The projection is that by 2010 the market will be worth in excess of $6 billion annually.

The use of call monitoring software is now an every day fact of life. It's a tool of the trade used by:

• Call centers and customer service centers
• Lawyers
• Estate agents
• Government departments
• Police
• Recruiters and personnel agents
• Insurance adjusters
• Social workers
• Journalist
• Finance agents and brokers

Phone recording software is now an essential tool for any business concerned with addressing pressures for dispute resolution, best practice and compliance with regulatory demands.