Legal firms like yours typically record client conversations to track billable hours, as well as for dispute resolution and evidentiary purposes. Some also record their interactions to assess staff performance and monitor client service levels.
Did you know, however, that states have unique rules when it comes to the legality of recording client calls? Some follow the two-party notification rule, which requires all parties on a call to consent to being recorded. Others follow the one-party notification rule, which requires just one party to consent. Click here to view a state-by-state listing of call recording laws.
International laws vary even more and can be quite different from country to country. Some don’t allow you to record calls at all, while others specify which types of calls can be recorded. Here is a resource which may help you further understand country-specific laws. In the UK and Europe, new privacy laws specify what can and cannot be recorded. These regulations include GDPR and MiFID II. We are not a law firm, so please don’t consider this legal advice.
The Need to Record
“86% of the time, law firms fail to collect an email address, and 45% of the time, law firms fail to collect a phone number on an initial call.”
(Law Technology Today)
Law firms should record all interactions to identify these (and potentially other) missteps and prevent them from recurring.
As a legal firm, you obviously fall under a high level of legal scrutiny, perhaps more so than consumer businesses, for example. You need to be sure you and your employees are doing the things necessary to abide by all relevant regulations when recording client interactions. When you consider chat solutions like Skype for Business, the scrutiny goes beyond just the audio part of an interaction. If your staff is using a unified communications solution, you need to ensure all communications channels (chat, voice, video, screen) are compliant.
Here are some of the many uses for interaction recording by law firms:
- Remote, phone-based depositions
- Protect your firm’s reputation (from complaints)
- Resolve disputes
- Prove compliance
- Monitor lawyer performance/knowledge (even sales performance when attempting to land new clients)
- Avoid loss of information
You need a highly versatile and customizable interaction recording solution that will suit your firm’s unique requirements. When selecting a recording solution, here are some important features to consider:
- Record all channels – VoIP, mobile, landline, chat
- Masking and muting – ability to mask or mute specific portions of the interaction when sensitive information is being communicated (such as with PCI Compliance for credit card transactions)
- Audit trail with change tracking and user activity log – to identify all usage of the call recording system and recordings
- Encryption – encrypting recordings while stored and in transit
- Recording retention rates – ability to set specific retention rates
- Permission levels – ability to set permission levels by various criteria to restrict access to non-authorized staff
