Customer Experience 
If you want to gain insights into your contact center calls, save conversations for compliance and records, or provide better feedback for your call center agents, you’ll need to invest in call recording software.
Anyone looking to invest in recording software needs to consider the different types of call recording solutions, their pros and cons, as well as the use cases for call recordings.
Let’s explore these areas and more as we look at the types of call center recording services, how they’re used, and what you should look for in call recording software.
4 Types of Call Center Recording Software
Let’s start by looking at the different types of call center recording software, their unique benefits, and what they’re commonly used for.
1. On-premises call recording
On-premises call recording uses software installed and managed on physical servers within the organization’s facilities to record calls. The software and recordings are kept and managed on-site, giving businesses more control over their call recording technology.
This approach is typically used by large organizations with strict data control requirements. Additionally, companies in industries with strict compliance standards, such as finance and healthcare, tend to use on-premises call recording to ensure they’re fully compliant.
- Pros: On-premises call recording grants organizations greater control over their data security and storage. They can customize their recording and data policies to their specific needs to ensure they’re meeting all regulatory requirements and security standards.
- Cons: On-premises solutions require a significant upfront investment in hardware and ongoing maintenance and updates. Organizations will need their own IT staff to manage the infrastructure, and, of course, they need a location with the physical space to store the equipment.
2. Cloud-based call recording
Cloud-based call recording is often praised as the most powerful and most cost-effective method. This uses a hosted solution, where a third-party provider stores and manages recordings off-site.
Cloud-based call recording is ideal for businesses of all sizes, especially for organizations looking for scalable and low-maintenance solutions. Companies with distributed teams or remote workforces usually rely on cloud-based recording, as it provides recording tools to their employees worldwide.
- Pros: Cloud-based solutions are easy to scale and accessible from anywhere, making them ideal for organizations with remote and hybrid teams as well as for growing businesses that frequently need to add new seats. As these solutions require no hardware investments, the upfront cost is typically lower, maintenance costs are nonexistent, and they don’t take up any extra space. Cloud-based solution providers also roll out frequent updates, manage maintenance, and ensure high levels of reliability.
- Cons: Cloud-based solutions rely on internet connectivity, so companies with poor coverage may struggle with this approach. As a third party stores the data, there’s less control over security and data policies, and the ongoing subscription fees can add up over time.
3. Local call recording
Local call recording is a widely used solution. It uses software to automatically record all calls, without the need for manual intervention by agents. It’s commonly configured for individual computers and devices, rather than used company-wide.
Local call recording is best suited for businesses with a low call volume, as well as for anyone managing sensitive content that shouldn’t be stored in the cloud.
- Pros: Local call recording is relatively affordable, as it doesn’t involve any recurring costs. This makes it a popular choice for smaller, more price-conscious organizations. Plus, since it automatically records calls, it eliminates the need for employees to remember to manually record their calls.
- Cons: Local call recording is less reliable than other options, due in large part to the frequent need for software and operating system updates. The fact that it needs to be set up to trigger automatic recordings also makes it prone to human error, which can be hard to catch until it’s too late. Organizations using local call recording need to ensure it’s set up properly and test it extensively if they really want to reap the benefits.
4. On-demand call recording
Last but not least, we have on-demand call recording. This allows agents and supervisors to initiate call recordings during a call, when necessary, via a hosted PBX.
On-demand call recording is useful for businesses that don’t always need to record calls but still want the flexibility to capture and save certain interactions. For instance, it’s often important to record calls for resolving disputes, or when escalating a case, so the ability to record individual calls can be a useful feature.
- Pros: The ability to record calls on-demand offers a flexibility that many users find convenient. Additionally, since on-demand recordings typically mean only a small number of calls are recorded, it has much smaller data storage needs than any other option.
- Cons: Since agents have to initiate recordings manually, it’s easy to miss opportunities to record important calls or to start recording too late.
How Is Call Center Recording Software Used Today?
Before you invest in call center recording software, you should understand its common use cases. Whether you’re a contact center agent, manager, or decision-maker, there are certain important and distinct purposes you’ll want to record calls for.
Call recording for agents
Contact center agents need to record calls for several reasons. First and foremost, it’s important to keep a record of customer interactions, including any previous agreements, services, and resolutions. Reviewing customer interactions is also important for improving services and clarifying requests for any future or follow-up calls.
Additionally, call recording is an important component for training and improving performance. Agents and supervisors can review old calls to ensure the agent is adhering to the script, to identify strengths or weaknesses, and to find opportunities for additional training and growth.
Call recording for call center managers
Contact center managers have several uses for call recording, as they need to be able to access and review recordings from across their teams. Recordings are important for performing quality assurance, monitoring agent performance, and ensuring consistent compliance with industry regulations across the contact center.
However, managers can also use the recordings to provide coaching and targeted feedback to agents. If an agent is having difficulty with certain topics or calls, the manager can review calls with them to find out where they’re struggling and how they can improve.
Additionally, should the manager need to settle any disputes with callers, they can access call recordings to determine what exactly was discussed and agreed upon in a specific call.
Call recording for business operations
Even beyond the call center, call recording can provide valuable information for business operations.
For starters, call recordings are an excellent source of customer insights. Organizations can analyze their recordings to see how customers feel and what they’re currently struggling with, as well as to help identify common questions, potential issues, and more. Analytics software can go through hundreds of call recordings to quickly identify trends and actionable insights.
Organizations can also use information from their call recordings to optimize workflows and processes. If multiple recordings show agents hitting a similar stumbling block, companies can use that information to improve their processes and make their call centers more efficient (not to mention removing a source of frustration for agents and customers).
Should a dispute arise, companies can use call recordings as legal protection and to help settle the issue. The recordings are a clear source for what was said, who said it, when they said it, and any agreements made, making them valuable direct sources of information.
Call recordings provide insights and data that are vital for improving the overall customer experience. Each conversation is a treasure trove of information, and being able to analyze recordings empowers organizations to gain the greatest value from those conversations.
Increase Transparency With Nextiva’s Proven Call Center Recording Solution
Now that you understand what call center recording can do for an organization and the different types of solutions available, it’s time to find a recording solution that works for you.
If you’re looking for a powerful, scalable cloud-based call recording solution, you’ll want to consider Nextiva. Nextiva’s cloud-based communications and contact center platform includes high-quality call recording (including searchable transcripts) that can be set up and customized for any type of user.
Organizations can set their call recording policies, including automatic recording for all calls, on-demand call recording, pausing and resuming recording, and even user-initiated recordings. This allows companies to ensure compliance, improve their quality monitoring, and experience the many benefits of call recording.
Nextiva also offers real-time analytics — which provide detailed insights into a call center’s performance and operations — and AI-powered call routing to ensure calls reach the right agent for the job every time.
Additionally, Nextiva supports seamless inbound and outbound call management and can be scaled for businesses of all sizes. It integrates with many customer relationship management systems, which enables it to provide agents with the customer data they need to create personalized customer interactions.
For businesses with remote and hybrid employees, the NextivaONE app allows agents to work remotely while giving them access to all essential communication tools. So, no matter where your team works from, they’ll be able to perform their job efficiently and delight your customers.
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Nextiva’s Call Center Solution
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