Coaching a team
A supervisor listens to a sample of calls to help agents improve. Recording a queue, not the whole company, is enough.
Trust Centre
Recording calls responsibly
Recording can settle a dispute, train a new hire or prove what was agreed. It also captures people's voices, so it comes with obligations: telling callers, telling staff, limiting who listens and deciding how long to keep it. 3CTel configures all of that with you before the first call is recorded.
- Caller announcement configured with you
- Access limited by role
- Pause or exclude recording where sensitive details are spoken
ExampleView all team
Business number
+1 (416) 555-0198
Main numberActive call 00:24
IN
Inbound caller
+1 (905) 555-0142
Mute
Keypad
Hold
Add
End
Transfer call
Select a team member or department
Search people or teams
- Sales teamExt. 202
- Customer supportExt. 204
Your team
RC
ReceptionExt. 201
AvailableS1
Sales 1Ext. 202
On a callS2
Sales 2Ext. 203
AvailableSD
Service deskExt. 204
AvailableOM
Office managerExt. 205
In a meetingCall recording on a business phone system is off until the customer enables it for specific users, queues or numbers. General Canadian practice is to inform callers that a call is recorded, and 3CTel configures that announcement with the customer. Access to recordings is limited to the roles the customer's administrators choose, retention is set per account, and recording can be paused or excluded where sensitive details are spoken.
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When recording is worth turning on
Recording everything, everywhere, is rarely the right answer. It fills storage with conversations nobody will hear and it widens the number of people whose voices you are responsible for. Recording is most useful when it is switched on for a reason.
Confirming what was agreed
Orders, bookings and verbal instructions can be confirmed against a recording when there is a disagreement.
Meeting an obligation
Some organizations are required by their own policies or their regulator to record certain conversations. Which ones is a question for the organization, not the phone provider.
Training new hires
Real calls, with permission, teach faster than scripts. Recordings used this way should be retained only as long as they are useful.
Contact Centre
Queues, routing and supervision for teams that live on the phone.
Learn more: Contact CentreCustomer service
The phone workflow behind a support desk that answers, follows up and improves.
Learn more: Customer serviceHigh Call Volume Teams
Queues, callbacks and analytics for teams that are always busy.
Learn more: High Call Volume TeamsTelling callers and staff
General practice in Canada is that callers are informed a call is being recorded. The usual way is a short announcement at the start of the call, before the caller reaches a person. 3CTel records or configures that announcement with you, in English, French or both, and places it where it will always play on recorded lines.
Employees should be told too. A written notice explaining which lines are recorded, why, who can listen and for how long is the practice we recommend, and a specialist can share a plain-language starting point for it.
- Announcement plays before the caller is connected, on every line where recording is enabled.
- Bilingual announcement where your callers are bilingual, matched to the language choice in your menu.
- Outbound calls from recorded lines carry the same notice, read by the agent or played automatically.
- Internal notice to staff, kept on file, updated when recorded lines change.
This describes general practice, not the law of any particular province. If your organization needs a legal opinion on recording, obtain one from a lawyer; 3CTel configures the announcement you decide on.
Who can listen, and for how long
Choose what is recorded
Recording is enabled per user, per queue or per number. A support queue can be recorded while the accounting extension is not.
Decide who has access
Administrators assign access by role. A queue supervisor can hear that queue's recordings; an agent can hear their own or none; the owner can hear everything or nothing.
Set the retention period
Recordings are kept for the period you choose and then removed automatically. Shorter periods mean less to protect.
Pause or exclude where needed
Where sensitive details are spoken, such as payment card numbers or personal health information, recording can be paused by the agent or excluded for that step of the call. Which steps are excluded is decided with you.
Privacy of call data
What the phone service processes, who can see it, and how retention and deletion are handled.
Learn more: Privacy of call dataMedical & Dental Clinics
Appointment lines, provider routing and after-hours coverage for clinics.
Learn more: Medical & Dental ClinicsFinancial Services
Advisor direct lines, call records and seasonal capacity for financial offices.
Learn more: Financial ServicesCommon questions about recording business calls
Do we have to tell callers that we record?
General practice in Canada is that callers are informed a call is recorded, and most organizations do this with a short announcement at the start of the call. The announcement is configured as part of setup so it plays on every recorded line. For advice on your own obligations, consult a lawyer; the phone system will play whatever notice you decide on.
Can we record only some calls?
Yes. Recording is enabled per user, per queue or per number, so a sales queue can be recorded while a private extension is not. On a recorded line, an agent can pause recording during a step where sensitive details are spoken and resume it afterward, and 3CTel can exclude specific menu paths from recording entirely.
How long should we keep recordings?
As long as they are useful for the reason you record, and no longer. Coaching recordings are typically kept for weeks; recordings kept to confirm agreements may need longer. The period is configured on your account during planning, and recordings are removed automatically at the end of it unless an administrator has retained a specific one.
How 3CTel sets it up with you
During planning, a specialist asks why you want to record, which lines it applies to, who should have access and how long recordings should be kept. The announcement is recorded or generated in the languages your callers use, exclusions are configured for the steps you identify, and the whole flow is tested on a temporary number so you can hear the notice as a caller would. Recording is enabled only when you confirm the configuration.
Related pages.
Trust Centre
What 3CTel commits to on 9-1-1, privacy, recording, porting and continuity, and what to ask any provider.
Learn more: Trust CentrePrivacy of call data
What the phone service processes, who can see it, and how retention and deletion are handled.
Learn more: Privacy of call dataContact Centre
Queues, routing and supervision for teams that live on the phone.
Learn more: Contact CentreCall Analytics
See what your phone traffic is actually doing — and staff for it.
Learn more: Call AnalyticsCustomer service
The phone workflow behind a support desk that answers, follows up and improves.
Learn more: Customer serviceCall recording
Capturing and storing business calls for training, quality review and record-keeping.
Learn more: Call recordingFrequently asked questions.
Recording is available on the service and enabled per user, queue or number when you ask for it. It is quoted as part of your plan and is off until you confirm the configuration.
Administrators with access can play or download a recording from the admin portal. Download activity is limited to the roles you assign, and the retention period still applies.
Yes. Recording can be paused by the agent, or excluded for a specific step of the call, so that card numbers or other sensitive details are not captured. The excluded steps are defined with you.
Meetings can be recorded with the participants' knowledge, and the same access and retention settings apply. Ask a specialist to include meetings in the recording plan if you need it.
Decide what to record before you record anything.
A specialist configures the announcement, access, retention and exclusions with you and tests the flow on a temporary number.