Best Call Recording Software
Buyer's Guide
Proper recordkeeping is a major challenge for many call centers. When you’re dealing with massive call volumes, keeping a record of each and every conversation can be a logistical nightmare.
Call recording software helps you solve this problem. By automatically recording calls as they happen, the software allows you to effortlessly create valuable records as you go about your daily business operations.
Ready to find out what call recording software can do for you? Let’s dive in!
Executive Summary
- Call recording software is a tool that records live calls for documentation and archival purposes.
- In a call center, call recordings can be used for documentation, supervision, quality assurance and training purposes.
- Before making a final decision, make a list of your organizational requirements and properly evaluate the platforms you’re considering to ensure they meet your needs.
What Is Call Recording Software?
Call recording software is a call center tool that records live calls for documentation and archival purposes. It can record audio from calls, create written transcripts and generate call summaries. These call recordings and transcripts can be stored and referred back to as needed, and used for quality assurance and training purposes.
Call centers should have a record of each call made by their agents for future reference. These recordings are a useful cross-checking tool in cases of customer complaints or other issues that may arise from individual calls, and protects your company in the case of disputes or false complaints.
This helps organizations maintain checks on service quality and offer a better customer experience, a major driving force behind customers’ purchasing decisions.
Primary Benefits
1. Accuracy
Call centers deal with huge call volumes, and it’s not always possible to remember or keep track of each customer interaction. Call recording software helps agents stay on track more easily by providing comprehensive records of each call.
- Auto Attendant Systems
- Auto Dialer
- Automatic Call Distribution
- Business Phone Service Providers
- Business Phone
- Call Center Scripting
- Call Center
- Call Monitoring
- Call Tracking
- Cloud PBX
- Cloud Phone Systems
- Computer Telephony Integration
- Conference Call Services
- Conference Calling
- IVR Systems
- PBX Phone
- Predictive Dialer
- Screen Sharing
- SIP Clients
- SIP Trunk Providers
- Small Business Phone
- UCAAS Providers
- Video Conferencing
- Virtual Phone Systems
- VoIP Phone Service Providers
- VoIP Phone Systems
- VoIP Softphones
- VoIP
If a customer is dissatisfied with the quality of service they received on call and complains, a manager can review a recording of the call to find out exactly what happened. The software also generates transcripts and call summaries which can be used for a quick review.
2. Quality Control
When you have a high volume of calls, monitoring agent performance in real time is nearly impossible to do. While tools like call monitoring software can simplify this task, trying to stay on top of your staff can take up a lot of time and resources without much payoff.
Monitoring agent performance and service quality through periodic checks of the call recordings is easier and more efficient. Managers can check specific calls, or choose recordings at random to get a sense of the service agents provide.
3. Better Training
Call centers often deal with high attrition rates, meaning that new staff are constantly being brought onboard. These agents need to be properly trained before they can be put on the floor. Recorded calls provide real-life examples of situations they’ll encounter, an excellent training resource for new hires.
You can also use recordings of calls with difficult or uncooperative customers to show agents what they can expect and how to navigate difficult situations. According to Zendesk, less than 30% of call center agents feel empowered to do their job well. Proper training can help you empower your agents and boost morale.
Key Features & Functionality
| Call Recording | Record both inbound and outbound calls. You can also choose whether to record only inbound or only outbound calls depending on your needs. |
|---|---|
| Call Transcription | Voice analysis automatically creates text transcripts of calls. These transcripts are useful for quickly reviewing the details of a call without having to listen through an entire audio recording. |
| Call Recording Opt-In | If you want to give your customers more privacy and choice, you can use this feature to allow customers to opt in or out of call recording. If a customer chooses to opt out, their call will not be recorded. |
| Agent-only Call Recording | If you want to record all calls going through your call center without worrying about customer privacy, you can use this feature to only record the agent’s side of the conversation. This allows you to monitor service quality without having to record customers. |
| Coaching Playlists | Automatically or manually create coaching playlists, or short training courses agents can move through quickly, using recorded examples from agents’ calls. |
| Post-call Summaries | Automatically create a summary of each call once it's finished. Post-call summaries can include call recordings and transcripts as well as other details and metrics, including call handling time, customer feedback and more. |
| Security | Apart from call recording opt-in and agent-only call recording, call recording software also includes other security and privacy features. Agents can manually pause a recording when taking down sensitive information. You can also use APIs to automatically detect and prevent the recording of sensitive information, like credit card details. |
| Integrations and Plug-ins | Your call recording software should be compatible and able to integrate with other call center tools used by your organization, like a CRM integration to create a unified platform for handling customer relationships. |
Software Comparison Strategy
Before you even begin shortlisting software, you need to determine what your company needs. What challenges are you currently facing and how are you looking to address them? If you need help determining this, try using our requirements template to get a clear picture of what your needs are.
Some of the things you’ll want to take into consideration are factors like the size of your organization and the call volume you handle on a day to day basis. Also consider what features you want to prioritize, and whether the platforms you are considering integrate with your current call center software and CRM platform.
Once you’ve narrowed down your options, make a list of potential vendors and start reaching out to them. Be sure to ask them any questions you might have about the software before making a purchasing decision. Some vendors also offer free trials, so you can see how the software functions in your workplace before you commit.
Cost and Pricing Considerations
The cost of call recording software can vary based on a few factors. The first thing to consider is whether you want to make a one-time payment or use a renewable subscription. On-premise deployment is usually a one-time cost, while cloud-based software tends to use a subscription model.
Most vendors offer different pricing tiers depending on whether you need only the basics or more advanced features. Add-ons and plug-ins can also result in additional costs.
For on-premise software, always check whether the one-time payment includes the cost of updates, repairs and maintenance. You may also have to pay extra for version upgrades down the line, so include these costs in your budget.
The Most Popular Call Recording Software
Choosing the right tools is the first step towards better call center management. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular call recording software, handpicked by our research team.
RingCentral
RingCentral is a cloud-based contact center solution that offers a unified platform for call center management and collaboration. It offers automated call recording for both inbound and outbound calls and allows you to save as many as 100,000 business recordings per account. It also offers customizable announcements to ensure legal compliance and informed consent for recordings.
Call management with RingCentral. Source
Avaya
Avaya is a cloud-based business communication and contact center automation tool. It can improve customer experience through a unified communications platform, omni-channel connectivity and self-service support. The platform also offers call recording features and has the capacity to record up to 333 total hours of conversation.
Avaya call management dashboard. Source
Vonage
Vonage is a cloud-based phone system and contact center management platform, offering reliable and unified communications infrastructure for call centers. Vonage provides extensive call recording features, including automated and on-demand call recording. Vonage comes with up to 500 hours of storage, with the option to buy more storage in 250 hour increments.
Vonage dashboard. Source
Questions To Ask
Use these questions as a starting point for internal conversations:
- What’s our budget?
- What are our organizational goals?
- Do we have any industry-specific requirements?
- Do we need remote agent support?
- How many employees will use the software?
Use these questions as a starting point for conversations with vendors:
- Does the software require extra plug-ins or third-party integrations?
- Do you offer data security and privacy measures?
- Do you offer 24/7 support?
- What kind of maintenance services do you offer?
- Do you offer onboarding and training resources?
In Conclusion
Call recording software can help you improve service quality, offer better training resources and supervise your call center more effectively. It’s a great tool to have in your arsenal, helping you manage high volumes of calls and keep your customers satisfied.
Ready to take the next step? Our software comparison report can tell you more about top industry leaders and help you pick the best platform for your organization.
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