Jan 20 2007
Recording conference calls
More and more companies today want to keep the digital record of a videoconference. This not only serves as a record for posterity, but also becomes a valuable resource. The service provider has no difficulty recording conference calls and providing a digital copy. However, it is important to check privacy issues before recording conference calls.
Sometimes, personal or sensitive data may be communicated in a conference call in which two or several users may be taking part. A service provider will be in deep legal trouble if he records such a conference call without permission. It is therefore essential not only to decide which conference calls are to be recorded, and which need not be recorded.
Also, it is important to check state laws. In certain states, it is illegal to record calls without prior permission. Also, ethics demands that all users taking part in a conference call must be informed before the start of the call that the call is being recorded. To do so otherwise is not only a breach of trust, but may invite severe legal penalties.
These precautions are important because conference call services have a feature which lets users record a conversation. The users can do so by accessing the website of the service provider, and initializing the function. This feature is available to both the conference call manager and the individual users. Either or both of them can maintain a recorded copy of the conversation.
In the case of cell phones, it is possible to call the voice mail service of the cellular phone organization, and initiate a recording session. This, however, has a limitation of one minute or so. Hence each recording can be of a maximum length of 1 minute. Also recorded voice mails are not generally forwarded to email boxes.
TrekMail is another solution. It lets users record up to 20 minutes. The recorded file is then converted into an MP3 file and sent to the e-mail box of the users.
As far as fixed land line phones are concerned, a simple way to record conference calls is to attach a recorder to the line. This will record the conversation, which can then be retrieved and sent to participants. Initially only analog recording was possible, but now all recordings can be done in the digital format.
In case of a three way call enabled line, a call can be made to the voice mail service. The voice mail service would then record whatever information it hears over the line. This is applicable to fixed line phones, mobiles and VoIP based phones.
