Call Recording Laws
What are the call recording laws?
The call-recording feature in GymSales allows you to keep records of your phone calls with contacts to make follow-up calls easier and keep your team up-to-date. The information below is designed to provide you with guidelines about some things you'll need to consider when recording calls; however, GymSales always recommends you speak with your legal team to make sure you've got everything covered.
Some states require more than one party's consent to record a call. In these cases, you'll need to make sure that everyone involved consents before starting to record a call.
We suggest training your team on a simple call script.
Salesperson: Hi Mary, Its Joe here from Bronze Gym, have I caught you at a good time? Prospect: Sure, I've got a few minutes Salesperson: This call is recorded for quality purposes. I recently saw you placed an online submission for a free 7 day pass. We're excited to help you. What are you looking to achieve? Prospect: I want to see my abs again. Right now all I see is donuts.. Lots of Donuts..
However, because GymSales can't be sure where your contact is actually located when you call them (especially since the world relies so heavily on mobile devices), it's good practice to get consent where there's any uncertainty or to consider making it a policy to always ask for consent.
United States (U.S.)
In the majority of U.S. states, you'll only need consent from one of the people participating in a call in order to record it (this is often referred to as "one-party consent"). Since you're opting to record the call you're placing, and presumably, you consent to your own recording of the call, you won't need to do anything else to comply with the laws of those types of states.
However, approximately 13 states have chosen to require all parties' consent (sometimes called "two-party consent") in order to record the call. These states are currently California, Connecticut, Delaware*, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Vermont*, and Washington State.
For more general information on the subject, you might want to take a look at Wikipedia's page on telephone recording laws or the Digital Media Law Project's article on some of the basics of state recording laws.
*GymSales has chosen to include Delaware and Vermont on this list because they're tricky cases: Delaware has some conflicting laws about how many parties need to consent, and Vermont doesn't have specific laws on the subject but does have some relevant court cases.
Ireland
Irish law is pretty clear: to record calls, you must obtain consent, so Ireland joins the U.K. and 13 U.S. states as an "all-parties' consent" jurisdiction. Irish law makes clear that the purpose of the recording should be explained in detail, so the parties participating can give informed consent.
You can read more about Ireland's approach to call recording at the end of the Data Protection Commissioner's FAQ page.
Canada
Like Ireland, Canada has established a single set of rules for call recording, built into its electronic privacy law (PIPEDA).
Joining the other countries and states mentioned above, Canada has adopted an "all-parties' consent" approach: to record a call, you need to obtain informed consent by notifying others on the call (1) that you intend to record the conversation, (2) any purposes the recording will be used for, and (3) that the call may only be recorded with each person's consent.
For more details on Canada's approach, you can take a look at the Privacy Commissioner's Guidelines for Recording Customer Calls.
Australia
Most Australian states like the other countries and states mentioned above have adopted an "all-parties' consent" approach to recording a call.
If a call is to be recorded or monitored, an organisation must tell you at the beginning of the conversation so that you have the chance either to end the call, or to ask to be transferred to another line where monitoring or recording does not take place (if this is available).
Queensland has no consent requirements for recording.
For more details on call recording in Australia, you can take a look at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioners Surveillance and Monitoring Laws
The Communications Alliance have also developed guidelines on participant monitoring of voice communications.
Rest of the world
While this article has chosen to highlight certain countries above, it's by no means an exhaustive list. Since GymSales doesn't know and can't enforce all international calling legal restrictions. Before making a call to a new country, GymSales recommends making sure that you and your legal team have an understanding of any regulations there, and always obtain consent if you're in doubt.
The countries above were chosen for informational purposes; GymSales doesn't guarantee that you can use the system to call any or all of these countries. This guide has provided information about the law designed to help GymSales readers better understand the legal issues surrounding call recording. Legal information is not the same as legal advice, the application of law to an individual's specific circumstances. Although GymSales has conducted research to better ensure that this information is accurate and useful, GymSales insists that you consult a lawyer if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is accurate. You may not rely upon this information as legal advice nor as a recommendation or endorsement of any particular legal understanding, and you should instead regard this article as intended for informational purposes only.