The short answer
How it works
When an extension has recording on, every call it takes or makes is captured at the platform, alongside the call rather than in its path, so neither side hears or feels anything. Each side of the conversation is captured on its own channel and the two are merged into one file, which is why recordings do not drift and why the transcript can tell the speakers apart. The file is stored encrypted in our own cloud storage and appears in the call's journey in Reports about ten seconds after the call ends.
Turning it on for some people
Recording is off on every new account and every new extension. Tell us which extensions to record and we switch it on; the change is immediate and applies to the next call. Turning it off is the same request. Existing recordings stay for their retention period either way.
Turning it on for everyone
The company's Settings page, in the Defaults block, has a switch called Force call recording. Turning it on gives recording to every extension in the company that does not have it, sets each to record every call, locks the per-extension setting so it cannot be switched off, and applies to every extension created afterwards. Anyone who can open the Settings page can flip it, which normally includes a company admin, so recording appearing on everybody at once is the signature of this switch. Turning it off stops enforcing it but does not switch anyone's recording off.
Telling callers
Recording laws differ by state, and some states require every party on the call to be told. We do not give legal advice; the simple practice that satisfies the stricter rule is an announcement on every recorded line, "this call may be recorded for quality and training," played as a pre-alert announcement before the phone rings. Type it and text to speech reads it. See greetings and hold music.
Retention
Every recording is kept for at least one year, on every account, with no shorter tier. If your industry needs longer, tell us. Very short calls, under about six seconds, never connect long enough to record. A longer call with no recording is not expected; tell us the date, time and number and we look.
Listening, and who may
Recordings play inside the call journey in Reports, for a login that holds the two recording permissions. Transcripts and AI summaries are a separate switch for the company. See playing recordings and who can hear them and AI summaries and transcripts. Recordings are among the services covered by the HIPAA agreement once you accept it; see HIPAA and the BAA.