Recording consent: what the law needs and what Roonly does
Most US states let one party record a conversation; a minority require everyone's consent. How that applies at the door and on the office phone, and what Roonly does.
This article explains how recording consent works in practice and what Roonly does on each surface. It is not legal advice. Recording laws are set by each state, they change, and your company's policy should come from your own counsel.
One-party and all-party states
In most US states, a conversation may be recorded when one participant consents. A rep recording their own door conversation, or a CSR recording their own call, is that participant.
A minority of states require every participant to consent. As of this writing the list usually cited includes California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington. Some of these treat in-person conversations differently from phone calls, and a few have exceptions that depend on the situation, so check the rule for your state and for the state the customer is in before you record.
At the door
Roonly does not play an announcement when a rep starts recording; the rep is a party to the conversation. In an all-party state, the rep needs the customer's agreement before recording. The simplest way is to say it and get a yes: "I record my visits so my notes are accurate, is that okay with you?" Most homeowners say yes. If someone says no, do not record that conversation.
Managers set the policy for their team. If your company works across state lines, treat the strictest state you sell in as the rule for everyone; it is easier to enforce one habit than a map.
On the office phone
When Roonly sits in front of your office line, every forwarded call plays a short recorded-line notice before it connects. Callers hear that the line is recorded, so the notice covers consent for the inbound calls Roonly captures. Outbound calls your team makes do not pass through Roonly and are not recorded by it.
If Roonly pulls calls from your existing phone system instead, that system's own recording notice applies. Confirm it is turned on for the lines you send to Roonly.
What Roonly does with recordings
- Recordings and transcripts stay inside your company's workspace. Reps see their own; managers see the team's.
- Transcripts contain what was said. Roonly is turning on automatic masking of spoken identifiers in transcripts; until then, treat a transcript the way you treat the recording. See the article on personal information in recordings and transcripts.
- Scores and coaching never leave Roonly. Notes written to your CRM contain the outcome, a factual summary and a link, never the score.
- Deleting a conversation in Roonly removes its recording and transcript from your workspace.
A short checklist for managers
- Know whether your states are one-party or all-party, in person and on the phone.
- Give reps one sentence to use at the door in all-party states, and make it part of onboarding.
- Confirm the recorded-line notice on any phone line Roonly captures.
- Write the policy down and have reps acknowledge it.
Related
- Personal information in recordings and transcripts
- Keep your phone system: how the overlay works
- How recording works in the field
Still stuck? Contact support.