Recording calls with AI: what do you have to tell people?
Written lesson · about 3 minutes to read
The short answer
Tell people at the start of the call that it is being recorded and transcribed by an AI tool, and let them object. US federal law allows recording when one person on the call agrees, but some states need everyone to agree, so follow the strictest rule that applies.
Three things to remember
- 01US federal law allows recording when one person on the call agrees, but some states need everyone's agreement.
- 02When callers are in different states, follow the strictest rule that applies to any of them.
- 03Say at the start that the call is recorded and transcribed, and let people object.
What the law says, in general
In the United States, federal law allows a call to be recorded when one person on the call agrees, and that person can be you. Some states go further and require everyone on the call to agree. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Maryland are among them. Rules differ by state, and other countries have their own.
Callers are often in a different state from you. In that case the safe course is to follow the strictest rule that applies to any of them. If you are in a state that needs one person's agreement and your customer is in Massachusetts, treat the call as one where everyone must agree.
How to tell people
Say it at the start of every recorded call, in plain words: 'This call is recorded and transcribed by an AI note-taker so we get the details right. Tell me now if you would rather it was not.' Then honour the answer. If someone objects, switch the recording off and take notes by hand.
An AI receptionist should say at the start that it is an automated assistant and that the call is recorded. A note-taker that joins a meeting should announce itself as well, so nobody finds out later that a tool was listening. Never hide a recording tool from the people on the call.
What happens to the recordings
A recording is a record you now have to look after. Ask where the recordings and transcripts are stored, how long they are kept and who can read them. Keep them only as long as you need them, and delete them on a schedule. A library of every call the business has had is valuable and sensitive in equal measure.
Some conversations may not belong in a recording at all: a client talking about their finances, a patient, a staff disciplinary meeting. Decide in advance which calls are never recorded. Ask the vendor whether it uses your recordings to train its models, and get the answer in writing.
What to do this week
List every call and meeting where a tool already records or transcribes, including phone agents and video meeting notes. For each one, check whether people are told at the start. Where they are not, add the sentence today.
Then write a one-page rule: what you say at the start, who may switch recording on, where the files live, how long they stay and who can see them. Check it with a lawyer for your own business, because the rules depend on your state and on where your callers are.
More in part 3
- 1AI security for small business
- 2Shadow AI: your team is already using it
- 3Where does your data actually go?
- 4Is your data being used to train their model?
- 5Personal or business AI accounts: why it mattersWritten
- 6What is PII, and how do you keep it out of AI?
- 7What is data retention, and who decides it?
- 8How are scammers using AI, and how do you stop them?Written
- 9What is prompt injection?
- 10How to write an AI policy for a 20-person company
- 11Recording calls with AI: what do you have to tell people?WrittenYou are here
- 12Should you tell customers when AI is involved?Written
- 13Who owns what AI creates?
- 14AI and your insurance: who's liable when it's wrong?
Next step
Where does this fit your business?
Six quick questions about your business, then your AI plan: what to start with, what a person still checks, and the lessons that go with it. Or bring it straight to a free thirty-minute call.