Should You Hear Me Now?
Clients often ask whether customer service calls can be taped or recorded for training, monitoring, security or other purposes. They want to know if they need to get express consent from the customer or even their employees when setting up the recording process. Many states have specific laws that deal with both monitoring and recording of telephone or other electronic communications—not to mention federal wiretap laws. Well recently, the California Supreme Court ruled that a business located in the state of Georgia that recorded a call with a California resident violated California’s two-party consent rule, even if you are in Georgia (which only requires one of the parties to consent— i.e., yours). In addition to California, a number of states have two-party consent laws (for example, Pennsylvania, Florida, Connecticut and Washington, to name a few), and if you are or are thinking of monitoring or recording any calls, check with a lawyer to be sure you know what you must do to comply—on second thought, don’t just check with a lawyer, call Reed Smith. Our Advertising, Technology & Media Law practice has what it takes—record that please!
