Almost everyone has encountered the words "this call is being recorded for training purposes" when on the phone to a call center
. This practice is known as call recording however it is often mistaken for call logging.
Call recording is the process of recording a telephone conversation in order to later review the conversation and act upon the review. This process is often used during training in order to evaluate a particular member of staff's performance on the telephone and then improve quality of service. It is also commonly used for liability protection.
It is fairly similar to phone tapping however phone tapping is where a third party is listening in on the call. For this type of recording to be legal it is essential that both parties involved in the phone call are aware that the conversation is being recorded.
This is quite different to call logging which is the process of collecting phone call data and analyzing it. Call logging is used for several reasons and is incorporated in most business telephone systems across the world.
The first and most common way in which call logging is used is to monitor costs. By monitoring how much each call is costing a company can take actions to reduce this cost. For example a company can look at the phone costs from different departments or individuals lines and determine whether the use of the phone is necessary and appropriate. It can also be used to discover the number of unused extensions or extensions that are being overused. This is known as capacity management. Capacity management is used to analyze call patterns and indicate where extra capacity is needed and where cost savings can be.
Another way in which this type of logging is used is for performance management. Performance management looks into how quickly and how often individuals, departments or extensions are answering the phone. This data can then be compared to targets to assess whether a company is being as productive as it possibly can. If targets are not being met then actions such as further training or discipline can be implemented.
Call logging is used by many businesses across the globe in order to critically manage phone calls and has proved to be an effective way of cutting costs and maximizing productivity. Investing in call logging or recording software is a worthwhile investment for any organization which has high telephone usage.