Zendesk Talk call recording FAQ

Below are some frequently asked questions and answers about call recording in Zendesk Talk. For more information about configuring call recording, see Managing call recording options in Talk.

Important: You are responsible for using the recording features in Zendesk Talk in compliance with all applicable laws. Certain jurisdictions may require End-User and/or Agent consent prior to initiating a recording. By enabling call recording, you agree that you have received such consent.

Call recording basics

How can I turn off call recordings?

You can only turn off call recording for individual phone numbers, not all phone numbers at the same time. This includes both outgoing and received calls for the phone number. To learn how to disable call recordings, see Managing call recording options in Talk.

What calls and parts of calls are recorded?

The parts of calls recorded include:

• Calls answered by an agent via the web browser or on an agent forwarding number
• Calls transferred to an external phone number by an agent
• Voicemails

The parts of calls not recorded include:

• On-hold time and time in queue
• Consultation time before transferring a call to another agent
• A call routed to IVR that then directs the call to a external phone number

Note: The length of a call recording will differ from the length of the overall phone call. The phone call length includes both recorded and non-recorded events.

Are call recordings transcribed?

Zendesk Talk does not natively transcribe the entire call recording. Only voicemail recordings and overflow calls are transcribed and included in a ticket. Voicemail transcription can only transcribe voicemails left in English, and is enabled by default.

Recording storage

Where are call recordings stored?

Call recordings are encrypted at rest and initially stored in our voice provider Twilio's data center. Recordings are then moved to a Zendesk data center hosted by Amazon Web Services and deleted permanently from Twilio. All call recordings are stored in the United States and cannot be stored elsewhere.

Can I delete recordings?

Recordings can be deleted either manually from individual tickets or automatically based on a set time limit. Deleted recordings cannot be recovered. If you select to automatically delete recordings, voicemail transcriptions will still remain in the associated tickets. When you select to automatically delete recordings, the schedule will apply retroactively and delete recordings.

How long are call recordings stored?

There is no time limit for how long call recordings are stored. You can either select to manually delete recordings or to automatically delete them after a set time range. For help deleting recordings, see Deleting recordings.

Call recording access and security

Who can access call recordings?

Any agent with permission to access tickets can access call recordings. You can permit end-users to access live recordings in their requested tickets by enabling the New live call recordings are public? setting in the Settings tab under Admin > Channels > Talk.

For details, see Enabling Zendesk Talk and configuring general settings.

Can I pause call recordings?

If you're on the Talk Professional or Enterprise plan you can use the pause and resume button in the ticket bar and the call console. For more information, see Pausing and resuming call recordings with agent recording controls.

If you're on a different plan, you might be able to use apps available in the Marketplace like Intelligent Voice and Voicebase to automatically detect and redact credit card data from call recordings.

Can callers opt-in or opt-out of call recording?

If you're on the Talk Professional or Enterprise plan you can configure opt-in or opt-out for each of your Talk phone numbers. You can find the call recording opt-in or opt-out settings on the Call recording tab for each Talk numbers. For more information, see Understanding call recording permissions (opt-in and opt-out).

Important: This capability is not available if you're using a Talk digital line. For more information, see Understanding Talk Embedded voice.

Are end-users notified when calls are being recorded?

Zendesk Talk's default greeting notifies end-users that they will be recorded; however, if you use a custom greeting, you will need to indicate that calls might be recorded. For outbound calls, your agents will need to inform end-users as part of their introduction.