Do you need the caller's consent to record business calls?
Summary
Under federal law, one party's consent is enough, and that party can be you. Some states demand more: Washington and Florida both require the consent of everyone on the call, and in Florida an unlawful recording is generally a third-degree felony. Washington's statute treats a clear announcement at the start of the call as consent from everyone, and RingCentral and Zoom Phone can both play one; Zoom can also ask callers to press 1 to consent.
What the statutes say
The federal wiretap statute, 18 U.S.C. §2511(2)(d), makes it lawful to record a call you are part of, or one where a party has given prior consent, unless the recording is made to commit a crime or a tort.
Washington's RCW 9.73.030 bars recording a private phone conversation without first getting the consent of all participants. It also says how consent can be obtained: one party announces to everyone, in a reasonably effective way, that the call is about to be recorded, and if the call is recorded, the announcement has to be on the recording too. Calls reporting an emergency or carrying threats can be recorded with one party's consent.
Florida's section 934.03 makes interception lawful when all parties have given prior consent. Violations are generally a third-degree felony.
Which state's law governs a call between two states isn't settled by the text of these statutes. This is a summary of statutes, not legal advice.
How the big platforms handle announcements and storage
- RingCentral: on-demand recording plays a notice when recording starts and stops, and admins can replace the default announcement with their own. Automatic recording of all calls is standard from Advanced up; Core includes on-demand only. Recordings stay in the call log for up to 90 days, capped at 100,000 per account.
- Zoom Phone: automatic recording can play a disclaimer to the caller, or offer "Press 1 to provide consent to be recorded." The prompt plays twice, and a caller who stays on without pressing 1 is logged as passive consent. Admins can reach every recording through the call log; users see their own. Retention is unlimited by default, and once auto-delete is turned on it defaults to 180 days, adjustable from 1 to 4,000.
- Microsoft Teams: a calling policy decides whether a user's 1:1 or PSTN calls can be recorded. The file lands in the OneDrive of the person who pressed Record, and an external party has no access unless it's shared. An hour of recording is about 400 MB.
Teams meeting recordings expire after 120 days by default, but Microsoft scopes that policy to meetings and events and doesn't say it covers call recordings.
Sources
- law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511
- app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.73.030
- leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0900-0999/0934/Sections/0934.03.html
- ringcentral.com/office/features/call-recording/overview.html
- support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0069692
- support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0077783
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/call-recording-transcription-captions
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/tmr-meeting-recording-change
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/manage-teams-recording-expiration-policy
Related on this site
- Can you keep your business phone number when you switch providers?
- How do the big cloud phone services differ on price and features?
- How much do call recording, texting, and AI features add to a business phone plan?
- What does a year of business phone service cost for a 10-person team?
Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.