Channels
Voice: call recording and consent
How the agent asks for consent to record at the start of every call, what is stored before and after the caller answers, and who can hear a recording.
On this page
A call recording is often the only complete account of what a customer was told, which makes it valuable for quality review, training and resolving disputes. In the UAE, the law requires the consent of every party before a call is recorded. Telonic builds the consent request into the call itself: the agent tells the caller the call can be recorded, asks for their consent, and records only if they agree. This page explains how that works in the call, what is stored at each point, and what happens when a caller says no.
This page describes how the product works. It is general information, not legal advice. Your organisation is responsible for its own compliance and should take legal advice on its recording policy. For the legal position in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, see Call recording and consent.
How consent is asked for on every call
The consent request is part of the call flow, not something added afterwards. It happens in the same place on every call the agent handles, inbound and outbound.
- Disclosure. At the start of the call, the agent says it is an AI agent speaking for your organisation and that the call can be recorded. It uses the disclosure wording your legal team approves, in the caller's language.
- The question. The agent asks whether the caller consents to the call being recorded.
- The answer is recorded. The caller's answer is recorded against the conversation, so there is a record of what was asked and what the caller said.
- Recording follows the answer. If the caller agrees, recording starts. If the caller declines, the conversation continues without a recording.
On an outbound call, the agent first says which organisation it is calling for and why, then asks for consent in the same way.
What is stored before and after the caller answers
| Part of the call | What is stored |
|---|---|
| Before the caller answers the consent question | Nothing from this part of the call, apart from the answer itself |
| The caller's answer | Recorded against the conversation, in the customer record |
| After the caller agrees | The call recording, stored against the customer record, with the transcript and summary, for the period you set |
| After the caller declines | No recording. The content-free audit record below is kept |
| Whatever the answer | A content-free audit record of what the agent did: the actions it took, the sources it used, the triggers that applied and the outcome |
The agent turns speech into text as the caller speaks, because that is how it understands them. This happens on every call. What is kept afterwards is decided by the caller's answer and by your settings.
What happens when a caller declines
The conversation carries on, and the agent can still help. On a service call, a caller who declines recording can check a claim, change a booking or ask about a payment in the same way as a caller who agrees. On a marketing call, your legal team decides what the agent does, as set out in Call recording and consent.
No recording of the call is kept. The audit record of what the agent did is kept in either case, so actions taken during the call, such as a booking change, remain traceable.
If the call is transferred to your team, the caller's answer travels with the conversation, so your colleague knows the caller declined recording before they speak.
Where recordings are kept and who can hear them
Recordings are stored against the customer record, alongside the rest of that customer's history, in the region you choose for your deployment. You set how long they are kept, and they are deleted when that period ends.
Recordings are encrypted at rest with AES-256 (the Advanced Encryption Standard, using 256-bit keys). Access is controlled by role: each person in your organisation can listen to recordings only if their role allows it, and every access is logged. Backups are encrypted and stay in the same country as your deployment.
Card numbers spoken during a call are redacted from the transcript. The agent never takes card details: where a payment is needed, it sends a payment link from your payment provider, so card data stays with that provider. See Personal information redaction.
The technical detail
| Item | Telonic's approach |
|---|---|
| When recording starts | Only after the caller consents, from the point of consent |
| Consent answer | Recorded against the conversation before any recording begins |
| Audio in transit | Encrypted with SRTP (Secure Real-time Transport Protocol, which encrypts voice as it travels) by default |
| Storage | Encrypted with AES-256, in your chosen region, against the customer record |
| Retention | Set by you; content storage can be switched off entirely |
| Access | By role, with your team signing in through single sign-on (your own identity provider, with multi-factor authentication), and every access logged |
See Storage, retention and deletion, Encryption and Access control and single sign-on.
In practice
A motor insurer in Abu Dhabi routes its claim status line to the agent.
- During implementation, the insurer's legal team approves the disclosure wording in Arabic and English and sets how long recordings are kept.
- Noura calls about her claim. The agent says it is an AI agent, explains that the call can be recorded, and asks for her consent. She agrees. Recording starts from her answer, and nothing before it is stored except the answer itself.
- Later that morning, Ahmed calls about his claim and declines recording. The agent continues without recording and tells him his claim is waiting for a repair estimate. No recording is kept, and the audit record shows the status lookup and the outcome.
- Months later, Noura disputes what she was told about her excess. A member of the complaints team whose role allows it opens the recording in her record. The access is logged.
What your team controls
- The disclosure wording, in each language you use.
- Whether calls on each line are recorded at all.
- How long recordings and transcripts are kept.
- Which roles in your organisation can listen to recordings.