Saving call recordings before you switch phone systems

Why are call recordings easy to lose in a phone system switch?#

Call recordings are easy to lose in a phone system switch because the old provider stores them, often under retention settings nobody has reviewed since setup. When the contract ends, the account closes and the recordings go with it unless someone exported them first.

Many home services companies record calls in more than one place: the phone system, a call tracking service tied to advertising numbers, and a field service platform that logs inbound calls. Each has its own export route and its own retention rules.

Vendors generally put the burden on the customer. Zoom's cancellation guidance, for example, advises downloading cloud recordings before a cancellation takes effect, and Zoom lets admins turn on automatic deletion of cloud recordings after a set number of days. Look for both kinds of setting in every system that holds calls.

Pre-switch checklist for call recordings#

The pre-switch checklist below covers bulk export, call details, job linkage and consent records in the order most operations teams work through them. Give each line one owner and one date.

Treat the vendor's own totals as the reconciliation target. If the old system reports a certain number of recordings for a month and your export holds fewer, find the gap while the account is still open.

• 1Find every system that records calls: phone system, call tracking, contact center software and field service platform.
• 2Read each contract for the notice date, the end of access and any export fees.
• 3Check auto-delete and retention settings, and pause deletion if your policy and counsel allow it.
• 4Ask each vendor in writing for the bulk export method, the audio format and how call details are delivered.
• 5Export a test batch and confirm the audio plays, file names are unique and the call detail file matches.
• 6Run the full export in date batches and log the count for each batch.
• 7Export call logs separately, including calls that were never recorded.
• 8Save greeting scripts, disclosure audio and the dates each version was live.
• 9Store recordings in restricted storage with an offline copy, and record who has access.
• 10Confirm counts against the vendor's totals before the cutover date.

Which call details should stay with each recording?#

The call details that should stay with each recording are the ones that let someone find the call again and understand its outcome. Audio alone answers what was said. The surrounding fields answer who called, about what, and what happened next.

Ask for call details in a structured file, such as a CSV keyed by the same call ID that appears in each audio file name. If a vendor can only supply audio files named by date, build the detail file from the call log export and match on start time and number while the old account is still open.

How do you link calls to jobs after the export?#

Calls link to jobs after the export by matching phone number and time against your field service records. A call from a customer's number shortly before a job was booked in ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or another platform is usually the booking call.

Some field service platforms already store call records against customers and jobs, which makes matching easier. Where they do not, a simple script on phone number and booking time gets most of the way, and staff can review ambiguous cases. Record how each match was made so later users know which links are confirmed.

Linked calls are the ones worth keeping long term. A recording joined to the job, the estimate and the booking outcome shows how a customer service representative handled price questions, scheduling and emergencies, and what came of each call.

What consent and retention records should you keep?#

The consent and retention records to keep are the ones that show how calls were captured and how long you said you would keep them. Recording laws differ by state, and some states may require every party to consent, so the disclosure history matters if a recording is ever questioned.

Voice recordings can also raise biometric privacy questions in some states if voiceprints are created from them. Those laws are assessed deal by deal with counsel, so flag the question rather than assume an answer.

Illustrative: a plumbing company changes phone providers#

Illustrative: a fictional plumbing and drain company is moving from an older hosted phone system to a new cloud provider. It also uses a call tracking service for advertising numbers and books jobs in a field service platform.

The office manager starts with the contracts and learns that the old phone system deletes recordings after a fixed period, so the oldest calls are already gone. She exports what remains in yearly batches, pulls the call tracking recordings separately and rebuilds the greeting script history from old emails.

A short script matches calls to bookings by number and time. The archive now shows which calls booked, which did not and how emergency calls were handled. The company keeps it in restricted storage and updates its retention policy to describe what the archive holds.

How SourceX handles call recordings#

SourceX handles call recordings as some of the most sensitive records a home services company holds. In the SourceX five-step transaction of Supply, Rights, Preparation, Approval and Delivery, the Rights step reviews disclosure history and the recording laws that may apply before any recording is considered.

In preparation, recordings are often transcribed and redacted, with names, addresses, phone numbers and payment details removed, and the audio itself may be excluded. The SourceX Evidence Packet records the privacy treatment and the company's release authorization.