What to Do When Customers Need to Listen to their Own Call Recordings? Introducing Perishable PIN from VPI

Most organizations who sell products and services over the phone are required to record calls – for a good reason, indeed. Customer disputes are all too common and contact center liability is substantial. Specific disclosures must be read as a part of the transaction and the proof of compliance with this process must be available in a form of verbal receipt.

For example, a specific marketing agency will allow listening to recordings if the client asks for it. In one actual example, a client was charged a fee on their credit card for extra protection. The client must have agreed to this in a prior phone call with this company. The client was questioning the charge however, and the customer service representative (CSR) stated she could cancel the protection plan and refund one month. The client wanted all months refunded, not just one. The CSR said she could not do that unless the person did not agree to the extra protection previously. The customer then insisted on a proof-- he wanted to hear the recording where he agreed to the extra protection and associated charge. The CSR said she could request a copy of the recording from the contact center recording system, but she could not provide the refund and resolve the dispute immediately. The recording, once retrieved and forwarded to the client, would provide a verbal record of the transaction. She handled her tone and the client very well, although she was confident that based on how this company operates, the client had agreed to the charge.

In situation like this, organizations most commonly have to access their contact center recording system to retrieve the relevant call record and burn it onto a CD for the customer. Some have the capability to email it to the customer as well. However, sending an actual audio file out and leaving it in the hands of a customer requires series of approvals within a contact center – by a legal department, supervisor, and a QA manager as a minimum. Inevitably, this runs up the cost of call resolution for the contact center and it also stretches the wait time for the customer which impacts customer satisfaction (and provides opportunities for negative word of mouth until the issue is finally resolved.)

Fortunately, latest contact center recording technologies from VPI provide a practical solution in a form of a “perishable PIN number” playback. A recording can be assigned a PIN number that will expire after a period of time determined by the agent who sets up access to the recording, in accordance with the contact center’s policy. Customer can then access his or her original call simply by dialing into the contact center recording system via any phone line and a secure-access PIN that automatically triggers playback of that one recording. All of this can be taken care of within seconds of the customer request. Handled once and done.