Preparing financial institutions for new FSA rules in 2009.
New regulations from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) come into effect from March 2009 which means that all UK companies that deal with money matters will have to record all their inbound and outbound telephone calls and retain the files for at least six months.
For those financial institutions that don’t already have a call recording solution in place, this news could prove expensive if they opt for a bulky hardware system.
However, there is a more cost effective way of recording inbound calls – without any additional equipment to clutter up the office: Organisations can simply attach an online call recording solution to a non-geographic telephone number.
Non-geographic telephone numbers (e.g.0845 numbers, 03 numbers etc.) work in tandem with existing landline/mobile numbers and simply sit ‘on top’ of them. They do not replace any existing phone numbers, but work alongside them – and are a more memorable number for callers.
Here are 8 reasons why call recording with non-geographic numbers is becoming increasingly popular:
1. It’s controlled completely online or using the phone and negates the need for physical equipment (hardware).
2. Recordings are emailed to a nominated person as an mp3 file – meaning they can stored in a way that is convenient for them.
3. Recordings can be shared with colleagues easily – they can be forwarded via email.
4. The call recording can be activated instantly at the touch of a button (e.g. by pressing the hash key).
5. Large volumes of recordings can be stored on an external server – freeing up in-house computer systems.
6. Call recording can help meet the new legal requirements (from March 2009) of financial organisations (as outlined above).
7. A call recording solution means that people do not have to frantically make notes on an important conversation – they can simply activate the system as required.
8. Record all inbound calls, a percentage of them or only selected calls – giving companies complete control. As these points show non-geographic telephone numbers can dramatically increase the flexibility of phone systems – helping people to answer more calls and become more efficient. Call recording is just the tip of the iceberg.
Additional features that are easily added to non-geographic numbers include: Online call statistics packages lets companies monitor all the inbound calls to their non-geographic numbers. This allows them to see: the total amount of calls to all numbers, the location of callers, busy periods and missed calls. This information can assist organisations with their marketing and improving customer service.
Instant call divert packages give businesses complete control over their non-geographic numbers. Whether they have a single number or multiple numbers, call divert means that they can reroute calls to another landline/mobile/call answering service at the touch of a button. This control is essential in the event of landline failure or in an emergency and for this reason this service can be free with a number, if you know where to look.
As this article illustrates, non-geographic numbers can be a powerful addition to any organisation – giving them more flexibility/control over their phone systems and helping them meet their legal requirements - without the need for tons of extra office space.
