Call Recording & Consent
What it is
Calls to your AI Receptionist number are recorded, so each call in Call Logs has a recording and a transcript as well as an AI summary.
Most US states let one party to a call record it. Some require everyone on the call to consent. When your number's area code is in one of those states, the AI Receptionist page adds a Call recording card where you choose how to handle it.
This page describes how the product behaves. It isn't legal advice. If you're unsure what applies to your business, check with your own counsel.
States that require every caller's consent
The Call recording card appears for numbers with an area code in:
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
Choose how calls are recorded
The Call recording card has two options:
| Option | What happens |
|---|---|
| Record calls and tell callers in the greeting (the default) | The greeting tells callers the call is recorded. Callers who stay on the line after hearing it have consented. You get the transcript and recording of every call. |
| Don't record calls | No transcript or recording is kept. You still get the AI summary and the caller's details from every call. |
- Open Phone & Calls → AI Receptionist (the card also appears while you buy a number, once you enter an area code in one of these states).
- In Call recording, choose an option.
- Click Save Changes (or carry on with the purchase).
The recording notice
With Record calls and tell callers in the greeting, the card shows What callers hear first: your greeting followed by the notice "By the way, you're on a recorded line." If your greeting already mentions that the call is recorded or on a recorded line, it's spoken as it is and no notice is added.
The notice sounds more natural worked into the greeting. Click Add it to my greeting to add "on a recorded line" to your greeting's first sentence, for example "Hi, this is Susan with Acme Roofing, on a recorded line. Are you calling about the postcard we mailed you?"
Callers from these states
On a call between two states, the stricter state's rule usually applies. So even when your number's area code isn't in one of the states above, a recorded call from a caller whose number is in one of them hears the recording notice after your greeting. Your settings don't change; the notice is added for that call only.
Limits & gotchas
- The Don't record calls option is only offered for numbers in the states listed above. Elsewhere, calls are always recorded.
- With Don't record calls, a call's detail in Call Logs says "This number doesn't record calls, so there is no transcript or recording." The lead email has the caller's details but no transcript.
- States are matched by area code, for your number and for callers alike. A caller is matched by the area code of the number they call from, not by where they are.