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| Sarah-Jane Heber-Hall, ComputerTel operations director |
Under the spotlight this month is Sarah-Jane Heber-Hall, ComputerTel operations director. ComputerTel is a telecommunications company specialising in the supply of voice, call recording and monitoring, and quality monitoring agent evaluation software, along with a first class maintenance and after-care service. ComputerTel also offers VOIP and IP recording solutions, including recording on the mobile phone.
MB: ComputerTel has recently begun offering mobile phone recording, as a new addition to its history in fixed line call recording. Why did ComputerTel decide to start this mobile offering? Which sectors are showing the most interest in this product, and why?
SJH: We have been offering fixed line recording for over 20 years in the UK serving nearly 300 customers, many of them very well known companies. During this time we have always ensured that we’ve added new, industry lead interesting products to our ever growing product portfolio and consequently mobile recording was the most natural and cohesive product to offer.
The use of mobile phones are familiar to us in both our working and personal lives and for the next generation, the use of mobile phones is the only kind of telephone communication that they would have had experience of.
With an increasing number of business transactions now occurring mobile to mobile, it seemed the obvious solution we wanted to offer. In today’s world, you are expected to be contactable at all times. So, if we could see the benefits of mobile recording, there was no reason why other companies weren’t going to think alike!
The pending consultation relating to the FSA rulings have provided increased interest in mobile recording, particularly by companies and trading floors that are FSA regulated, as it looks highly likely that a regulation will follow this summer, firmly suggesting that FSA regulated companies must record mobile phone communication.
Our mobile recording does not only cover the telephone conversation, but also SMS, PIN-PIN, Yahoo Messenger, and Bloomberg amongst others. We are one of the few companies offering a solution that can assist a company in becoming fully compliant, so there is a lot of interest out there about this particular technology; it will evolve rapidly if the regulations comes into force.
Interest is also being shown by organisations where their workforce is mostly on the road, conducting most of their business on mobile phones, such as companies who have their sales reps on the road for most of the week, placing and taking orders over their mobile phones. Surprisingly, even charities are finding mobile recording of interest as their fundraisers use mobile phones and often find themselves in a situation where people pledge to donate money but fail to deliver their promise!
MB: Call recording has long been a requirement for those in the likes of call centres and professional services, and now we see it’s moving onto the mobile. However, can you see mobile phone recording opening potential new markets, moving away from the traditional, fixed line users of call recording? Might we see new trends triggered by mobile call recording, for consumers and people working in other areas? Where might the ability to record mobile phone calls, SMS and MMS messages, and IM take us?
SJH: As fixed line call recording evolved from initial banking and finance use, to contact centre best practice, we think mobile recording will most definitely follow the same path and go even further. Not only does mobile recording give customers with fixed line recording fully comprehensive recording but it will also solve compliance issues for many organisations.
It will also most definitely move further away from traditional users of call recording in the traditional call centre arena. We can see a total new breed of customers coming onboard, many of whom might not have existing fixed line call recording or have even considered it.
There are many organisations that can benefit hugely from the protection mobile call recording can give them, such as companies with remote workers, doctors and midwives on call, logistics and dispatch companies and anyone who visits clients to conduct business.
We can also foresee that other bodies, not just the FSA, will follow suit and introduce regulations about mobile recording. The credit card industry has recently clamped down on protecting cardholder data with its PCI-DSS set of standards, and we would not be surprised at all if they were going to look into mobile recording as well.
Being able not only to record a mobile phone conversation, but also SMS, IM and MMS messages offer organisations full audit ability. It will enable companies to prevent foul play and any insider trading and offers them and their staff members full protection against any allegations. Additionally, recording all communication will provide organisations a full picture of their business operation to look at best practice and more effective business processes.
Monitoring IM, Yahoo, and social media such as Facebook and Twitter will also enable organisations to keep comprehensive tabs on what has been promised by their staff and said about their company. This does not only offer organisations protection against foul play but it also offers a huge security clampdown. Who knows, in the future, monitoring social media and SMS by mobile recording might even be used to protect vulnerable individuals. Perhaps mobile recording could be introduced as a requisite on children’s mobile phones in the future?
Will mobile recording become bigger than fixed line recording? That remains to be seen. It really depends on how companies will migrate to mobile phones, and when and if, they will stop using their fixed lines. But we can definitely say that the use of mobile recording is going to be huge and one that will provoke many opinions.