Call Recording Policy
Introduction
Tates of Pyecombe Ltd. has a telephone system that is capable of recording conversations. Like many other organisations, this is a standard practice that allows the recording of telephone calls for quality monitoring, training, compliance and security purposes.
All calls received into Paradise Park, South Downs Nurseries, Mayberry Garden Centre and Old Barn Garden Centre will be recorded and will be retained for a limited period after which they will be deleted unless retained for the purposes specified in this policy.
Recordings will only be used for the purposes specified in this policy. There is a recorded message in place to inform callers that their call is being recorded. If the call comes in to a non-call recorded line and then is transferred to one that is, the staff member should notify the caller that their call will be recorded.
Purpose of this telephone recording policy
In order to maintain high standards and protect the public and staff we need to record all telephone calls received into each of our garden centres and retain them for a limited period of time. We shall ensure that the use of these recordings is fair and that we comply with the requirements of the relevant legislation.
This includes:
- The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
- The Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications
- Regulations) 2000
- The Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999
- The General Data Protection Regulation 2018
- The Data Protection Act 2018
- The Human Rights Act 1998.
Scope of policy
All calls made to Paradise Park, South Downs Nurseries, Mayberry Garden Centre and Old Barn Garden Centre will be recorded. Under normal circumstances, a call will not be retrieved or monitored unless:
- it is necessary to investigate a complaint
- it is part of a management ‘spot check’ that customer service standards are being met.
- there is a threat to the health and safety of staff or visitors or for the prevention or detection of crime.
- it is necessary to check compliance with regulatory procedures.
- it will aid standards in call handling, through use in training of our staff.
Collecting information
Personal data collected in the course of recording activities will be processed fairly and lawfully in accordance with data protection law. It will be:
- adequate, relevant and not excessive
- used for the purpose(s) stated in this policy only and not used for any other purposes
- accessible only to managerial staff after securing permission from the Managing Director
treated confidentially - stored securely
- not kept for longer than necessary and will be securely destroyed once the issue(s) in question have been resolved.
Where payment details are collected over the phone by our staff, the member of staff will stop recording and re-start once these details have been taken.
Advising callers that calls are being monitored and recorded
Where call recording facilities are being used we will inform the caller that their call is being monitored/recorded for quality/training purposes so that they have the opportunity to consent by continuing with the call or hanging up.
We will publish our policy on our website.
Procedures for managing and releasing call recordings
The recordings shall be stored securely, with access to the recordings controlled and managed by one individual.
Recordings of calls will be stored securely and deleted after a limited time.
Access to call recordings will be given to Managers and Directors for the purposes listed above.
Browsing of recordings for no valid reason is not permitted.
Every individual has the right to access the information that we hold about them. This includes recorded telephone calls. Therefore, the recordings will be stored in such a way to enable the retrieval of information relating to one or more individuals as easily as possible.
