How long should you keep call recordings? A table by type of call
Sado AI team · · 4 min read
In short
Keep a call recording only as long as it serves a purpose. For example, simple questions about prices or addresses: a few months, for quality checks. Order and delivery calls: until the return and complaint period is over. Contract agreements and disputes: as long as your lawyer says. Write the periods down, delete old recordings regularly, and keep any recording linked to an open complaint until it’s resolved. The longer recordings sit, the more personal data you hold.
Why “keep everything forever” is a bad idea
Recordings are useful: they settle disputes and help train staff. But thousands of old recordings nobody listens to are just a risk. They hold names, phone numbers and addresses, and if they leak, the company answers for it. Finding the one you need gets harder too. For example, at 80 calls a day you collect more than 20,000 recordings a year.
So the question isn’t “how long can we keep them?” but “what do we need this recording for?”.
Periods by type of call
| Type of call | What the recording is for | Period (example) |
|---|---|---|
| Simple question: price, address, hours | Quality checks | 1–3 months |
| Order, delivery | Checking what was agreed | Until the return and complaint period ends |
| Payment reminder | When the customer said they’d pay | Until the payment is closed, plus a little |
| Complaint | Resolving it | While the complaint is open, then the usual period |
| Agreement under a contract | Legal evidence | As long as your lawyer says |
These periods are only examples. Yours depend on your calls and the law: Uzbekistan has a law on personal data, so go over the table with a lawyer once.
How a recording helps in a dispute
Here is a recorded order call:
Sado: Assalomu alaykum, Lazzat Tortlari, this is Malika. This call is recorded.
Caller: I’d like to order a cake for Saturday.
Sado: Sure. How many kilos, and what kind?
Caller: Two kilos, chocolate. Write “Happy birthday, Aziza” on top.
Sado: Got it: two kilos, chocolate, “Happy birthday, Aziza”. Will you pick it up on Saturday at eleven?
Caller: Yes, I’ll pick it up myself.
Sado: Fine, it’ll be ready on Saturday at eleven. Thank you!
On Saturday the customer said, “I asked for three kilos.” The administrator found the recording, they listened to it together, and the argument was over in two minutes. Without it, both sides would have been upset over one cake. So keep order recordings for a while after the order is handed over.
A storage rule in 5 steps
- Sort your calls into types, as in the table above.
- Write a period for each type and name one person responsible.
- Mark a call with an open complaint as “dispute” and don’t delete it until it’s resolved.
- Delete expired recordings once a month, for example on the first Monday.
- Download a recording to a computer only for a dispute, and delete it from there afterwards.
AI operator recordings
In Sado every call, incoming and outgoing, is in the portal with its recording, full transcript and a short summary. In a dispute, reading the transcript is faster than listening from the start.
In Sado, data is kept for a limited time and you have the right to have it deleted. Ask Sado’s team for the exact period and how to keep recordings linked to a dispute. More answers: frequently asked questions. Try it live or call 78 778 01 23.
Questions
How many months should we keep call recordings?
It depends on what the recording is for. For example, 1–3 months for simple questions, and until the complaint period ends for orders. Ask a lawyer about contracts and disputes.
Can’t we just never delete recordings?
You can, but every old recording is personal data that could leak. Keeping only what you need means less risk and less clutter.
Can we keep just the transcript instead of the recording?
A transcript is personal data too, and the same rules apply. But it’s easier to read and to find the part you need.
May an employee download a recording for themselves?
No; make it a rule: a recording leaves the portal or the phone system only for a dispute, with the responsible person’s permission. Sending recordings in messengers isn’t allowed either.