Call Recording Laws

Call recording laws in the United States operate at both federal and state levels. Federally, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) requires at least one party to a phone call to consent to being recorded — a standard known as 'one-party consent.' However, many states impose stricter 'two-party consent' (or 'all-party consent') requirements, meaning all participants must be informed and consent before a call can be recorded.

States with two-party consent requirements include California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Recording a call without proper consent in these states can result in criminal charges and civil liability. Federal law also requires disclosure when recording calls that cross state lines if either party is in a two-party consent state.

For businesses, the safest practice is to announce call recording at the start of every call regardless of location ('This call may be recorded for quality and training purposes'). Zonitel's call recording system supports configurable announcement prompts that play automatically at the start of recorded calls, helping businesses maintain compliance across all jurisdictions. Recordings are stored securely with role-based access control and configurable retention policies.