How we handle call recording

Every caller is told, in the first sentence

Before a caller has said anything, the front desk states that they are speaking with an AI assistant and that the call is recorded. It also tells them they can ask for a person at any time by saying “representative”.

That disclosure is not a setting a business can switch off. It is generated into the greeting and logged for every single call, with the exact words spoken and a timestamp.

Why we name ourselves in the disclosure

The greeting says the call is recorded and transcribed by Wakeman — not just “this call is recorded”. Naming the third party doing the recording is the part most systems omit, and it is the part that matters when somebody later argues they didn't know a vendor was involved.

It also states the purpose: to schedule your service. That limits what the recording is for and is evidence we are acting as the business's service provider rather than a third party with our own interests in the conversation.

What we keep, and for how long

Audio, a transcript, and the fields extracted from the call — name, callback number, service address, the problem described, and the appointment booked.

Recordings are stored in our own encrypted object storage rather than left with our telephony vendor, whose retention is short. They are available to the business that received the call, and to us only for support, safety review, and improving accuracy.

A business can request deletion of a call at any time, and we delete the audio and transcript. We keep the compliance log entry showing the disclosure was played, because that record is the defence if the recording is ever disputed.

We do not use voiceprints

We never create, store or compare biometric voice identifiers. Returning callers are recognised by their phone number and nothing else. This is deliberate: several states, Illinois in particular, treat a voiceprint as biometric data with its own consent regime and private right of action.

Payment details are never spoken to the AI

The front desk is instructed never to take a card number, and if one is offered it says a secure link will be sent instead. No payment information passes through the call path, which keeps the recording out of scope for card-data rules entirely.