Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) of India has issued a new mandate. The circular on call recording states that stockbrokers need to keep a legally verifiable record of the orders placed by clients effective Jan 1, 2018. The SEBI call recording mandate is to prevent unauthorized trading activity.Stringent regulations are in place to ensure that there is no ambiguity from either side.
In the case of a dispute, SEBI call recording mandate states that the burden of proof will be on the broker. The evidence could be a written record, an email, a text message or a call recording. Given that most customers call brokers over the phone for orders, having a phone system that can record conversations is inevitable.
How to evaluate a business phone system (as per SEBI call recording mandate)
There are a lot of choices in the market today if you’re thinking of implementing the SEBI mandate for call recordings. Here is a short guide that will help you understand the most important parameters to look for when you’re picking a business phone system to record phone calls.
The most obvious requirement first – call recording
The basic premise of the SEBI call recording mandate is call recording. The system you set up must allow you to record all voice calls that you make and receive. These recordings must also be stored in a secure location. Retrieving these recordings should also be a simple process without having to involve experts. Cloud telephony can help you with all of this.
Some questions to ask your potential cloud telephony partner:
- How secure is the storage of my call recordings?
- How can I retrieve them when the need arises?
- What is the duration of time for which you store call recordings?
- Can I download these recordings?
Ease of set up
Cloud telephony is the quickest and most efficient way for stockbrokers to implement a phone system that takes care of fulfilling this mandate. Going the traditional route with a physical on-premise system or an EPABX is expensive, takes time and can’t be managed without an expert. Considering the short time window available to set this up, a good cloud telephony system can help you get set up and get started in a matter of minutes.
Here’s what the process will look like:
- Sign up for an account
- Set up a flow for your calls
- Add your brokers to the call flow
- Ensure all your customers call you on that number
Questions to ask your potential cloud telephony partner:
- How many concurrent calls can I receive from my customer facing number?
- How many agents can I add to my cloud telephony account?
- What is the process to change my IVR greeting? Does it need any intervention from your end?
Features of the system
While call recording is the need of the hour, there are a lot of ways in which cloud telephony can help your business. Make sure you pick a system that is feature rich and provides you with an opportunity to make your business more efficient.
Questions to ask your potential cloud telephony partner
- Do you have well-documented APIs (like SMS API, Call API) that can be used to automate calls and SMS?
- What are your uptimes?
- How detailed are your daily reports?
Cost efficiency
Cloud telephony helps you set up a business phone system without spending on infrastructure or maintenance. It’s good to understand how your cloud telephony system charges you and if there are any hidden charges.
Questions to ask your potential cloud telephony partner
- How many concurrent calls can I receive?
- How many brokers can I add to my system?
- Can I add additional call flows or virtual numbers to my system?
- Are there any maintenance charges?
Security
Cloud telephony is a great way to store your call recordings and other customer communication information without having to worry about security at your end.
This post originally appeared in an IIFL article.