This document provides customers with a starting point in their efforts to understand and comply with call recording laws. The information herein is general in nature and is available in the public domain. It is not legal advice. Call 7, Incorporated, Inc. ,, offers the information as-is, without any warranty of accuracy or applicability.

Call 7, Incorporated, Inc.,  does not record our customers’ calls. Each customer is responsible to understand and comply with the law, and we encourage each customer to consult with an attorney before recording any calls.
Call recording is regulated at the federal and state levels. Federal call recording laws apply only to interstate or international calls, and state laws govern intrastate calls. Those who unlawfully record a call may face civil suit and criminal prosecution.

Federal Law

The federal statute primarily associated with call recording is the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (the “ECPA”). In general, the ECPA prohibits call recording as an unlawful “interception” of a communication. However, the ECPA allows recording if at least one participant on the call has consented to recording. Another exception, sometimes called the “business telephone” or “ordinary course of business” exception, generally allows an employer to record an employee’s phone calls if the calls use a business telephone and if the recording is within the ordinary course of the employer’s business. This exception has roots in the definition of “intercept” within the ECPA and is quite nuanced. Call 7, Incorporated, Inc.,  strongly recommends that customers consult an attorney before relying on this or any other exception to the ECPA. Common carrier telephone companies are subject to additional federal regulations regarding call recording.  

Upon examination of the law it was the opinion of one law firm that call recording must be done on / at one of the premises of the parties involved / on the call.  In other words, remote recording of the call, buy a third party, not on the premise of any one of the parties involved with the call, may be considered to be wiretapping and would need a court order. 

State Law

State laws vary in their treatment of call recording. However, most states require either that all parties to a call consent to recording or that at least one party consents. The states in each category are identified below.

States requiring only one party to consent to recording: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, District Of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

States requiring all parties to consent to recording: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Washington.
Florida is also a state that requires the consent of any and all parties involved in a call to consent to the recording of the call.  

These categorizations are general and subject to change. Customers should consult an attorney or a responsible government authority — such as a state public utilities commission, public service commission, or department of commerce — for up-to-date details about regulation of call recording in that state.

References

The following references may help customers understand more about call recording.
Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (“ECPA”), 18 U.S.C. 2510-2522:
https://it.ojp.gov/default.aspx?area=privacy&page=1285

Recording Telephone Conversations: http://www.fcc.gov/guides/recording-telephone-conversations
Reporter’s Recording Guide: A state-by-state guide to recording calls and in-person conversations:
http://www.rcfp.org/reporters-recording-guide

And here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_call_recording_laws