I was interested to read a recent article about advisers challenging MiFID II plans to record client calls (Money Marketing 6 Oct 2016). It’s clear the suggestion that all advisers should have to record calls is seen as costly and burdensome, particularly for small firms. However, there are solutions available that solve the issue which won’t break the bank.
Intelliflo started looking at call recording solutions back in 2015 when requirements around MIFID II started becoming clearer.
We analysed the market extensively looking for a cost effective solution where we felt that wider business process benefits could likely be realised to offset the cost. The outcome of this work is an integration with RingCentral within Intelligent Office (iO) that provides a cloud-based solution from which we can pull down the adviser's call recording and automatically attach it to the client record.
This works for calls to/from the adviser's office number and to/from the adviser’s mobile phone provided they use the app on their phone (this obviously requires a data signal at the time). It is also possible to set up a recorded call from the app (on the mobile) to a dummy number meaning face to face meetings can be recorded too. The cost is £12.50 per user per month for the integration, plus RingCentral’s competitively priced usage charges which we believe offers very good value for money for a service that ticks the MIFID box and can provide peace of mind to advisers that they have a record of what’s been discussed with clients.
While having technology imposed on a firm by a regulatory body can be unwelcome, the ability to record all conversations does offer benefits to advisers and, importantly, their clients. Having a verbal record not only offers proof of what has been discussed, it also aids issues such as business continuity (also an FCA requirement), effective mobile working and collaboration – all things that mitigate risk in an adviser’s business and/or support greater profitability.
As well as integrating with RingCentral, users of iO’ Personal Finance Portal (PFP) also have the option to interact digitally with their clients via virtual face-to-face meetings, thanks to an integration with SaleMove. This will allow them to securely share and view documents and other information in PFP, safe in the knowledge that all ‘conversations’ are automatically recorded against the client record in Intelligent Office (iO).
The cost effective technology for conversation recording that is available now offers real business benefits and can only help to strengthen the trust between advisers and their clients.
