Call recording

Record dialer calls for training and dispute resolution with consent, central retention controls and a full audit trail.

Call recording captures answered dialer calls so you can review how enquiries are handled, coach the team, and settle "who said what" disputes. It's off by default; this page covers turning it on compliantly, how long recordings are kept, and where to play them back.

Turn recording on

Recording is configured at Settings → Voice & calling (owner or manager role):

In the Call recording card, switch Record calls on.

Click Manage retention, or open Settings → Practice details → Data retention. Enter 7–3,650 days under Call recordings, or leave it blank for Forever, then click Save. The default is 90 days.

From then on, every answered dialer call is recorded. Calls that are never answered produce no recording.

SmileLine imports recordings up to 32 MiB. If a provider produces a larger recording, the call remains in the timeline but no playback control is added.

Tell callers they're being recorded

Recording a call in the UK comes with obligations: callers must be told the call may be recorded. SmileLine doesn't play an automated announcement, so make the disclosure part of how your team opens every call — for example:

"Hi, it's Sarah from Smith Dental — just to let you know this call may be recorded for training purposes."

Keep it early in the call, before the conversation gets going, and make sure everyone who dials knows the script.

This is practical guidance, not legal advice. Recorded calls with patients can contain health information, so review your obligations under UK GDPR and your practice's privacy policy — and if in doubt, speak to your data protection advisor before enabling recording.

Retention: recordings delete themselves

Recordings are kept only for the retention window you set, then deleted automatically. There's no manual purge to remember — a shorter window is the simplest way to minimise the data you hold.

New calls follow a saved window immediately. A shorter window is applied progressively to existing recordings in bounded daily batches. Extending the window or changing it to Forever does not restore deleted audio or postpone a recording already scheduled to expire sooner.

When a recording expires, its Play recording control is removed. The call-history entry remains, including who called, when, how long and the line outcome.

Play a recording back

Answered, recorded calls show a Play recording control wherever the call appears:

On the patient timeline — every dialer call is logged there with who called, when, how long and the outcome of the line.
In Today's recent activity for the lead you're working.

Click Play recording and the audio streams inline. Playback is limited to owners and managers: coordinators and telesales place calls but cannot replay them, and analysts have no calling access at all.

Under the player, the same roles can expand the call's transcript. SmileLine transcribes recorded calls and voicemails automatically once the audio is stored, so a long call can be read instead of listened to. Transcripts are deleted with the recording when its retention window passes.

Every listen leaves a trail

Recordings are sensitive, so access is audited: every playback is written to the practice activity log, along with who listened and which call it was. Turning recording on or off and changing the central retention settings are logged too. Owners and managers can review the trail at Settings → Activity log.