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The regional broker-dealer generated a significant share of its new business through outbound prospecting and follow-up calls.
Its registered representatives contacted prospective investors, discussed the firm’s services, and maintained relationships with existing clients.
Client conversations continued throughout the sales process.
An inquiry could lead to several discussions before a prospect decided to open an account. Representatives also communicated with clients between scheduled appointments, including when working remotely.
For the firm’s leadership, business development and communication oversight were urgent priorities.
The management wanted a cloud-based phone system that allowed representatives to make and receive client calls in and out of the office.
At the same time, the firm needed a system that could automatically record calls to make it easy for compliance officers to review client discussions when necessary.
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4. Start your firm’s recording upgrade with iPlum
The challenge: incomplete call recordings and time-consuming compliance reviews
The firm employed 48 registered representatives.
However, it faced a serious challenge in recording client calls. More specifically:
Representatives could not record client calls when working remotely
The firm recorded calls through its office phone system, but representatives also needed to return client calls when working remotely.
To use the recording system, they had to wait until they returned to the office. While they could call from their personal cell phones, that meant off-channel communication, which put the firm at greater risk of supervision failures and missing records of client conversations.
Representatives had to activate recording manually
Even calls made through the office system required representatives to start the recording. If they forgot, the conversation ended with no audio available for review.
Although the system's call log could confirm that a call took place, it did not show what either participant said. Compliance officers then had to contact the representative to investigate the missing recording and document the circumstances.
Checking records consumed 15 hours each week
The compliance department spent over 15 hours per week comparing call logs with recordings and following up on discrepancies.
Officers had to locate the relevant audio and check that it corresponded to the call under review. When recordings were missing, they spent additional time contacting representatives and documenting their findings.
Those checks added work before officers could assess the content of client conversations.
The solution: automatic recording on firm-managed business lines
The firm got iPlum to give its representatives business numbers they could use from their existing smartphones.
With iPlum, the firm could now:
Give representatives business lines for calls outside the office
Through iPlum’s financial compliance line, the firm assigned business numbers to its 48 registered representatives.
Representatives used those numbers for outbound prospecting, client callbacks, and incoming calls. They could make and receive business calls through the iPlum app when working remotely, with their assigned business number appearing as the caller ID.
In addition, administrators could manage the lines through the firm’s account.
Enable automatic recording for incoming and outgoing calls
The firm enabled automatic call recording on its representatives’ iPlum lines.
Recording applied to both incoming and outgoing calls through those lines. Now, representatives did not have to press a button at the start of a conversation.
The setup applied to calls made through iPlum. All the calls placed through a personal number remained outside the firm’s recording system.
Add an announcement to recorded calls
The firm also enabled an automated recording announcement to notify clients and prospects at the beginning of calls.
The announcement formed part of the calling setup on the recorded lines. It provided consistent notification that the conversation would be recorded, alongside the firm’s consent procedures.
Make stored recordings available for supervisory review
The firm signed for the iPlum Enterprise plan which allowed it to access a 10-year recording archive to retain audio from its business lines.
Now, compliance officers could access recordings through the iPlum portal and listen to the conversations selected for review. It also allowed the firm to review a client conversation or questions against the recorded audio.
The firm also accessed iPlum’s 50+ features including:
- Two-factor authentication to verify account logins.
- Password requirements to set account security rules for representatives.
- App passcode protection to restrict access to business conversations.
- Line reassignment to transfer business numbers when representatives left or changed roles.
- Web calling to make and receive client calls from a computer.
The results: 62% less time spent on compliance reviews
After adopting iPlum, the firm reported a reduction in the time compliance officers spent checking call records and investigating missing recordings. With iPlum:
- Weekly compliance review time decreased from 15 hours to 5.7 hours.
- The compliance department saved 9.3 hours per week, equivalent to approximately 484 hours annually.
- The value of that time totaled approximately $145,000 annually, based on a compliance labor cost of $300 per hour.
The reduction gave compliance officers more time to assess client conversations and investigate issues identified during their reviews. Meanwhile, representatives could conduct recorded business calls through their assigned numbers when working remotely.
Start your firm’s recording upgrade with iPlum
If your compliance officers spend hours tracking down recordings, it’s time to review how your firm records business calls.
iPlum gives representatives business numbers with automatic recording for client conversations in and out of the office. Meanwhile, compliance officers can access the stored audio for supervisory review.
Your firm can build its calling process around how representatives work and how officers review their conversations.
Get started with iPlum’s financial compliance line.
