What ALLFORCE recording does and when to use it

ALLFORCE is the strictest of the four Campaign Recording levels. It starts recording on the client whenever a call is sent to an agent and gives the agent no option to stop it. There is no pause, no off button, no escape hatch. If your policy is that every call must be captured in full with no exceptions, ALLFORCE is the setting that enforces it.

What ALLFORCE actually does

When a Campaign is set to ALLFORCE, Call recording begins automatically the instant a call reaches the agent. This is the same automatic start you get with ALLCALLS, with one critical difference: under ALLCALLS the agent can still stop a recording, while under ALLFORCE that control is removed entirely. The agent cannot pause and cannot turn it off. The recording runs for the life of the call, subject to the usual one-hour maximum per file unless that limit has been raised on the server.

When ALLFORCE is the right choice

Use ALLFORCE when a complete, gap-free record is non-negotiable. Regulated industries often require that every customer interaction be retained, and an agent pausing the recording, even for a good reason, can break that requirement. ALLFORCE removes the human variable so there is no chance of a missing segment caused by someone hitting stop. It is also useful when you are investigating a problem on a campaign and want certainty that nothing slips through while you watch, and when you simply do not want agents making per-call judgment calls about what to keep. The trade-off is rigidity: ALLFORCE captures everything whether you want that specific call or not, so it pairs best with a sensible retention policy that ages old files off the disk.

The catch worth knowing is sensitive data. Because the agent cannot pause, a customer reading out a card number will be captured in the audio. If you have to mask that, ALLFORCE on its own will not do it; you would pair it with automatic muting based on keypad tone detection rather than relying on a manual pause that ALLFORCE does not allow. Plan for that before you flip the switch, not after.

How ALLFORCE handles a call

flowchart TD
  A[Call sent to agent] --> B[Recording starts automatically]
  B --> C{Optional recording delay set}
  C -->|Yes| D[Skip first few seconds]
  C -->|No| E[Capture from the start]
  D --> F[Record full call]
  E --> F
  F --> G{Agent tries to stop}
  G -->|No stop button| F
  F --> H[Audio saved when call ends]

Like ALLCALLS, ALLFORCE supports a Recording delay so you can drop the first several seconds and avoid saving very short recordings of answering machines, which also reduces load on the server. Setting it to around ten seconds is a common starting point. Everything after that delay is captured with no further decisions from the agent.

ALLFORCE versus the alternatives

If agents need to pause for any reason, ALLCALLS is the better fit; if you want full coverage with no exceptions, ALLFORCE is correct. For a side-by-side of the two automatic modes, see ONDEMAND versus ALLCALLS, and to see ALLFORCE in the context of all four levels read our call recording guide. Remember the agent still handles the Disposition normally; only the recording control is locked.

If compliance recording is the reason you are evaluating a dialer at all, our hosted plans come ready for ALLFORCE plus the storage and muting around it. See the pricing for details.