recording
Stereo recording
Stereo recording stores the agent and the caller on separate audio channels, making it much easier to follow who said what when reviewing a call.
Stereo recording means saving a call with two separate audio channels, one for the agent and one for the caller, instead of mixing both voices into a single track. If you have ever tried to follow a recording where two people talk at once and could not tell who was who, you have felt the limit of a mono recording. Stereo splits them apart so each voice has its own side.
For a manager reviewing a Call recording, this is a real help. When the agent and the lead step on each other's words, a stereo file lets you isolate one side at a time. It also makes coaching clearer, because you can point to exactly who interrupted whom or talked over a key part of the script.
Why machines like it too
Stereo really pays off when software reads your recordings. Call transcription is far more accurate when each speaker is on a separate channel, because the system does not have to guess who is talking. The same is true for Voice analytics, which can measure things like talk-over and silence per side only when the two voices are kept apart. A mono mix throws that separation away.
The trade-off is file size, since a stereo file holds two channels and is larger than a mono one. The Recording format (WAV/MP3) you choose also affects how big each file gets. Stereo does not change the small Recording delay at the very start of a recording, and it works the same whether recording runs automatically or is started with On-demand recording. For most teams the clearer playback is well worth the extra storage.
If you are planning to run any kind of automated analysis on your calls later, turn stereo on from the start. It is far easier to record in stereo now than to wish you had when a reviewer or a tool needs to separate the two voices. Going back and splitting a mono mix into two speakers is messy and never fully accurate, because once the voices are blended into one track the information is simply gone. So even if you are not using transcription or analytics today, recording each call in stereo keeps the door open. The slightly larger files are a small price for keeping the agent and the caller cleanly apart, and that single choice quietly makes every later review easier.
Related terms
Call recording
Call recording captures the audio of a conversation to a file, so a call can be reviewed later for coaching, quality checks, or compliance.
Call transcription
Call transcription turns the audio of a phone call into written text, so conversations can be searched, read, and analyzed instead of replayed end to end.
On-demand recording
On-demand recording lets an agent start and stop recording a specific call by hand, instead of recording every call automatically from start to finish.
Recording delay
Recording delay is the short gap before audio actually starts capturing, which can clip the first words of a call if it is set too long.
Recording format (WAV/MP3)
Recording format is the file type your call recordings are saved in — usually uncompressed WAV for quality or compressed MP3 for smaller files that save disk space.
Voice analytics
Voice analytics automatically scans call audio or transcripts for patterns like sentiment, keywords, talk-over, and silence to surface trends across thousands of calls.