If you’re one of the many organizations out there that believe Microsoft Teams’ compliance recording features completely protect you from non-compliance against regulations such as EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Dodd-Frank Act, MiFID II, and many more, guess again.
It is certainly true that Microsoft Teams does offer a certain level of compliance with its policy-based recording, but it is simply not enough if you are operating in any of the world’s most heavily regulated industries.
Financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and insurance, are only a few that come to mind that require more than the built-in compliance features to avoid regulatory fines.
Before we get ahead of ourselves by talking about regulatory fines, let’s look at what Microsoft Teams has to offer regarding compliance recording and data handling.
Microsoft Teams Policy Recording
Microsoft Teams’ knowledge base article on compliance recording states the following: “Policy-based recording enables organizations that adopt Microsoft Teams for calling and meetings to stipulate, using an administrative policy, when calls and online meetings should be automatically recorded and captured for subsequent processing and retention as required by relevant corporate or regulatory policy.”
While this is perfect for the day-to-day recording of interactions that do not have to meet regulatory requirements, it also means that a lot may be left open for interpretation and human error when it comes to total compliance. For example, regulations are known to change frequently, and if any specific regulation were to mandate new rules, would your Microsoft Teams environment be able to automatically comply?
Third-party solutions provide the answer
Fortunately, Microsoft is aware of these compliance gaps and has allowed a select group of solution providers to address this critical component as stated: “Teams has been enhanced to support integration of third-party recording solutions, including the platform functionality, user experiences, and administrative interfaces needed to provide an end-to-end solution for configuring, managing, recording, storing, and analyzing Teams communications.”
While there are some options when selecting a compliance recording solution for Microsoft Teams, few provide the depth and comprehensive compliance that Smarsh does.
Smarsh fills every compliance gap
Not only is Smarsh the original, but it continues to be the most comprehensive compliance call recording solution available. Fully Microsoft Teams Certified, Smarsh helps enterprises around the world maintain regulatory compliance across Microsoft Teams’ voice, video, and screen sharing.
What Smarsh adds to Microsoft Teams
Regulatory compliance requires a more holistic approach to data security and handling. The following table explains exactly what Smarsh can add to your Microsoft Teams environment:
| Microsoft Teams recording | with Smarsh compliance recording |
| Manual and peer-to-peer Teams recordings are user-managed, not automated | Per user configurable recording is automatically enforced for all Teams calls, managed via Microsoft Teams Policies |
| Teams’ SharePoint storage falls short of security standards regarding data deletion | Compliant storage capability, in the cloud and on-site, fully encrypted, with location controls for data sovereignty |
| Recordings are not centrally stored, giving individual users complete control of calls; including downloading and sharing, which makes calls vulnerable to alteration and compliance issues | Recordings are centrally stored and managed to provide flexible access control, security, auditability, encrypted compliance sharing, and long-term retention controls |
| Teams lacks search capabilities, tagging and timeline perspective | Powerful keyword and phrase search dashboard for compliance review, security checks, agent training, dispute resolution, call tagging and more |
| No speaker identification or keyword analysis in MS Stream, leaving organizations without business-critical insights | Highly accurate speech-to-text transcription, speaker and crosstalk detection, and sentiment/emotion analysis |
| Recording capability is limited to Microsoft Teams client only | Complete compliance recording platform for Teams and most other VoIP and unified communications systems |
| SharePoint data storage lacks compliant security layers that protect data when shared | Comprehensive audit trail of all system activity ensures the ability to meet the strictest INFOSEC and regulatory standards |
| Teams’ non-resilient recording infrastructure is subject to service disruptions resulting in unrecorded calls | Fully resilient 2N recording capability hosted in Microsoft’s global Azure cloud |
Oh, and about regulatory fines
Regulatory fines are very much a reality. News pertaining to hefty fines for some of the world’s largest organizations is breaking regularly, and the hits seem to keep coming as organizations scramble to achieve compliance across their communications in a rapidly-changing environment. Harsh as they may seem, these fines can be avoided.
Avoid compliance failure
Your organization has already chosen Microsoft Teams as your communications platform. Isn’t it time you add Smarsh for complete Microsoft Teams compliance recording?
Smarsh is available on the Azure Marketplace. Schedule a demo today and see it in action!
Scalable for organizations of all sizes, the Smarsh platform provides customers with compliance built on confidence. It enables them to strategically future-proof as new communication channels are adopted, and to realize more insight and value from the data in their archive. Customers strengthen their compliance and e-discovery initiatives and benefit from the productive use of email, social media, mobile/text messaging, instant messaging and collaboration, web, and voice channels.
Smarsh serves a global client base that spans the top banks in North America and Europe, along with leading brokerage firms, insurers, and registered investment advisors. Smarsh also enables state and local government agencies to meet their public records and e-discovery requirements. For more information, visit www.smarsh.com.
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