Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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248. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the protocols in place in his Department and agencies and sections under his Department regarding recording all phone calls; if a procedure is in place whereby if persons on an urgent basis need to make a personal call or receive a personal call while at work these calls are recorded; if he is satisfied that adequate procedures are fully being followed in these situations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48048/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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In response to the Deputy's question I can confirm that there are two Shared Services Centres in my Department (PeoplePoint and the Payroll Shared Service Centre (PSSC)) where incoming calls are recorded with a Call Recording and Retention Policy in place.

Like most shared service organisations Civil Service Shared Services Centres (SSCs) have an interactive voice response (IVR) telephone system that is capable of recording incoming telephone conversations.  This standard practice allows for quality monitoring and training purposes; for example, the verification of what was said during a phone call in the case of dispute or complaint; or to verify the customer's agreement with a specific service request; and to protect staff against callers using inappropriate or offensive language during telephone calls.

All incoming calls received via the IVR are recorded by the SSC and are retained for a period of six months by PeoplePoint, and three months by the PSSC. These recordings are only used for the purposes specified in the policy.

The call recording facility is automated and only accommodates incoming calls received from outside by the SSC through the IVR only (Main number). Outbound calls to people made from an SSC are not recorded.  If calls are transferred within an SSC, the call recording will continue until the call is ended. All staff and customers of Shared Service Centres are informed that calls are being recorded for training and quality monitoring purposes.

There are no telephone calls recorded in the remaining areas under my aegis. I understand that the Office of Public Works will be contacting you directly with their response.