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Customer service, quality assurance, regulatory compliance, public safety – these functions drive the need for comprehensive communications recording and demonstrate its flexibility. For transparency and accountability, recording solutions must capture the appropriate level of details and provide an easy means of retrieval for any interaction. By doing so, organizations can foster the loyalty and trust of customers and partners alike. 

Call centers are obvious environments for deploying recording and monitoring solutions. But a vast number of businesses outside this domain use these solutions to comply with laws and regulations, analyze customer interactions and facilitate public safety. These users include banks, trading firms, police, fire stations, ambulance services and air traffic control centers.

Recording for Air Traffic Control Centers

Perhaps the best example of the wide variety of communications recording applications can be found in the use of these systems for air traffic control towers. Tamper-proof recording and a timer accurate to hundredths of a second help to reconstruct an incident to determine exactly what transpired.

Standard audio recording has been expanded to include all communications by phone, radio and radar. The recording of all these channels is synchronized to facilitate the creation of a timeline and a causal determination of events.

The ability to accurately reconstruct an incident aids investigators and helps to determine the reasons for any shortcomings. Only then can technicians on the ground understand a problem and take appropriate actions to guard against its reoccurrence.

Finding a Proven Solution

For further protection, air traffic control operators should make sure the system is approved by appropriate authorities. The ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) certifies these systems to guarantee safe and reliable aviation worldwide, and EUROCAE (European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment) ensures radio and phone communications tools for air traffic control meet global standards.

Moreover, when air traffic centers choose a communications recording solution for their control towers, they should rely on vendors with proven, long-term experience in the market. Air center management should research the ability of any solution to provide fail-safe operation through redundancy and system architecture while maintaining flexibility and scalability to prevent obsolescence and serve changing needs. Regional technical support must be competent and prompt.

Conclusion

The use of recording solutions for air traffic control provides one of the most edifying examples of the variety of these systems for the benefit of all. The phenomenal safety of air travel rebounds with positive implications throughout society, and communications recording is relied upon in the most demanding circumstances. Thus, recording solutions for air traffic centers must meet more stringent requirements than for contact centers to ensure a high degree of reliability, promptness and flexibility.

    As Vice President, Strategic Alliances, of ASC (News - Alert) Technologies, Patrick Salg offers broad experience supporting      global business partners. He started his career at ASC more than 20 years ago and holds CCI (News - Alert) degrees in Marketing and Business Management.

ASC Technologies AG is a leading global provider of innovative solutions to record, analyze and evaluate multimedia-based  communications. ASC’s solutions reveal vital information, enabling companies and organizations to considerably improve their   value creation: contact centers enhance customer service, efficiently deploy staff and increase productivity. For more information, visit www.asc.de; call 917-475-9200; email [email protected]; or write ASC Americas L.P., 69 Charlton Street, New York, NY 10014.