Looking to record and share your online meetings without tripping over compliance rules or leaking sensitive info? If you’re running meetings that deal with anything regulated—finance, healthcare, law, or just sensitive company chatter—getting this right isn’t optional. This is for IT leads, compliance folks, and anyone on the hook for keeping meeting recordings safe and legal. Let’s cut through the fluff and actually get it done.
1. Know When (and If) to Record
First, ask yourself: Do you really need to record every meeting? Not every call needs a forever home on your cloud drive. In fact, keeping unnecessary recordings is a compliance risk in itself.
You should only record when: - The law or your policies require it (like for audits, dispute resolution, or training). - There’s a clear, documented reason. - Everyone involved is aware and has consented (this is a legal issue in many places).
You shouldn’t record: - Just because “it might be useful someday.” - When dealing with highly sensitive topics unless you have airtight security and a legal reason.
Pro tip: Make a short internal checklist—who needs to know, what’s being recorded, and why. It saves headaches later.
2. Set Up Recording in Ringcentral
Assuming you’ve got a Ringcentral account with cloud recording enabled (check your admin for permissions), here’s what actually works:
Manual vs. Automatic Recording
- Manual recording: You hit record when you want. Easy, but easy to forget.
- Automatic recording: Every meeting is recorded by default. Great for compliance, risky for privacy and storage.
What works: For compliance, automatic recording is usually safer (fewer “oops, I forgot” moments), but only if you’re confident all meetings should be recorded. Otherwise, default to manual and train hosts.
How to Enable Recording
- Admins: In the Ringcentral admin portal, go to the meeting settings.
- Turn on cloud recording for all or selected users.
- Set up recording notifications so participants know when a meeting is being recorded.
- Test it: Run a dummy meeting and check that the recording appears in your Ringcentral dashboard.
Don’t ignore: Notification settings. Most compliance rules require participants to be told up front.
3. Inform Participants (and Get Consent)
This isn’t optional: Many jurisdictions (especially in the US and EU) require that all participants are told a meeting is being recorded—and in some cases, they must explicitly consent.
- Ringcentral can play an announcement when recording starts. Leave this on.
- If you’re dealing with very sensitive topics, get written consent (email is fine).
- For recurring meetings, don’t assume “we said it once” covers you forever. Remind people each time.
What to ignore: Don’t rely solely on a calendar invite note; people miss those.
4. Store Recordings Securely
This is where most teams slip up. Just because Ringcentral stores recordings in the cloud doesn’t mean they’re bulletproof.
Cloud Storage: What’s Good, What’s Not
- Ringcentral’s cloud is decently secure and encrypted, but not invulnerable.
- Local downloads: Only do this if you have a secure drive (encrypted, with access controls).
- Third-party backups: Only move recordings to other platforms (like Google Drive, Dropbox) if those are approved by your compliance/legal teams.
Checklist: - Restrict access to recordings only to those who need it. - Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication for users who can access recordings. - Regularly audit who has access—people leave roles, forget, or get promoted, and old permissions stick around.
Pro tip: Set up automatic deletion or archiving for old recordings. Keeping them forever is a compliance risk.
5. Share Recordings Securely (If You Must)
Sharing recordings is where things get risky. Most data leaks happen here.
Best Practices
- Never share public links unless you’re 100% sure the content is approved for anyone to see.
- Use Ringcentral’s built-in sharing options to send links to specific people (with required sign-in).
- Set expiration dates or revoke access when it’s no longer needed.
- If you have to send to external partners, double-check their security standards.
What to Watch Out For
- Downloaded recordings sitting in email attachments or unprotected cloud storage—big no.
- Sharing via Slack, Teams, or chat apps can be fine if those tools are locked down and audited.
- Don’t trust “private” links—assume anything shareable is, eventually, public.
Pro tip: Document every share of a recording—who, when, and why. If there’s a breach, you’ll want a paper trail.
6. Retention and Deletion: Don’t Keep Everything Forever
Regulations (like GDPR, HIPAA, FINRA) often require you to delete recordings after a set period—and you can get fined for keeping them too long.
- Set up automatic retention policies in Ringcentral or your storage platform.
- Regularly review old recordings; delete what you’re not legally required to keep.
- If in doubt, ask your compliance officer or legal team—don’t just let things pile up.
Ignore: The “just-in-case” mentality. Old recordings are a liability, not an asset.
7. Train Your Team (and Yourself)
Tech and policies are only as good as the people using them. Most compliance failures are human error, not system flaws.
- Run a quick how-to session for anyone who hosts meetings.
- Share a one-pager or checklist with do’s and don’ts.
- Make it easy for people to ask questions or flag mistakes—better safe than sorry.
Pro tip: Schedule a yearly refresher. People forget, roles change, and tools update.
8. Review Compliance Regularly
Don’t set it and forget it. Regulations and company policies change.
- Schedule a quarterly audit of your meeting recordings—who’s recording, storing, and sharing what.
- Update your process when laws or platforms (like Ringcentral) change their features.
- If you find a gap or mistake, fix it fast and document what you did.
What Actually Matters (And What Doesn’t)
What Works
- Default to less recording, not more—only capture what you’re required to.
- Keep storage and sharing locked down.
- Document everything (consent, access, deletion).
What Doesn’t
- Relying on people’s memory for compliance steps.
- Assuming cloud storage is “secure enough” by default.
- Thinking “nobody will ever want these recordings”—breaches happen to everyone.
Staying compliant with Ringcentral meeting recordings isn’t rocket science, but it does take a little discipline. Keep it simple: record when you must, share only when you have to, and clean up after yourself. Policies and tech are there to help, but your habits are what really keep you covered. Start with a few basic checklists, update them as you go, and you’ll avoid 95% of the headaches most teams run into.