CONTENTS
One-party and all-party consentThe all-party states for phone callsThe consumer's state is the one that countsWhat it costs to get wrongThe one-sentence fixProving the notice was given- Federal rule: one-party consent. Under 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d), a party to the call can record it. Most states follow that.
- Thirteen states need everyone's consent on a phone call: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington.
- The consumer's state counts. California's Supreme Court applied California law to calls recorded in Georgia. Assume the stricter state wins.
- One notice at the start of every call covers all of them, as long as it's on the recording. That's the whole compliance program for most floors.
Call recording consent laws decide whose permission you need before you record a phone call. Federal law and most states need one party's consent, and on a business call that party can be you. Thirteen states need every party's consent on a phone call, and a call center dialing nationally is calling into all of them every day.
Most floors don't think about this because the dialer records everything and nobody has complained. The exposure sits quietly until someone in California asks whether you told them, and California lets them sue for $5,000 per call without showing they were harmed.
The fix costs one sentence. This page covers which states need it, why the state you're calling into is the one that counts, and how to make sure the sentence is on every recording.
Operational guidance, not legal advice. Check your scripts and recording setup with counsel.
One-party and all-party consent
One-party consent means a single person on the call can agree to the recording. On a business call, the business is a party, so it can record without asking. That's the federal rule and the rule in most states.
All-party consent (often called two-party consent) means everyone on the call has to agree. In practice, agreement usually means being told: courts and statutes in the strict states generally treat staying on the line after a clear notice as consent.
A few states split the rule by type of conversation. Oregon and Missouri require all-party consent for in-person conversations but only one party for phone calls. Connecticut and Nevada are the reverse: one party in person, everyone on the phone. Hawaii and Maine require all-party consent only in private places. For a call center, the phone rule is the one that matters.
The all-party states for phone calls
The state list follows the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press recording guide, the reference newsrooms and lawyers use. Where a statute spells out how consent works, we read it and say so.
| State | Rule for phone calls | How floors get consent | Law |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | All parties, including cell and cordless calls | Notice at the start of the call (Kearney) | Penal Code 632, 632.7; civil damages 637.2 |
| Connecticut | All parties on phone calls | Prior consent, a verbal notice recorded at the start, or an automatic tone about every 15 seconds | Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-570d |
| Delaware | All parties | Notice at the start of the call | Del. Code tit. 11, 1335 |
| Florida | All parties | Notice at the start of the call | Fla. Stat. 934.03 |
| Illinois | All parties to a private conversation | Notice at the start of the call | 720 ILCS 5/14-2 |
| Maryland | All parties | Notice at the start of the call | Md. Cts. & Jud. Proc. 10-402 |
| Massachusetts | All parties | Notice at the start of the call | M.G.L. c. 272, 99 |
| Michigan | All parties for anyone outside the call; courts have read it more loosely for a participant | Notice at the start of the call | MCL 750.539c |
| Montana | All parties | Notice at the start of the call | Mont. Code 45-8-213 |
| Nevada | All parties on phone calls | Notice at the start of the call | NRS 200.620 |
| New Hampshire | All parties | Notice at the start of the call | RSA 570-A:2 |
| Pennsylvania | All parties | Notice at the start of the call | 18 Pa.C.S. 5703 |
| Washington | All parties to a private phone call | An announcement made in a reasonably effective manner counts as consent | RCW 9.73.030 |
Treat Michigan as all-party on a sales floor. The notice costs nothing, and it takes the question off the table.
Every other state follows the one-party rule for phone calls. That still leaves the question of which state's rule applies to a call that crosses a border, which on an outbound floor is nearly every call.
The consumer's state is the one that counts
In Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney (2006), a brokerage recorded calls from its Atlanta office to clients in California. Georgia is a one-party state, so the recording was legal where it happened. The California Supreme Court applied California's all-party rule anyway and barred the practice, because California has a strong interest in protecting the privacy of its residents' calls.
The court also said what would have made it lawful: a business that tells everyone at the outset that the call is being recorded doesn't violate the statute. That sentence is the most useful thing on this page.
Courts outside California differ on whether the law of the recorder's state or the recorded person's state applies, and a consumer can often sue in either. The practical answer, and RCFP's, is to assume the stricter law applies to every call.
What it costs to get wrong
California is where the money is. Under Penal Code 637.2, a person recorded without consent can recover $5,000 per violation or three times actual damages, whichever is greater, and they don't have to show any actual damages to bring the case. A floor that records every California call without a notice has $5,000 attached to each one, and class actions add those up.
The criminal side exists too. California's 632.7, which covers calls involving cell phones, carries a fine of up to $2,500 for a first violation and $10,000 for a repeat, and several other all-party states treat unlawful recording as a crime.
The one-sentence fix
Every all-party state on the list accepts notice at the start of the call. So the compliant setup is the same for all fifty states:
1. Give the notice at the start of every call, before anything else of substance. Something as simple as "This call is recorded for quality and training" works. Connecticut's statute specifically accepts a verbal notice recorded at the start, and Washington's accepts an announcement made in a reasonably effective manner.
2. Make sure the notice is on the recording. A notice nobody can prove was given is a notice that wasn't given. If your dialer starts recording after the greeting, move the notice or move the recording start. On VICIdial, check the campaign's recording setting starts on connect, and listen to a handful of recordings from the first second.
3. Put it in every script and every IVR. Outbound agents say it. Inbound IVRs play it before the call reaches an agent. AI agents say it in their opening line, because an AI voice agent records the call the same as any other.
4. Don't make it state-specific. A rule that only gives the notice to California numbers will miss the Californian with a Texas area code. Give it on every call.
5. Check it on every call. Agents drop lines from scripts, especially the dull ones at the top. Add "recording notice given at the start" to your QA scorecard as a critical check, so a missing notice fails the call.
If a call is transferred to another company, as in pay-per-call, the receiving floor records under its own setup. Ask your buyers whether their recordings carry their own notice, because the transfer brings a new party onto the call.
Proving the notice was given
When someone claims they were never told, you need two things: the recording with the notice in the first seconds, and a way to show that recording hasn't been edited since.
A Klariqo Call Record gives you both for every recorded VICIdial call. The transcript, opening notice included, is sealed with a digital signature and a government-grade timestamp from DigiCert, the same RFC 3161 standard the US government's NIST names in its federal security guidance. Change one word and the check fails, which you can see for yourself. Anyone can check a record at verify.klariqo.com without an account, and Call QA checks the notice on every call once it's on your scorecard. For the rest of the outbound rules, see the TCPA compliance checklist.
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Last updated 2026-08-27 by Ansh Deb, Founder & CEO of Klariqo. Sources: 18 U.S.C. 2511 · RCFP Reporters Recording Guide · Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, 39 Cal.4th 95 (2006) · Cal. Penal Code 632.7 and 637.2 · Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-570d · RCW 9.73.030
Questions people ask
What are the two-party consent states for recording phone calls?
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington require the consent of every party to record a phone call. Connecticut and Nevada apply that rule to phone calls but not in-person conversations.
Is the federal law one-party or two-party consent?
One-party. Under 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d), a person who is a party to the call can record it, unless the recording is for a criminal or tortious purpose. States can be stricter, and thirteen are for phone calls.
Which state's law applies when a call crosses state lines?
Assume the stricter one. The California Supreme Court applied California's all-party rule to calls recorded in Georgia (Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, 2006), and courts elsewhere differ on which state's law governs.
Does "this call may be recorded" count as consent?
In practice, yes: a clear notice at the start of the call, after which the person stays on the line, is how businesses get consent in all-party states. The California Supreme Court said advising all parties at the outset avoids a violation, and Washington's statute treats an announcement as consent.
Can a call center record calls without telling the caller?
In one-party states, the business can legally record its own calls. Calls into the thirteen all-party states need a notice, and because you can't always tell where a caller is, the safe practice is to give the notice on every call.
What is the penalty for recording a call without consent in California?
Civil damages of $5,000 per violation or three times actual damages, whichever is greater, with no need to show actual harm (Penal Code 637.2). Criminal fines under 632.7 run up to $2,500 for a first violation and $10,000 for a repeat.
Do AI voice agents need to give a recording notice?
Yes. The recording rules apply to the call, whoever or whatever is speaking. An AI agent that records should give the same notice at the start as a human agent.
