Use this article to enable call recordings and transcripts in Intercom Phone, configure recording consent for inbound and outbound calls, upload custom consent audio, enable answering machine detection for outbound calls, and enable transcript summaries.
How to enable call recordings and transcripts
Go to Settings > Channels > Phone.
Open Recording and transcript.
Toggle on recording for inbound phone calls, outbound phone calls, and Messenger calls separately.
This is a global setting for all Messenger and phone calls. It’s not possible to only enable recordings or transcripts for some calls.
For each enabled call type — inbound, outbound, and Messenger — enter a Recording greeting. This text is converted to speech and played to the customer to let them know the call is being recorded.
Note:
The Recording Greeting (used for outbound and Messenger calls) is only supported in English. However, the recording consent message for inbound calls can be customized in any language — enter your preferred text in the Consent message field when editing a phone number in Settings > Phone > Phone calls.
The inbound recording greeting is played automatically before the call connects. If you're using workflow-based routing, you can also add a recording notification step directly within the workflow instead.
How the recording warning announcement works
Find this toggle in Settings > Channels > Phone, under Recording and transcript.
The Enable recording warning announcement toggle controls who hears the recording notification when an inbound call connects:
When enabled, the warning message plays to both the teammate and the caller, so both parties hear it before the conversation begins.
When disabled, only the customer hears the warning. The teammate joins the call silently after the message finishes.
How to configure data retention
To set a data retention period for call recordings and transcripts:
Go to Settings > Channels > Phone.
Open Recording and transcript.
At the bottom of the section, select the checkbox to enable automatic deletion.
Enter the number of days after which recordings and transcripts should be deleted.
How to view recordings and transcripts
If you’ve enabled recordings and transcripts for all calls, when a call ends these will be processed and made available in the Call Details panel. To access the panel, click the calling card within the conversation thread.
The Call Details panel will show details about the call like direction and participants, play the recording (including video and screen sharing if used during the call), and show a line-by-line transcription for the call on the Transcript tab.
Recordings and transcripts can be manually downloaded or deleted by clicking on the three dots within the Call Details panel.
You can also specify data retention for recordings and transcripts from Settings > Phone, which automatically sets them for deletion after a number of days.
2 beeps at the start of a recording indicates that both the customer and teammate on a Call connected successfully and can hear each other.
How to enable transcript summaries
The Enable call transcription summaries toggle adds a concise summary of each call or voicemail to the conversation thread. Go to Settings > Channels > Phone and toggle on Enable call transcription summaries under Recording and transcript.
The feature is off by default, so it needs to be enabled by an admin. Once enabled, summaries will be generated as part of the transcription processing for the entire workspace.
The summary surfaces the context and general information about the content of the call in the conversation thread after the call has ended.
This feature is not currently available on EU hosted workspaces.
Recording consent
Intercom Phone supports GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)-compliant recording consent for both inbound and outbound calls. You can enable a per-phone-number consent prompt that plays to the customer and asks them to confirm they agree to being recorded. The consent message is fully customizable, and you can upload a custom audio file to replace the text-to-speech prompt.
Note: Recording consent requires both workspace-level recording to be enabled and the per-number consent toggle turned on for each phone number. Consent is collected via keypress only (1 to accept, 2 to decline) — not voice.
How to set up recording consent
Click the Edit icon next to the phone number you want to configure.
Scroll to the Recording consent section. Inbound and outbound consent controls now appear side-by-side.
Enable the consent toggle for inbound, outbound, or both.
Optionally, enter a custom consent message for each direction in the Consent message field. If left blank, the default message is used. Use the Copy text to outbound button to copy the inbound message to the outbound field.
Click Save changes.
Note: Recording consent is configured per phone number, not globally. This means you can enable it only for numbers that require it (e.g. numbers in GDPR-regulated regions) while leaving others unchanged.
Customer experience — inbound calls
When a caller dials an inbound number with recording consent enabled:
The configured (or default) consent message plays before the call connects.
Press 1 to accept recording — the call proceeds and is recorded as normal.
Press 2 to decline — the call connects without recording.
The default consent message (used when no custom message is configured):
"This call may be recorded for quality and training purposes. Press 1 to accept and continue, or press 2 to continue without recording."
Retry and timeout behavior — inbound calls
For inbound calls, the following retry and timeout rules apply when a customer doesn't respond or enters an invalid digit during the recording consent prompt:
If the caller presses an invalid digit, the consent prompt replays immediately.
If the caller doesn't respond within 20 seconds, the prompt replays.
After 3 failed attempts (timeout or invalid input), the call is automatically ended — the caller is not connected.
How outbound recording consent works
When a teammate places an outbound call, the customer hears the consent prompt as soon as they answer. They press 1 to accept or 2 to decline — the call always connects regardless of their choice.
The consent prompt plays automatically when the customer answers.
Press 1 to accept recording — the call proceeds and is recorded as normal.
Press 2 to decline — the call connects without recording.
Unlike inbound consent (which replays the prompt up to 3 times before ending the call), outbound consent is one-shot: if the customer doesn't press any digit within 20 seconds, the call connects without recording. The outcome is logged as Declined (no response), which is distinct from an active decline (pressing 2).
Note: Outbound consent is configured in the same Recording consent section of the phone number modal, alongside inbound controls.
How to upload custom consent audio
Instead of the default text-to-speech prompt, you can upload a custom audio file (for example, an MP3) to play as the consent message. Audio can be configured independently for inbound and outbound on each phone number.
To upload a custom audio file:
Click the Edit icon next to the phone number you want to configure.
Scroll to the Recording consent section and select the direction (inbound or outbound).
Click Upload audio and select your audio file.
Click Save changes.
Note:
When audio is uploaded, the text consent message field is disabled — this is expected. Audio takes priority over text-to-speech, so the text field isn't in use. To revert to text-to-speech, remove the uploaded audio file.
Previously, uploaded inbound consent audio was ignored and text-to-speech played instead. This is now fixed — uploaded audio plays correctly for inbound calls.
Tip: Use the Copy text to outbound button in the consent section to copy your inbound consent message to the outbound field without retyping.
How to report on recording consent
Recording consent outcomes in Intercom Phone are stored as conversation attributes and appear in the conversation timeline, making them available for filtering and reporting. Metrics can be filtered by direction: inbound or outbound.
Consent outcomes include:
Accepted — the customer pressed 1.
Declined — the customer pressed 2.
Declined (no response) — the customer didn't press any digit within the 20-second window. This is distinct from an active decline.
Answering machine detection
Answering machine detection helps identify when an outbound call reaches a voicemail or answering machine, so those outcomes are correctly reflected in reporting.
To enable it, go to Settings > Channels > Phone and toggle on Detect answering machines and voicemail on outbound calls under the Answering machine detection section.
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