Data Retention Policy

Retention policy targets

Retention policies are enacted via targets, but they apply to data (interactions). This data is created by interactions - calls, messages, and meetings — therefore a single user may generate data in the context of different targets.

For example, if you make a call using a department line that has a data retention policy applied, the data generated from your call will be governed by that policy. Calls you make using your personal line will not be governed by that policy. 

Retention policies can be set at the following targets:

• Office: applies to all users in the office and office main line
• Department:  applies to interactions with the department line
• Contact center: applies to the interactions with the contact center line
• Coaching team: applies to individual interactions for the users in the coaching team
• User: applies to individual interactions for the user

Set a Retention policy - Office level

To set your retention policy, first head to your Admin Settings.

1. Select Office Settings
2. Select Retention Policy
3. Select the Set retention policy
4. Select the desired policy
5. Enter the number of days you’d like the policy to apply to
6. Select Save policy
7. Select Set policy

Set a Retention policy - Contact center

To set a retention policy for your Contact Center, head to your Dialpad Admin Settings.

1. Select the desired Contact Center
2. Select Advanced Settings
3. Select Retention Policy
4. Select Set retention policy
5. Select the desired policy
6. Enter the number of days you’d like the policy to apply to
7. Select Save policy
8. Select Set policy

Set a Retention policy - Department

To set the retention policy for your Department, head to your Dialpad Admin Settings 

1. Select the desired Department
2. Select Advanced Settings
3. Select Set retention policy or Update retention policy
4. Select the desired policy
5. Enter the number of days you’d like the policy to apply to
6. Select Save policy 
7. Select Set policy

Set a Retention policy - Coaching teams

To set a retention policy for your Coaching Team, head to your Dialpad Admin Settings

1. Select the desired Coaching Team
2. Navigate to Retention Policy
3. Select Set retention policy or Update retention policy
4. Select the desired policy
5. Enter the number of days you’d like the policy to apply to
6. Select Save policy 
7. Select Set policy

Don't forget, if there is a retention policy applied at the Office level, it will automatically be applied to your Coaching Team and is applicable until you manually change it.

Set a Retention policy - User

 To set a retention policy for a user, head to your Dialpad Admin Settings.

1. Navigate to Office Settings
   
2. Select Users
3. Choose the User whose policy is to be updated
4. Select Options 
5. Select Admin
6. Select Set retention policies
7. Select Update Retention Policy
8. Select the desired policy
9. Enter the number of days you’d like the policy to apply to
10. Select Save policy
11. Select Update policy

Each time a retention policy has been changed, company admins will receive an email notification outlining the specifics of the update.

Retention period

When setting up your retention policy, you can specify any period in 1-day increments. The shortest retention period is 1 day.

The retention period is calculated from the age of the content at the time the retention policy is put in place, not from the date the retention policy is applied. For example, a retention policy of 365 days will affect all data that is older than a 1-year rolling period from the present.

Affected data

Let's look at the three different retention policies Dialpad offers.

Cleanup & archive

Cleans up the user view by masking data from search results, but does not delete any data. Data is still available to administrators and for analytics reporting.

Archiving is useful for high-volume, analytics-heavy businesses where managers need to keep data available for metrics and Ai analytics, and end-users don’t need indefinite access to call data. Users will not see archived data, but admins will see it as normal.

Remove content

Deletes the content associated with user activity, such as call recordings, voicemails, messages, and Ai transcripts.

This means that this data will be completely purged from your environment as well as Dialpad’s system. It is not retrievable once removed.

Removing content doesn’t remove the listing for entry for the call itself. Nor does it remove the name or phone number of the caller or the called party. Names and phone numbers are personal information, but they aren’t “content” so removing content does not affect them.

The data types affected by the remove content setting are not currently customizable. In other words, it cannot be set to delete audio but not transcripts, or recordings, but not voicemails. Currently, remove content means all content.

Remove Content & PI

Removes all personally identifiable information from all entries that associates the content with the user. This setting does everything that “Remove Content” does, and then goes a step further: it not only removes what was said, such as call recordings, transcripts, or messages that might have been generated, it removes personal information from “metadata” about the call. Specifically, it removes from the call history all data that is personally identifiable:

• External party name and number
• Call participant IDs
• Routing data
• All content (see “Remove Content” above)

Summary of retention policy options available

Keep in mind that, if there is more than one retention policy set on a given Dialpad user group (such as an office, department, contact center, or coaching group), they must be set to the same period.

Remove Retention policy

Retention policies can be removed at any time. 

To remove a retention policy, head to your Dialpad Admin Settings.

1. Navigate to Office Settings
2. Select Retention Policy
3. Select Remove Retention Policy

When removing a retention policy from a contact center or department there are two options:

1. To inherit the office’s current retention policy (if a policy is applied at the office level)
2. To remove all retention policies 

When an office-wide policy is removed, it will also be removed from all entities within the office that are inheriting that policy. 

Frequently asked questions

Can a retention policy be set at the company level?

No, not at this time. However, all subsequently created offices start with the same policy that’s been applied to your primary office, so there is no need to manually apply an additional policy when creating new offices.

I’m an office admin, can I set a retention policy for my office?

No, only company admins are able to set retention policies. 

Are agent screen recordings included in retention policies? 

No. Screen captures will be retained by default for one year and then deleted.

How long it will take to anonymize data?

That depends on how much data we are trying to anonymize. If there is a large amount of data to be processed, removal of content (or deletion) could take several days, even weeks.

Once a user has been anonymized, Dialpad cannot access, export, or restore its associated data or records.

What about Meetings?

Your chosen Dialpad retention policy is automatically applied to Dialpad Meetings. However, standalone Dialpad Meetings customers need to contact Customer Care to apply a data retention policy.

Can I access information from deleted users?

When a user is deleted, their data can be accessed for 72 hours. After 72 hours, the user's data is permanently deleted, and all records associated with that user will be anonymized.