RingCentral Call Recording Access

What You’re Setting Up

Access to call recordings through the RingCentral API so our integration can retrieve audio files and attach them to CRM records, transcribe them, or archive them.

This involves two parts: making sure recording is turned on in RingCentral, and making sure the API app has permission to access recording content.

Prerequisites

• RingCentral admin access (not just a user account)
• A RingCentral developer app with API credentials (set one up first)
• A RingCentral plan that includes call recording (most business plans do)

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Enable Automatic Call Recording

1. Log into your RingCentral admin portal
2. Navigate to the phone system or call handling settings
3. Find the automatic call recording section — this is typically under call handling rules or company-wide settings
4. Enable automatic recording for the extensions or call queues you want recorded
5. Choose whether to record inbound calls, outbound calls, or both

You can enable recording company-wide or per extension. For CRM integration, we usually recommend enabling it for all extensions that handle customer calls.

2. Set Recording Announcements

Most jurisdictions require notifying callers that a call is being recorded. RingCentral has built-in announcement options. Make sure these are enabled to stay compliant with local laws. This is your responsibility to configure correctly for your jurisdiction.

3. Grant API Access to Recordings

1. Go to your app in the RingCentral developer portal
2. Check that the following scopes/permissions are enabled:
   • Read Call Recording — required to download recording audio
   • Read Call Log — required to find which calls have recordings
3. If you added new scopes, you may need to re-authorize the app

4. Understand How We Access Recordings

When a call with recording is completed, the call log entry includes a recording object with a content URI. Here’s what to know:

• Encoding delay: Recordings are not instantly available. There’s typically a delay of 30 seconds to several minutes after a call ends before the recording file is ready for download.
• Content URI: The recording is accessed via an authenticated API call to a content URI. The audio is typically in MP3 or WAV format.
• Temporary URLs: Recording download URLs require a valid access token. They can’t be shared as public links.

Our middleware handles the timing automatically — we check for recording availability and retry if the file isn’t ready yet.

5. Storage and Retention

RingCentral retains recordings based on your plan and settings:

• Most plans retain recordings for 90 days by default
• Some plans offer extended retention or unlimited storage
• Once a recording is deleted from RingCentral, it’s gone — the API can’t retrieve it

If long-term storage matters for your business, we can configure the integration to download and archive recordings to your own storage (S3, Google Cloud Storage, etc.) before they expire in RingCentral.

Common Issues

Recordings Not Appearing in API

If recordings exist in the RingCentral admin portal but don’t show up via API, check that the app has the Read Call Recording scope. Also verify the app is authorized for the correct account and extensions.

“Content Not Available” Errors

If the API returns an error when downloading a recording, the file may not be encoded yet. Wait a few minutes and try again. Our middleware retries automatically.

Partial Recordings

If recordings are cut short or missing, check the call handling rules. Transfers between extensions can sometimes create multiple recording segments rather than one continuous file.

Compliance Concerns

We don’t provide legal advice on call recording laws. Make sure you’ve consulted with your legal team about recording requirements in your state or country, especially for two-party consent jurisdictions.

Next Steps

• Set up real-time call event notifications: RingCentral Webhook Setup
• Learn more about our VoIP CRM Integration services