Recording business calls in Florida: the consent rule

Florida is an all-party consent state

Under Florida's Security of Communications Act — Florida Statutes §934.03 — it is illegal to intercept or record a wire, oral, or electronic communication without the consent of all parties to it. In plain terms: you generally can't record a phone call in Florida unless everyone on the call has consented.

That's stricter than federal law and than many other states, which allow recording with just one party's consent. In Florida, one party isn't enough.

What that means if your business records calls

You need the caller's consent before recording starts. The standard, widely-accepted way businesses get it is a clear disclosure at the very beginning of the call — the familiar "this call may be recorded for quality and training" — after which a caller who stays on the line is treated as having consented.

The key is timing and clarity: the disclosure comes first, before any recording, and it's unambiguous.

In Florida, "this call may be recorded" at the start isn't just polite — it's how you stay on the right side of a felony statute.

The penalties are real

Illegally intercepting or recording a communication under §934.03 is a third-degree felony in Florida, and it can also open you up to civil liability from the person you recorded. This isn't a paperwork technicality — it's worth getting right.

How AI receptionists and call systems handle it

A properly configured AI receptionist or call-handling system plays the consent disclosure at the start of the call, only records after that point, and stores any recordings securely with sensible retention limits. If you'd rather not record calls at all, a good setup can run without recording entirely.

Whatever vendor you use, ask them directly how they handle Florida's all-party consent — and confirm your own setup with counsel.