What Is Pause and Resume in Contact Centers?

What Is Pause and Resume?

In contact center operations, "Pause and Resume" refers to a mechanism that allows agents to temporarily halt the recording of sensitive payment card data during customer interactions.

This functionality is primarily implemented to assist in achieving compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which mandates the protection of cardholder information.

By pausing the recording during the transmission of sensitive data, contact centers aim to prevent the capture of information such as card numbers, expiration dates, and CVV codes.

How It Works in Call Centers

In practice, agents manually pause and resume call recordings during the payment process. This manual intervention is intended to ensure that sensitive authentication data is not recorded. However, this approach introduces risks, as human error can lead to incomplete pauses or failures to resume recordings, potentially resulting in non-compliance with PCI DSS requirements.

Additionally, pausing recordings only addresses one aspect of PCI compliance, leaving other areas, such as agent desktops and network security, unprotected.

Benefits for PCI Compliance

The primary benefit of implementing Pause and Resume functionality is the reduction of sensitive data captured in call recordings, which can help in minimizing the scope of PCI DSS compliance requirements. By not recording sensitive authentication data, contact centers aim to mitigate the risks associated with storing and handling such information.

When and Why to Use It

While Pause and Resume can be a short-term solution for PCI compliance, it is not a comprehensive approach. Organizations should consider this method only if they are unable to implement more secure alternatives. It's crucial to recognize that this practice does not address all PCI DSS requirements and may not fully protect against data breaches or fraud.

For a more robust solution, technologies such as Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) masking can automatically detect and suppress sensitive information, eliminating the need for manual intervention and reducing compliance complexity.

Related

• PCI DSS Compliance: A set of security standards designed to protect cardholder data and ensure secure handling of payment information.
• DTMF Masking: A technology that automatically detects and suppresses sensitive information during customer interactions, enhancing security and compliance.
• Call Recording Solutions: Systems that capture and store customer interactions for quality assurance, training, and compliance purposes.
• Contact Center Security Best Practices: Guidelines and strategies to safeguard customer data and ensure secure operations within contact centers.

Implementing effective security measures and compliance strategies is essential for contact centers to protect sensitive customer information and maintain trust.