Session recordings have become an essential tool for modern support teams. But what exactly are they, and how can they help your team deliver better support?
What are session recordings?
Session recordings capture the interactions between support agents and customers during co-browsing sessions. Think of them as a replay of exactly what happened during a support interaction.
These recordings typically include:
- Visual recording of the browser session
- Agent actions and guidance
- Timeline of events
- Issues encountered and how they were resolved
Unlike screen recordings, session recordings are lightweight and focused specifically on the support interaction.
Why session recordings matter
Session recordings serve multiple purposes for support teams:
Training and onboarding
New agents can watch how experienced team members handle different situations:
- See real examples of effective customer communication
- Learn problem-solving techniques from top performers
- Understand how to handle difficult scenarios
- Build confidence before taking live sessions
This accelerates onboarding and reduces the learning curve for new hires.
Quality assurance
Managers can review sessions to:
- Identify areas where agents need additional training
- Recognize excellent performance
- Ensure compliance with support standards
- Spot systemic issues in products or processes
Regular review leads to continuous improvement across the team.
Issue identification
Patterns emerge when you can review multiple sessions:
- Common pain points in the user experience
- Frequent bugs or technical issues
- Areas where documentation is lacking
- Opportunities for product improvements
This data becomes invaluable for product and engineering teams.
Privacy and compliance
Session recordings raise important privacy questions. Responsible implementations include:
Automatic data masking
Sensitive information is automatically hidden:
- Password fields
- Credit card numbers
- Social security numbers
- Other PII (personally identifiable information)
Customers' privacy is protected even in recordings.
Customer consent
Best practices require:
- Clear notification that sessions may be recorded
- Easy opt-out options
- Transparent data retention policies
- Compliance with regulations (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)
Secure storage
Recordings should be:
- Encrypted at rest and in transit
- Stored in compliance with data residency requirements
- Automatically deleted after a set retention period
- Access-controlled to authorized team members only
Getting value from recordings
Having recordings is just the start. To maximize value:
Create a review process
Set up regular review sessions:
- Weekly team reviews of interesting cases
- Monthly quality assurance checks
- Quarterly deep dives into trends
Make review a consistent habit, not an occasional event.
Build a library
Organize recordings into categories:
- Training examples: Great sessions for learning
- Common issues: Frequently encountered problems
- Complex cases: Challenging situations and solutions
- Bug reports: Technical issues to escalate
A well-organized library becomes a powerful knowledge resource.
Share insights cross-functionally
Session recordings reveal insights valuable to:
- Product teams: See real user struggles
- Engineering: Understand bug impact
- Marketing: Learn customer language
- Sales: Understand common questions
Breaking down silos leads to better products and experiences.
Best practices for recording
If you're implementing session recordings:
- Set clear policies: What gets recorded, how long it's kept
- Train your team: How to request consent, when to pause recording
- Regular reviews: Make reviewing sessions part of your workflow
- Act on insights: Don't just collect data, use it
- Respect privacy: When in doubt, err on the side of caution
Common misconceptions
Let's clear up some confusion:
"Recordings are only for catching mistakes"
Wrong. While they can identify issues, their primary value is learning and improvement.
"They're too time-consuming to review"
Modern tools make it easy to search, filter, and quickly find relevant sessions.
"Customers won't consent to recording"
When explained properly, most customers appreciate that recordings help improve service.
"They're a privacy nightmare"
With proper safeguards, recordings can be completely compliant and privacy-respecting.
The future of session recordings
As technology advances, session recordings are getting smarter:
- AI analysis: Automatically identify issues and patterns
- Smart highlights: Jump to key moments in long sessions
- Sentiment analysis: Understand customer emotions during interactions
- Automated coaching: Suggestions for improvement based on session data
These capabilities make recordings even more valuable for support teams.
Getting started
Ready to use session recordings? Start here:
- Check your tools: Does your co-browsing platform support recordings?
- Create policies: Document what, how, and why you're recording
- Train your team: Ensure everyone understands the process
- Start small: Begin with voluntary recordings and expand from there
- Review regularly: Make it part of your team rhythm
Session recordings are a powerful tool for building better support teams. Used responsibly, they accelerate learning, improve quality, and help deliver better customer experiences.
Univerx includes session recording capabilities with built-in privacy protections. Start your free trial to see how it works.
