A guide to how Microsoft Teams compliance recording announcements behave with Luware Recording, including triggers, user experience, transfers, and customisation options.

Microsoft Teams compliance recording announcements are automatic notifications that inform everyone in a call or meeting that the recording is active for compliance purposes. These announcements occur whenever a call or meeting involves a user who must be recorded under a Compliance Recording Policy. This article explains when and how the announcements are triggered, what users see or hear, how they behave during call transfers (new call legs), and what to expect when using Luware Recording. It also highlights typical use cases in regulated industries.

When Are Compliance Recording Announcements Triggered?

Announcements are triggered at the start of any call or meeting that includes a policy-recorded user. The moment the call connects (or a recorded user joins a meeting), Microsoft Teams invites the recording bot and immediately notifies participants that the session is being recorded.

• 1:1 calls: If one or both callers are under a Compliance Recording Policy, the announcement is triggered as soon as the call is answered.
• Meetings: If any invitee is a Recorded User (or the organiser is recorded), the announcement is delivered when the meeting begins, or when the recorded person joins.
• Call transfers and new legs: If a call is transferred or a new party is added (creating a new "leg" of the call), that new segment triggers its own announcement when it connects. Whenever a new call session starts that involves a Recorded User, an announcement plays for those in that segment.

New Call Legs During Transfers

Consider a Recorded User (Alice) on a call with Bob who transfers Bob to Carol. When Carol answers (a new call leg between Carol and Alice), Carol is notified about the recording with a banner or audio prompt as appropriate. When the transfer completes and Carol is connected with Bob, the recording continues and Carol and Bob have already been informed. Every participant who joins a recorded call at any stage receives an announcement on joining.

What Do Users See or Hear?

When a compliance recording starts in Microsoft Teams, participants are notified in one of two ways:

• Microsoft Teams app users — visual banner: Anyone on a Microsoft Teams client (desktop, web, mobile, Teams Phone, or Teams Room) sees a banner or indicator in the call window stating that the call or meeting is being recorded. The banner reads "Recording has started" or "This call is being recorded" at the top of the call. A red recording icon may also appear. This banner is the primary notification for Microsoft Teams users and remains visible (or an icon remains) throughout the call as a reminder.
• Phone and audio-only users — audio prompt: Anyone joining via a method that does not show the Microsoft Teams UI — for example dialling in from a telephone, or using a SIP phone — hears an automated audio announcement, usually "This call is being recorded" (or "This meeting is being recorded" in meetings) right after the call connects. This ensures users on the phone are informed even though they cannot see the on-screen banner. The prompt is played in the language of the tenant or meeting organiser by default (for example, English for a UK tenant).
• Mixed scenarios: In calls with a mix of Microsoft Teams and phone participants, Microsoft Teams users see the banner while phone users hear the audio. Each participant is notified appropriately, but not redundantly. Microsoft Teams app users do not hear the audio prompt, and PSTN users do not see a banner.

Announcement Timing and No Muting

The compliance announcement plays immediately once the call leg is connected. Microsoft Teams does not mute any participants while the announcement plays — it is injected into the call audio in real time. If someone starts talking exactly as the call connects, their voice and the announcement may overlap briefly. For example, you might be saying "Hello?" while at the same time hearing "This call is being recorded" over you. This is normal — the system does not wait for silence and does not silence you.

Frequency of Announcements

The notification is given once per call or meeting leg, at the very start. Microsoft Teams does not repeat it. In a long meeting the on-screen indicator persists, but the voice prompt does not replay unless a new participant joins, in which case that new person receives the prompt on entry. In a call transfer, the new party hears the announcement when their part of the call begins.

What the Banner or Prompt Says

By default the wording is generic and built-in. The banner states that the session is being recorded (often without specifying "for compliance" — this is implied if no one manually started it). The audio prompt typically uses a neutral voice stating "This call is being recorded." There is no custom information (such as who is recording or why) in the default message. It is a standard notification across Microsoft Teams.

Behaviour During Call Transfers (New Call Legs)

Call transfers, including consultative adds, create new call connections. These connections are also covered by compliance recording when a Recorded User is involved. Expect the following behaviour:

• New participant notification: When a recorded call is transferred to a new person, that new person receives a compliance announcement as soon as they are connected. They see a banner or hear the audio message, just as they would if the call started with them. The system treats it as a new call start for that participant.
• Ongoing participants: Participants already in the original call do not hear the announcement again, since they were notified at the call's start. The recording bot stays on the line through the transfer (ensuring no gap in recording), so from their perspective the call never stopped — no repeat banner or prompt. For example, in an attended transfer, Alice (recorded) calls Bob; Bob receives the initial announcement. Alice puts Bob on hold to consult Carol; Carol answers and receives the announcement; Alice connects Bob and Carol. Bob does not hear a second announcement at the moment of transfer, and Carol was informed when Alice called her. Recording continues seamlessly.
• Transferred-out Recorded User: If the Recorded User leaves the call entirely (for example, in a blind transfer) and the remaining call continues without any recorded person, the recording may stop at that point. Depending on policy, the call either continues without recording (since no one remaining is subject to recording) or ends immediately to prevent an unrecorded conversation. Most setups allow the call to continue and stop recording once no Recorded User is on the line. Whenever a Recorded User is present in a call leg, that leg has an announcement; if they exit, the recording stops and no further announcements are needed.
• No mute on transfer announcements: If a transfer results in an announcement for a new person, it plays over the audio. If Carol picks up and says "Hello Alice" at the same time the prompt says "This call is being recorded", the audio overlaps. It helps for the person initiating the transfer to inform the others — for example, "Alright, bringing Carol into the call now, you'll hear a recording notice, then let's continue."

Every distinct connection involving a recorded party gets one announcement. Transfers do not break the chain of compliance: no one ends up on a recorded call without being notified.

Examples of Announcement Behaviour in Different Scenarios

The following common scenarios illustrate how the compliance recording announcement works in practice:

• Internal 1:1 Microsoft Teams call (within your organisation): As soon as the call connects, both users on Microsoft Teams apps see a recording banner. No audio prompt is played, since both can see the screen. The banner indicates the call is being recorded. Conversation can proceed immediately — no one is muted.
• Microsoft Teams call with external PSTN user: The moment the call is answered, the Microsoft Teams user sees the banner and the external phone user hears "This call is being recorded." For an outgoing call, the external party hears it right after saying hello; for an incoming call, they hear it as soon as the Microsoft Teams user answers. Both are then aware of the recording.
• Microsoft Teams meeting (all participants on Microsoft Teams): When the meeting starts, or when a recorded person joins, everyone in the meeting sees a banner or indicator in the meeting window about the recording. No audio announcement is played into the meeting audio, so the conversation is not interrupted verbally. Late joiners see the banner immediately on joining.
• Microsoft Teams meeting with dial-in participants: As above, except those who dial in by phone hear the audio message on join. When you join a meeting by phone, you hear "This meeting is being recorded" before being connected to the conversation. Participants on the app see the banner.
• Transferred call (consultative): If you are on a recorded call with Person A and transfer them to Person B, Person B receives the announcement when they pick up — a banner if B is on Microsoft Teams, or audio if B is on a phone. Person A already received the announcement at the start of the call and does not hear it again. If you, the Recorded User, drop off, Person A and Person B continue (the call may continue unrecorded at that point, depending on policy). No one new joins without being informed.

These behaviours are by design: everyone is informed about the recording, without unnecessary repeats.

Luware Recording and Announcements

Luware Recording uses Verint Financial Compliance as the back-end compliance recorder for Microsoft Teams. Even with a third-party recorder, Microsoft Teams generates the compliance announcement. When the Verint bot joins a call (triggered by the Compliance Recording Policy), Microsoft Teams performs the same banner and audio notification sequence as described above. By default, users see and hear the standard Microsoft Teams prompts. There is no difference in user experience: a call recorded by Verint still shows "this call is being recorded" in Microsoft Teams, just like any other compliance recording. This applies to call transfers and new legs as well — the announcement logic is governed by Microsoft Teams, so new segments trigger an announcement in the same way.

• Custom announcements (optional): Luware Recording supports custom announcements. An organisation can upload a custom audio file (for example, "This call is being recorded by [CompanyName] for compliance reasons…") and customise the banner text. To use custom audio, the default Microsoft Teams audio prompt must be disabled by the Administrator via PowerShell. The Verint bot then plays the custom audio to the relevant participants. Customer-recorded announcements and custom banner text can be configured in Luware Recording.
• Language and voice: By default, the announcement is in English (or the tenant's default language). Verint's custom announcement feature supports other languages and a different voice. Microsoft's default prompt can also play in different languages if the meeting organiser's language or dial-in number's locale is set accordingly — for example, a meeting set for German plays a German prompt to dial-in users. When using a Luware custom prompt, ensure that it covers the required languages.
• No automatic participant muting: The behaviour regarding not muting users during announcements is the same with third-party recorders. The custom announcement plays over the call audio in real time, so even Verint's own prompt or beeps do not mute the call — they are simply inserted into the stream.
• Announcements on or off: Administrators can configure whether announcements are enabled or globally disabled (with caution). Announcements can be either completely disabled or enabled across all call types. By default, they are enabled, as required by most compliance rules. Disabling them removes both the banner and the voice notifications, which is generally not user-friendly nor compliant unless out-of-band consent has been obtained. In almost all cases, you will see and hear the announcements when using Luware Recording, because it relies on the Microsoft Teams mechanism.

Using Luware Recording does not remove or change how announcements function. They remain an integral part of the experience to keep calls lawful and transparent. The third-party solution provides the flexibility to tailor the announcement, but not to skip it entirely — unless an organisation explicitly chooses to do so and accepts the compliance responsibility separately.

Why Are These Announcements Important? (Use Cases)

Compliance recording announcements protect both the organisation and the participants by ensuring transparency. Typical use cases include:

• Financial services: Banks, trading firms, and insurers must record calls by law (for example, MiFID II in Europe and FCA regulations in the UK) and must inform participants of the recording. The Microsoft Teams automatic announcement satisfies this requirement on every call, so employees do not need to remember to give a verbal disclaimer. Whether a broker is calling a client or making an internal call on a recorded line, the system consistently provides the notice. This is a critical part of compliance culture in finance.
• Contact centres (customer service): Many businesses record calls for quality assurance. The familiar "Your call may be recorded" message is essentially what Microsoft Teams provides on every call individually. When an Agent using Microsoft Teams is recorded via a Compliance Recording Policy, the customer hears the announcement as soon as the call starts, fulfilling the legal requirement in many jurisdictions to notify consumers.
• Healthcare and legal: When calls are recorded with consent for telemedicine or legal consultations, the announcement ensures the patient or client is aware. This fosters trust and upholds privacy laws. If they object, they can choose not to proceed — nothing is recorded without them being told upfront.
• General workplace: Even for internal meetings, if a company chooses to enforce recording (for example, for important meetings or training), automatic announcements ensure that all employees are aware. This avoids accidental secret recordings and builds a more open environment. Employees learn to expect the banner, and it becomes part of the normal workflow.

The immediate, automated nature of compliance announcements means there is no delay in capturing communications: recording starts right away, but no one is unknowingly recorded. That balance is essential for meeting legal obligations (such as obtaining implied consent) and for user trust. Announcements occurring on transferred calls and added participants ensure that even dynamic call scenarios remain covered.

Summary — When Are Announcements Triggered and How?