What This Update Actually Is
HubSpot has added granular call recording controls inside Call Setup settings. Admins can now assign recording behavior to specific users or specific phone numbers tied to teams.
Before this update, call recording in HubSpot was a portal-wide toggle. Every rep recorded, or no rep recorded. There was no middle ground.
Now admins can select a custom recording configuration per direction, number, or user. When a specific user or team phone number is selected under that custom setting, those calls won't be recorded. Everyone else keeps whatever the default is.
Why HubSpot Shipped This
Recording compliance isn't simple. It never has been. Different roles, different states, different countries, different customer types all carry different consent and legal requirements.
We've seen this play out inside real portals. A company has a U.S. sales team that records every call and a European customer support team that legally cannot record without explicit two-party consent workflows in place. One setting broke both.
The internal frustration admins felt was real. They'd turn recording off for everyone to stay safe, losing the coaching value for reps who could record legally. Or they'd leave it on and run compliance risk for certain teams. Neither choice felt right.
HubSpot shipped this so admins can apply the right recording rule to the right humans without a workaround. That's the whole reason.
How to Use It Step by Step
- Go to Settings in your HubSpot portal.
- Navigate to Call Setup, then select Call Configurations.
- Find the Call Recording section.
- Select "Custom recording settings per direction, number or user."
- Choose either a phone number (which maps to a team) or a specific user. That selection disables recording for those calls.
- Save your settings. Repeat for any other users or teams that need a different configuration.
That's it. No workflow. No third-party tool. It lives natively in Call Setup where admins already go to manage calling behavior.
What It Touches in Your HubSpot Strategy
This update is small in scope but wide in ripple. Here's where it matters beyond the settings screen.
Sales Hub Coaching Workflows
Sales managers use call recordings for rep coaching. With per-user controls, you can keep recording active for junior reps who benefit from call review while switching it off for senior reps handling sensitive enterprise negotiations.
This directly affects how you staff your coaching pipeline. The humans doing the coaching need recordings. The humans who don't want to be recorded now have a clean path to that exception.
Key Takeaway
Per-user recording settings let you preserve coaching value for reps who need it without forcing a blanket policy that creates legal risk for teams operating in stricter consent jurisdictions.
Service Hub Compliance and Ticket Quality
Support teams often deal with different consent rules than sales teams. A customer success team handling renewals may operate under different policies than a frontline support queue.
Per-team recording also connects directly to AI call summaries. If a team phone number doesn't record, those calls won't generate transcripts or AI-powered conversation recaps. That's a trade-off worth planning for.
If your team relies on AI-generated summaries for ticket documentation, read our breakdown of the Conversation Recap Public Read API to understand how recording and recap data connect across your stack.
Key Takeaway
If you disable recording for a team or user, you also lose AI transcript and recap data for those calls. Map this out before you configure, especially if your team uses call summaries for ticket logging or CRM notes.
Admin Governance and Portal Audits
This is exactly the kind of setting that gets misconfigured during growth. A company adds a new region. A new team is spun up. The admin forgets to check recording settings. Six months later, compliance is a mess.
Call recording configuration should be on your regular portal review checklist. If you don't have one, our HubSpot Portal Audit Checklist covers over 70 items every admin should be reviewing, including call and communication settings.
Sequence and Task Activity Logging
Call recordings and call activity logs are different things. Turning off recording for a user doesn't remove the call activity from the CRM record. Calls still log. Deals still update. But you won't have audio or transcript artifacts attached.
If your sales team uses sequences to drive calling cadences, note that sequence task auto-associations still fire normally even when recording is disabled for that user.
Who Should Care Most
Not every HubSpot admin needs to act on this today. But some really do.
- HubSpot admins managing multi-region or multi-country portals where consent laws differ by location.
- RevOps leaders who want to preserve call coaching for reps without applying recording to every team in the portal.
- Sales managers at companies with 10 or more reps where different roles carry different recording needs.
- Service Hub admins running customer support teams in GDPR or CCPA-sensitive regions.
- Companies using Sales Hub and Service Hub together, where the sales team records and the support team legally can't.
If your portal has a single call recording setting and you've never questioned whether it fits every team, now's the time to check.
George's Take
I've sat inside enough portals to know that blanket settings almost always create friction somewhere. Recording is one of those areas where admins do their best with what they have, often accepting a policy that's slightly wrong for at least one team. This update removes that compromise. It won't make headlines, but it's exactly the kind of targeted control that makes HubSpot easier to govern at scale. The humans on your support team in Germany and your sales team in Texas shouldn't have to share the same recording setting. Now they don't.
“Blanket settings always break something. Per-user call recording is a small change that removes a very real governance headache for admins managing teams across different rules and roles.”
If you're not sure how your current call recording settings are configured, or you want a full picture of what's been set up, misconfigured, or left at default across your portal, let's talk. A Sidekick strategy session will surface exactly what needs attention so your teams can flourish without compliance surprises.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I turn off call recording for a specific user in HubSpot?
Go to Settings, then Call Setup, then Call Configurations. Under Call Recording, select "Custom recording settings per direction, number or user." Choose the specific user from the list, and their calls won't be recorded. All other users keep the default recording behavior. This setting is available in Sales Hub and Service Hub Starter, Professional, and Enterprise.
Can I set different call recording rules for different teams in HubSpot?
Yes. HubSpot now supports per-team call recording by letting admins select a team phone number under the custom recording settings option. When a team phone number is selected, calls made through that number won't be recorded. This lets you apply different recording rules to different teams without changing the global setting.
Does turning off call recording in HubSpot affect AI call summaries?
Yes. If recording is disabled for a user or team, HubSpot won't capture audio or generate a transcript for those calls. That means AI-powered conversation recaps and summaries won't be available for those calls either. Call activity still logs to the CRM record, but there won't be audio or transcript artifacts attached.
Which HubSpot tiers include call recording settings per user and team?
This feature is available across Sales Hub Starter, Professional, and Enterprise, as well as Service Hub Starter, Professional, and Enterprise. It's not limited to higher tiers, which makes it accessible to most businesses already using HubSpot for calling.
Why would a company need different call recording settings for different users?
Recording laws vary by region, role, and customer type. A sales team in a one-party consent state may record freely, while a support team in Europe may need two-party consent or can't record at all. Different roles also have different coaching needs. Per-user controls let admins match recording policy to the actual legal and operational reality of each team.
Where in HubSpot do admins configure call recording per user or team?
Navigate to Settings, then Call Setup, then Call Configurations. The Call Recording section now includes a "Custom recording settings per direction, number or user" option. Select it, then choose the phone number or user you want to exempt from recording. The setting takes effect immediately for future calls.
