Objective
This article aims to answer frequently asked questions around storage add-ons and screen recording
Applies To
- Storage Policies
- Storage Add-Ons
- Screen Recording
Frequently Asked Questions
Screen Recording & Storage Licensing
Does a customer need to purchase a hot storage SKU if they only want cold storage screen recording?
Yes. There is no specific feature add-on license for screen recording, as it's bundled as part of the hot-storage SKU for screen recording. So, if the customer wants screen recording, they will need to order a 30 or 130 day screen recording hot storage SKU. If the customer wants a longer retention period, they then need to order the relevant screen recording cold storage SKU. Note that a customer must have hot-storage for screen recording to be able to order and implement cold-storage for screen recording. It's not possible to define a storage policy that's cold-only.
- Hot Storage (short-term): 30 or 130 days options for call recordings & screen recordings.
- Cold Storage (long-term): Archive options from 1 to 10 years for both UC and CC media.
Unified Communications (UC) Storage Details
What is included vs what needs to be added for both call recordings and meeting recordings for UC customers?
- For UC Call Recordings:
- X1-X2 plans include 30 days hot storage by default, user-based.
- X3-X8 plans include 130 days hot storage by default, user-based.
- For UC Meeting Recordings:
- X1-X2 plans include 30 days hot storage by default, user-based.
- X3-X8 plans include 130 days hot storage by default, user-based.
How can UC customers extend hot storage?
- For X1-X2 plans: Customers can purchase an add-on to extend hot storage for calls and meetings up to 130 days, priced per user per month.
How is cold storage handled for UC call and meeting recordings?
Cold storage is always an additional purchase, regardless of plan (X1-X8). Customers can select retention periods of 1 to 10 years, priced per user per month.
Contact Center (CC) Storage Details
What is included vs what needs to be added for both call recordings and screen recordings for CC customers?
- For CC X Series Call Recordings:
- X6-X8 plans include 30 days of hot storage by default, concurrent seat-based.
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Note: The CC call recordings include call center recordings, chats, voicemails, post-call surveys, and voice comment recordings. |
How can CC customers extend hot storage for call recordings?
- Customers can purchase add-ons to extend to 130 days hot storage:
- Available for X6-X8 plans, billed per concurrent seat per month.
- Also available for standalone CC call recording deployments, billed similarly.
What about hot storage for screen recordings in CC?
Unlike call recordings, screen recordings are not included by default. Customers must purchase a single screen recording hot storage SKU, which can be configured for either 30 or 130 days.
This applies to both X6–X8 plans and standalone CC deployments, and is billed per concurrent seat.
How is cold storage managed for CC recordings?
- For both call and screen recordings:
- Cold storage is purchased as an add-on, available in 1 to 10 year options.
- Applicable to both X6-X8 plans and standalone CC deployments, billed per concurrent seat.
Are screen recording licenses included automatically?
No. Screen recording always requires a separate license tied to Quality Management or Speech Analytics, in addition to the storage add-on.
Operational FAQs
Do all screen recording purchases require QM/Speech Analytics?
Yes. Any screen recording:
- Requires purchasing hot or cold storage AND
- Must be tied to a Quality Management and/or Speech Analytics license
Does the 8x8 Contact Center X8 license include screen recording?
No. The X8 license does not include screen recording functionality.
Is there a difference in licensing between new vs. existing customers?
- New customers: Must purchase storage at the time of provisioning (hot/cold bundled).
- Existing customers: Can add storage as an add-on; screen recording still requires licensing with QM/Speech Analytics.
What does it mean that the storage policy is “not applied retroactively”?
When a storage policy is not applied retroactively, it means the policy only governs data associated with interactions created after the policy is assigned to the user. Any data stored prior to the policy assignment remains unaffected and continues to follow the previously applicable rules.
What is an example of a non-retroactive policy change?
Consider the following scenario:
- Up until July 31, 2025, the organization maintained a 1-year cold storage retention policy, whereby data archived to cold storage was automatically deleted after one year.
- Beginning August 1, 2025, the policy is updated to extend the cold storage retention period to 7 years.
The updated policy is not applied retroactively:
- Any data archived before August 1, 2025 will still be subject to the original 1-year retention rule and deleted accordingly.
- Only data archived on or after August 1, 2025 will benefit from the extended 7-year retention period.
Are storage policies automatically assigned?
Not all storage policies are automatically assigned:
- For 8x8 Contact Center users, all storage policies are automatically assigned.
- For 8x8 Work users, storage policies that are included by default in the X series licenses are also automatically assigned together with the licenses, but all storage add-ons (130 days hot storage and any type of cold storage) must be manually assigned to the users they were purchased for.
Why are storage add-ons not automatically assigned for 8x8 Work users?
In an effort to offer more flexibility to customers, we allow for them to purchase a lower number of Cold Storage licenses than the number of users they purchase for 8x8 Work, thus those licenses have to be manually assigned. (e.g. a customer has 100 8x8 Work users, but they bought only 50 licenses for storage-adds on. Those 50 licenses must be assigned by the customer to take effect.)
What happens if the storage add-ons are not configured for 8x8 Work users?
Purchased storage add-ons will not take effect if users do not configure their storage policies. If a user does not configure their storage policies, recordings will be kept for the default Hot Storage period and then be permanently deleted at the end of that period.
Does the same storage policy apply for recordings created by both deleted and active users?
Yes, the policy covers recordings created by users with one of the following statuses: active, deactivated, or deleted.
Are metadata and other recording-related files covered by the same storage policy?
Yes, all recording related files and metadata fall under the same policy as the recording and will be stored and/or deleted along with the recording.
When a recording is archived (in cold storage), all media files are archived and must be retrieved for playback (retrieval might take up to 12 hours and the files will be available again for 7 days upon retrieval). But metadata is still available and accessible in Interaction Retrieval Widget or in the Recordings page in 8x8 Admin Console.
How does storage apply to interactions in QM & SA?
By default, the storage retention policy is not automatically applied to evaluated interactions in QM & SA. This means that evaluated recordings, transcriptions, and associated data remain available in the QM & SA app beyond the standard storage policy.
As of February 12, 2024, administrators can choose to apply the retention policy to recorded interactions. When enabled by a primary account administrator in the QM & SA Settings page:
- Recordings that exceed the retention policy are deleted.
- The agent evaluation remains, but the QM & SA application will no longer display interaction details.
- This affects all views, including Search Interactions, Search Evaluations, Reports, and any other page where evaluated interaction details were previously accessible.
What is the duration for which I can maintain access to the stored data?
According to the storage policies that have been purchased and configured, the retained data will remain accessible for the duration of the customer's active subscription with 8x8.
Visual of Included by Default vs Add-On