Anybody that has lived by the sea understands the tide is something that is well documented and inevitable. You account for it and plan for it, there is no hiding from the fact.

In the same way mobile recording has been on the agenda for some time now, admittedly with some false starts, yet some financial institutions have still left things to the ‘eleventh hour’. In some cases, almost as if they are playing a game of ‘chicken’ with the FSA, the UK regulator.

Maybe the reluctance is due to the fact that more regulation with the necessary technology investment is unwanted or perhaps some are unsure what extra safeguards recording of institutional provided mobile devices really provides. Additionally, there is also the dichotomy in the market amongst technologists too, some looking at today’s solutions, whilst others appear to be running with a temporary ‘stop gap’ solution, waiting for developments in the market and range of available options. I expect the Blackberry versus iPhone (et al) debate adds fuel to the fire here too, especially given that (at the moment) approaches towards secure recording of either mobile devices can vary.  

For whatever reason, delays in starting these projects may cause delay in readiness. These are the first generation of mobile phone recording solutions, so as with any new technology it is not unreasonable to expect some teething problems. When talking to  institutions in the City, we have found that some encountered reliability issues with their solutions and with the tight timeframes, they could be having problems in being fully ready for today (November 14th).

In an increasing monitored and supervised world, I expect the FSA’s more conservative regulatory neighbours in Europe are watching carefully to assess the effectiveness of this policy post November 14. Although I expect that lessons learnt in the UK will quickly fuel a broader rollout of mobile recording across markets and authorities.  

The current case with mobile recording is also interesting from a regulatory monitoring perspective. It reflects a situation where regulators are broadening monitoring in-line with a wider range of active communication mediums, beyond the obvious email, IM and SMS in their many forms, with a more serious move into social networks and video conferencing. All providing our next set of technology challenges.