How to configure restricted recording access by group in Demodesk

What and why

Demodesk lets admins restrict recording access by user group. Reps see only recordings from their own group. Managers and admins keep full visibility. Three steps: enable restricted access under Recordings & AI settings, create user groups, set group-level permissions for cross-group access. This is how most European teams satisfy works council (Betriebsrat) requirements without breaking coaching.

Who this is for

Admins and RevOps managers at European sales teams who need recording access policies that satisfy DSGVO, works councils, or internal data minimization rules — without blocking managers from coaching their reps.

Prerequisites

• Admin access to your Demodesk workspace
• A clear picture of which teams or roles should be grouped (e.g. DACH AEs, UK SDRs, Customer Success)
• A decision on which groups can see across boundaries (typically: managers and admins see all, reps see only their own group)
• Optional: alignment with your works council or DPO on the policy before you flip the switch

Steps

1. Open Recordings & AI settings.Go to your workspace settings and open the Recordings & AI section. This is where the global recording access policy lives.
2. Enable the restricted access toggle. Switch on the restricted recording access setting. By default, every user in a Demodesk workspace can see every recording. Turning this on flips the model: recordings are private by default, and access is granted only through the group permissions you set in step 4.
3. Create your user groups.Open the Teams or Groups area and create one group per team you want to isolate — for example, “DACH Sales,” “UK Sales,” “Customer Success.” Add the relevant reps to each group. Leave managers and admins out of the rep-level groups for now. They get cross-group access in the next step, so adding them to a single group would only restrict their view.
4. Configure cross-group permissions.Open each group's permissions settings and choose which other groups it can access recordings from. The standard pattern: rep groups access only their own recordings; manager and admin groups access all groups. If you have a regional structure (e.g. DACH manager should coach DACH reps only), set permissions accordingly.
5. Verify the policy with a test user. Log in as (or impersonate) a rep from one group and confirm they only see their own recordings and those of teammates in the same group. Then verify a manager sees everything they should. If something looks off, recheck the group membership and the permission matrix before rolling out.
6. Communicate the change.Tell your team what changed, what they'll see, and why. A one-paragraph Slack message cuts “I can't find my recording” tickets and helps reps understand the system isn't surveillance — it's the opposite.

Tips

• Start with two groups, not ten. Most teams over-engineer this on day one. Start with one rep group and one manager group, verify it works, then add complexity.
• Keep admins in a dedicated admin group with access to all groups.Group-based admin access scales as you add people. Individual permission grants don't.
• Pair restricted access with bookmarked recordings retention.Demodesk's configurable retention (12h to 1 year, with bookmark exceptions for coaching) is what most works councils want. Restricted access controls who sees recordings. Retention controls how long they exist. Use both.
• Document the policy.A one-pager on who can see what and why makes Betriebsrat and DPO conversations faster — especially the second time you need to make a change.
• Re-check group membership when reps move teams.A rep who switches from DACH to UK won't automatically lose access to old DACH recordings if they stay in the DACH group. Add this to your team-change checklist.

Related skills and agents

• AI Coach — for coaching workflows that work within your access policy
• AI CRM Concierge — CRM sync respects the same access controls, so restricted recordings still update the right deals
• See your Demodesk help center article on works council documentation for templates you can share with your Betriebsrat: https://help.demodesk.com