Is Illinois a one-party consent state?
No. Illinois is an all-party consent state for recording calls, under 720 ILCS 5/14-2.
General information, not legal advice. Laws change and we can get things wrong, so check with a lawyer before relying on any of this. Citations checked October 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us.
Recording calls in Illinois
Illinois asks for the consent of everyone on a call before it is recorded. If the agent records the calls it answers, the usual practice is to tell each caller at the start.
Under 720 ILCS 5/14-2(a)(2), a person commits eavesdropping by knowingly and intentionally recording a private conversation in a surreptitious manner without the consent of all other parties. The statute defines surreptitious as done by stealth, deception, secrecy or concealment, so an announced recording is generally read as falling outside it. That is why the sample agent gives the notice at the start of the call.
Reporters Committee summary for IllinoisIllinois requires every party's consent only for secret recording of a private conversation. Since a 2014 rewrite, recording a call openly, after telling the caller, is outside the eavesdropping statute.
A first eavesdropping offense is a Class 4 felony (720 ILCS 5/14-4), carrying 1 to 3 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000 (730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-45, 5/5-4.5-50). A second offense is a Class 3 felony. Any party to the recorded call can sue for an injunction, actual damages and punitive damages (720 ILCS 5/14-6), and the statute sets no fixed damages amount or attorney fee award.
General information, not legal advice. Citations checked October 2026. Ask a Illinois lawyer about your own calls.
Using an AI agent to answer your Illinois line
Illinois needs everyone's consent, so the recording notice goes in the agent's first sentence, before the caller says anything. Ask your lawyer whether the notice plus the caller staying on the line meets Illinois's standard for your industry.
“Thanks for calling. This is an AI assistant, and this call is recorded. How can I help?”
A Cartesia voice agent answers your business line, says this on every call, then takes messages or transfers the caller to your team.
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If the agent also calls out from Illinois
An answering service mostly takes calls. Callbacks and reminders are outbound, and outbound calls follow the federal rules plus Illinois's own.
Outbound calls that use an AI voice need the called party's prior express consent, unless the call is for an emergency or fits an FCC exemption. AI-voice calls that include telemarketing need prior express written consent. The FCC ruled in February 2024 (FCC 24-17) that an AI-generated voice is an artificial voice under the TCPA, so these calls must also identify the caller and, for telemarketing, offer a way to opt out.
47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(B)47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(2) and (a)(3)FCC ruling on AI voices, February 2024Federal rules allow telemarketing calls from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the called party's local time. Some states set a shorter window, listed below when they do.
16 C.F.R. § 310.4(c)No sales calls into Illinois between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. The caller has to give its name, the business and the reason for the call right away, and ask whether the person agrees to hear the pitch.
Statute textIllinois bars autodialed calls between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. and bars playing a prerecorded sales message by autodialer without the called party's consent, with $500 in damages per violation.
Statute textWhere Illinois callers are
Time zone: Central. You set your business hours in your own time zone, and the agent takes messages outside them.
217
Springfield
224
Northern suburbs, with 847
309
Peoria and the Quad Cities
312
Downtown Chicago
331
Western suburbs, with 630
618
Southern Illinois
630
Western suburbs
708
Southern suburbs
773
Chicago
815
Rockford
847
Northern suburbs
872
Chicago, with 312 and 773
Enterprise-grade security
HIPAA compliant
SOC 2 Type 2
GDPR
Illinois call recording law FAQs
Is Illinois a one-party or all-party consent state for recording calls?
Illinois is an all-party consent state for recording calls, under 720 ILCS 5/14-2. Illinois requires every party's consent only for secret recording of a private conversation. Since a 2014 rewrite, recording a call openly, after telling the caller, is outside the eavesdropping statute. This is general information, not legal advice. Ask a lawyer about your own calls.
Do I have to tell callers an AI agent is recording in Illinois?
Plan on yes. Illinois asks for every party's consent, so the agent should say the call is recorded at the start. The sample agent opens with "Thanks for calling. This is an AI assistant, and this call is recorded. How can I help?" and you can change the rest of the line. This is general information, not legal advice.
What if the caller is in a different state than my Illinois business?
The stricter state's rule can apply. In Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney (2006), the California Supreme Court held that California's all-party rule governs, going forward, calls a Georgia office records with clients in California. A business that takes calls from other states usually announces recording on every call.
How much does a Cartesia agent cost to answer calls in Illinois?
Managed Agents cost $0.03/min, plus telephony and LLM usage. See pricing.
Which time zone and area codes cover Illinois?
Time zone: Central. Main area codes: 217, 224, 309, 312, 331, 618, 630, 708, 773, 815, 847, 872. The agent answers calls from any number, and you set your business hours in your own time zone.
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