Build a Secure Phone System for a Family Office

Even though family offices don’t have multiple clients to contact, they often operate like a professional services firm. At any given moment, there are multiple people (some family, some staff) who need to stay in touch with the office, and this may mean communicating across jurisdictions, sometimes 24/7.

To achieve this, a secure, well-structured phone system is critical for governance, continuity, and privacy. In this article, we’ll teach you the steps to take if you’re planning to build such a system for your family office from scratch.

1. Select a Platform and Governance Structure

Your provider (the platform you’ll use to build the phone system) must be reliable and secure. Look into platforms that offer enterprise security, call recording, role-based access control (RBAC), and mobile app integration.

Look for small business phone plans that offer enterprise-grade, closed system Voice over IP (VoIP) or Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and require admin-level control over provisioning, porting, and deactivation. 

Once you have a provider, make sure to register all phone numbers under a single corporate (or family trust) entity, not individuals. This prevents loss of control if a staff member leaves. Next, design the governance structure by establishing dedicated lines for principals and key staff (CIO, Head of Office) and shared lines for specific roles, like household staff or travel coordination team.

2. Define Role-Based Access and Device Management

The role of a family office is to manage the family’s finances in accordance with the members’ wishes. As a result, they handle various complex tasks, such as estate planning, accounting, legal coordination, lifestyle management, philanthropy, and security. 

The office is put in place to act as an intermediary between the family and the rest of the world, so family members can enjoy their privacy. This is why a family office phone system needs role-based access. 

Here’s how to design it:

• The principal lines (only for family members) must have full access to features and the highest security profile (biometric/MFA login). Only a few lines can contact them.
• Key staff (CIO, Head of Office) also need full features and MFA, plus mandatory compliance recording for all business calls. These are the lines that can contact the principals.
• Support staff have limited access with restricted outbound calling. These lines are shared so multiple people can respond to the same call.

For devices, use Mobile Device Management (MDM) such as Jamf (for Apple) or Intune (for mixed environments) and mandate encrypted storage, remote wipe, and VPN tunneling for all of them.

3. Design Travel and Contingency Readiness

This part of the system is to be used when the family members or key staff members travel for business. 

To support reliable connectivity, look into an eSIM provider like Truphone, GigSky, or Ubigi for travel-ready data. Also, ensure all users have VoIP softphone apps that can operate over Wi-Fi when roaming.

4. Recording, Archiving, and Compliance Controls

Given the sensitive nature of the information that is being exchanged via these phone lines, a family office must implement stricter security measures and data retention policies. For example, key staff and support staff lines must have automated recording and archiving for all calls. 

All call recordings, voicemails, and logs must be stored on a secure, encrypted server for a specified data retention policy (e.g., 7 years). Once this period expires, the data must be automatically deleted to comply with existing laws.

If there are lines that interact with external parties, ensure compliance with two-party consent laws (or one-party, depending on jurisdiction and location of the call). Also, all employees must be made aware of and agree to these policies before receiving their mobile devices.

In Summary

While it may seem extensive, a secure phone system for a family office does need this level (if not higher) of preparedness and security. Plus, staff should attend regular training on security best practices.

In today’s world, where threats lurk around any corner, it’s crucial to focus on security and privacy first.