Privacy Policy

What we collect

When you just browse. You don’t have to tell us anything to read our site. Our servers and analytics tools automatically record your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you visit, how long you stay, and the site or search that sent you here.

When you contact us. If you request a quote, book a demo, fill in a contact form or email us, we collect what you give us — typically your name, business name, email address, phone number, and whatever you write in the message. We use email marketing and customer relationship management software to manage our conversations with you, keep track of what we’ve discussed, and follow up.

When you call us. We record telephone calls to and from B1 including sales, support and account management for quality assurance, training, and to keep an accurate record of what was discussed and agreed. Recordings capture whatever is said during the call. If you’d prefer not to be recorded, email support@b1communications.ca and we’ll be happy to assist you by email instead. We retain call recordings for as long as reasonably necessary for these purposes, after which they are securely deleted.

When you subscribe. If you sign up for our newsletter we collect your email address, and our email provider records whether messages were opened or links clicked.

We don’t ask for and don’t want sensitive information through this website. Please don’t send account passwords, financial details or anything confidential through a web form.

Cookies, analytics and advertising

We use cookies and similar technologies on this site. Some are necessary to make it work. Others help us understand how visitors find and use the site, and allow us to show ads for B1 to people who may be interested in our services.

We work with third-party analytics and advertising providers to do this. These providers may set cookies or use similar technologies to recognise your browser or device across websites, and may combine that information with data they hold from other sources.

You can control this. Most browsers let you block or delete cookies, and you can opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies at youradchoices.ca. Blocking cookies may affect how parts of this site work.

How we use your information

• To answer your question, prepare a quote, or arrange a demo
• To send you information about our services, if you’ve asked for it or you’re a customer
• To understand how the site is used and make it better
• To show ads for B1 to people likely to be interested
• To meet our legal and regulatory obligations

If we ever want to use your information for something genuinely different from the above, we’ll ask first.

Who sees it

We use service providers to run our business — website hosting, analytics, email delivery, customer relationship management and advertising. These providers may access personal information while providing those services to us. They may only use it to provide services to us, they’re required to protect it, and they can’t use it for their own purposes.

We will disclose information if we’re legally required to — a court order, a lawful demand from a regulator or law enforcement — or where we need to in order to protect our rights, our network, or someone’s safety. If B1 is ever sold or merges with another company, information would transfer as part of that business, and the buyer would be bound by this policy until you’re told otherwise.

Where your information is stored

Our website is hosted in Canada. Some of our service providers — including analytics and advertising platforms — are based in the United States, which means some information about your visit is processed there and may be accessible to US authorities under US law.

We tell you this because we’d rather be straight with you than let “100% Canadian” imply more than it should. Our website is hosted in Canada, and our phone platform is operated from Canadian infrastructure. Some third-party services we use for analytics, advertising and communications operate internationally.

How long we keep it

We keep personal information for as long as we have a reason to — while you’re a customer, while we’re in touch about your business needs, and afterwards where tax or regulatory rules require us to keep records. We don’t delete business contact information on a fixed schedule, because a company we quoted three years ago may well come back to us.

You can ask us to delete your information at any time, and we’ll do so unless we’re legally required to keep it. If you unsubscribe, we keep a note of your email address so we don’t accidentally add you back to a list.

Your choices

• Unsubscribe from any marketing email using the link at the bottom of it. We act on this immediately.
• Ask what we hold about you. We’ll tell you, free of charge, within 30 days.
• Correct anything that’s wrong.
• Ask us to delete it, subject to any records we’re legally required to keep.
• Withdraw your consent at any time, though we may not be able to keep providing something if you do.

Email privacy@b1communications.ca and a real person will handle it.

Keeping it safe

Information is protected using administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

We protect personal information with access controls and limits on which staff can see what — no one at B1 has access to information they don’t need to do their job.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach ever occurred that created a real risk of significant harm to you, we would notify you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, as the law requires.

Other sites

Our site links to other websites, including our support centre, customer portals and social media. Once you leave b1communications.ca, this policy stops applying and theirs takes over. We’d encourage you to read them.

Changes

We update this policy from time to time. When we do, we’ll change the effective date at the top of this page.

What “Mobile App” means

In this section, “Mobile App” refers to any mobile and desktop software provided by B1 Communications for the purpose and use of our phone services. This includes softphone apps for iPhone, Android, Windows & Mac computers for calling, messaging, faxing & account management.

We provide the B1 Mobile app, and we also work with technology partners whose applications can be used with B1’s phone services. This section applies to all of them. Where a particular app works differently, we’ll say so.

When you download an app published under a partner’s name, that developer’s privacy policy applies to the app itself, alongside this policy for the phone service behind it.

Who this is between

Almost everyone using the Mobile App got it from their employer. Your business signed up with B1, and someone at your company set up your extension.

That means there are two relationships here. Your company decides who has an extension, whether calls are recorded, and who can see call reports. B1 operates the system and follows your company’s instructions. If you want to know what your employer can see, or you want your account changed or removed, that conversation starts with them — we can’t make those changes on our own.

We think you should know that up front rather than discover it later.

What the Mobile App collects

Your account details. Your name, extension, phone number and the credentials that connect the app to our platform. These come from your company when they set up your account.

Call and message records. For calls made or received through an app, our platform records the numbers involved, the date, time and duration, and whether the call connected. Where an app supports text messaging or chat, we handle those messages in order to deliver them. This is covered in more detail in the Services section.

Call audio. We don’t store call audio unless your company has turned on call recording. If they have, recordings are stored on your company’s account and your company decides who can listen and how long they’re kept.

Device and diagnostic information. App version, device model, operating system and network type, plus crash and error logs. We use this to fix problems.

Permissions the Mobile App asks for

Different apps ask for different permissions depending on what they do. Typically:

• Microphone — required to make and receive calls. Only used during a call.
• Contacts — so the app can show a name instead of a number, and let you dial from your address book.
• Notifications — so your device alerts you when a call or message arrives.
• Bluetooth — to use headsets and car audio.
• Camera and files — only in apps that support video, file sharing or sending a fax, and only when you use those features.

You can refuse or revoke any permission in your device settings. Refusing the microphone means the app can’t place calls; refusing notifications means you’ll miss calls when the app is closed.

How incoming calls reach you

When someone calls your extension, our system sends a notification through Apple’s Push Notification service or Google’s Firebase Cloud Messaging to wake your device. That notification includes enough information to show you who’s calling.

This means basic call metadata — who’s calling and when — passes through Apple’s or Google’s servers, which are outside Canada. There’s no way to deliver reliable incoming-call notifications on iPhone or Android without it. We mention it because our network is Canadian and this part genuinely isn’t.

Calling 911 from an app

Who sees your information

We use service providers to run the Mobile App and our platform, including hosting, push notification delivery and error reporting. They may only use information to provide those services to us.

Apple and Google give us aggregate statistics about installs and crashes. They don’t tell us who you are.

We’ll disclose information where the law requires it — a court order or a lawful demand from law enforcement — or to protect our network or someone’s safety.

Deleting your information

Your extension belongs to your company’s account, so ask your employer first — they can remove it directly.

To make a request to us, email privacy@b1communications.ca. We’ll respond within 30 days. Where the information belongs to your company’s account, we’ll need their authorisation before removing it, and we’ll tell you if that’s the case.

Deleting an app from your device removes the app and its local data. It doesn’t close your extension.

Customer vs Provider

This is the most important thing on this page, so it goes first.

When a business signs up with B1, that business decides how the service is configured: who gets an extension, whether calls are recorded, who can listen to recordings, who sees call reports, and what happens to the account when someone leaves. B1 operates the system and follows those instructions.

So there are two different situations:

• Information about our customer — the business’s account details, billing information, the contacts we deal with. We decide what we do with this, and this policy governs it.
• Information flowing through the service — calls, voicemail, recordings, messages and faxes belonging to a business and the people it communicates with. We hold and transmit this on that business’s behalf. They set the rules; we follow them.

If you’re an employee, a customer of one of our customers, or anyone else whose information passes through the service, the business you’re dealing with is the place to start. We can’t change or delete their records on our own. If you contact us, we’ll tell you who to ask, and we’ll help them action it.

Information we collect about your account

This is information B1 collects and decides what to do with. This policy governs it.

Account and billing information. Business name and address, the people we deal with, service addresses, extensions and phone numbers, plans and billing records, and support conversations.

Payments. Card and payment details are handled by a PCI-compliant payment processor. B1 does not store your full card number.

Support calls. Calls to and from our own sales, support and account management team are recorded for quality assurance, training, and to keep an accurate record of what was discussed and agreed.

Information that flows through the service

This is information belonging to our customer and the people they communicate with. We hold and transmit it on that customer’s behalf, and they decide how it is configured, who can see it, and how long it is kept.

Call records. For every call, our platform records the numbers involved, the date, time and duration, whether it connected, and which extension handled it. Every telephone provider keeps these records — it’s how billing, call reporting and fault-finding work. We do not record the content of calls in a call record.

Voicemail. Messages left for you are stored on the platform until deleted. If voicemail-to-email is enabled, a copy is also sent to the mailbox configured for that extension. Once it has been delivered to your email provider, it’s handled according to that provider’s own policies and security practices.

Call recording. Call recording is disabled by default. When a customer enables it, recordings are stored in B1’s Canadian data centres and are accessible to that customer — including any of their staff who have been given access to the relevant extensions or to the customer portal.

Voicemail transcription. Where enabled, voicemail audio is converted to text using a third-party speech recognition service. Transcripts are stored with the voicemail.

Text messages. Where SMS is enabled, we handle message content, sender and recipient numbers and delivery status in order to send and receive messages. Messages also pass through carrier networks outside our control.

Faxes. Fax documents sent or received through our fax service are stored on the account until deleted.

Conferencing. Participant numbers, join and leave times, and duration. Recording a conference is a customer-controlled setting.

Call reporting and analytics. Call volumes, wait times, queue performance and agent activity, built from call records. Supervisor features such as monitoring or joining a live call are configured by the customer for their own staff.

Customer portal. Login credentials, actions taken in the portal, and the account information visible there.

Integrations. Where a customer connects B1 to a CRM, Microsoft Teams, or another system, information moves between the two at that customer’s direction. Once it reaches the other system, that provider’s terms and policies apply. Choosing to enable an integration, and directing data outward to another provider, is done at the customer’s own risk.

Our employees and contractors

Our employees, contractors and selected service providers have access to customer information in order to run the service — setting up accounts, configuring extensions, handling billing, and helping when something goes wrong. Depending on the role, that access can extend to call content, including recordings and voicemail.

We have a policy governing how that access is used. Our staff and contractors do not listen to recordings or voicemail, read messages, or look at customer information except where it is needed to troubleshoot or resolve an issue for that customer.

Contractors and service providers who handle customer information are bound by confidentiality obligations.

What we don’t do

Customer confidential information

As a Canadian telecommunications provider, we are required to keep customer information confidential. We do not disclose it to anyone other than the customer, a person the customer has authorised, or where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

We may use your account information to tell you about B1 services relevant to your business. You can ask us to stop at any time and it won’t affect your service.

Fraud and network monitoring

We monitor call traffic and network activity to detect toll fraud, abuse, service faults and security threats. This uses call records and technical data rather than the content of your communications, and it is how we protect both your account and our network.

Legal cooperation

B1 Communications cooperates with law enforcement, regulators and the courts. We respond to requests from law enforcement as well as to court orders, warrants, subpoenas and other lawful demands, and we work with the requesting authority to provide what they need.

This can include account and billing details, service addresses, call records, text messages, faxes, voicemail and call recordings.

Where we’re legally permitted to do so, we may notify the customer that we’ve received such a request. In some cases, the law prevents us from doing so.

If you record calls, that’s your responsibility

Call recording is a feature we make available. Deciding to use it — and complying with the law when you do — is the customer’s responsibility.

Canadian privacy law generally requires that people be told their call is being recorded, why, and that they can decline. That applies to your customers and to your own staff. Employee monitoring in British Columbia carries its own obligations under the Personal Information Protection Act.

We’ll help you configure announcements and access controls. We can’t provide legal advice about your recording practices.

Number porting

When you move a number to or from B1, we exchange the information needed to complete the transfer — the number, account details and service address — with the other provider and with the systems that coordinate porting in Canada. This is required for the transfer to work.

E911 and your service address

Who sees it

Service providers. We use third-party vendors to deliver parts of our services, including platform infrastructure, telephone number supply, message and fax delivery, transcription, and payment processing. These vendors may access information only as needed to provide those services to us, and may not use it for their own purposes.

Other carriers. Calls, texts and faxes travel across other telephone networks to reach their destination. Those carriers handle the information needed to complete delivery. That’s inherent to how the telephone system works, and it’s true of every provider.

Business transfer. If B1 is sold or merges, information transfers as part of that business.

Where it’s stored

Our phone platform is operated from Canadian infrastructure. Some third-party service providers that support our services, such as transcription, email delivery, software platforms or mobile push notifications, may process information outside Canada.

Notification delivery to mobile devices passes through Apple’s and Google’s push services, which are outside Canada — the Mobile App section explains this.

How long we keep it

We keep information for as long as we have a reason to, and as long as the law requires. Account and billing records are kept while you’re a customer and afterwards to meet tax and regulatory obligations.

For information held on a customer’s behalf — recordings, voicemail, messages, faxes — retention follows that customer’s configuration and their own instructions. When an account closes, data is deleted after a reasonable wind-down period so that anything needed can be retrieved first.

Your choices

• If you’re a B1 customer: contact us for access to your account information, to correct it, or to ask about the data we hold.
• If your employer is a B1 customer: ask them first. They control your extension and its records.
• If you were called by a B1 customer and want to know what they hold about you, that’s a question for them — they decide what’s recorded and kept. If you contact us, we’ll point you in the right direction.

Email privacy@b1communications.ca.

Keeping it safe

Information is protected using administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

We protect information with access controls and limits on which staff can see what — no one at B1 has access to information they don’t need to do their job.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach occurred that created a real risk of significant harm, we would notify those affected and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, as the law requires.