> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Voice Data Residency & Retention > Where Orbit stores your call recordings, voicemail, and live media — how to pin a region, and how long voice data is kept before it is deleted # Voice Data Residency & Retention This page explains **where** your voice data physically lives and **how long** Orbit keeps it. It covers call recordings, voicemail, and the live media plane that carries a call in progress. If you operate under GDPR, HIPAA, or a contract that restricts where regulated audio may be stored, read this before you record your first call. This page describes Orbit's platform controls. It is **not legal advice.** Your residency and retention obligations depend on where your callers are located, your industry, and your contracts. Confirm the specifics with qualified counsel. *** ## Where your voice data lives Orbit runs its voice media plane in two regions: | Region | Location | Serves | | ------ | -------------------- | --------------------------- | | `eu` | Europe (Belgium) | Europe, Africa, Middle East | | `us` | North America (Iowa) | North & South America | Each region runs its own media servers, its own live call-state store, and its own recording storage. When a tenant is pinned to a region, the following voice data stays in that region: * **Call recordings** — the stored audio of a recorded call. * **Voicemail** — recorded messages left for your numbers. * **Live media** — the in-flight audio of a call in progress, including the media plane that powers Orbit's AI voice agents. Additional regions (APAC, Middle East, LATAM) are provisioned on request — [contact support](/introduction) if you need one that is not listed above. Region pinning applies to the **voice media** described above. It does not, on its own, relocate every record in your workspace. If you have a contractual data-residency requirement that spans channels, raise it with support so we can confirm coverage before you go live. *** ## Choose your region Your region is set per workspace. New workspaces default to `auto`, which routes each call to the nearest region at connect time. Pin an explicit region when you have a residency requirement — for example, an EU workspace that must keep all recorded audio in the EU. ### From the dashboard Go to **Voice → Regions**, pick a region from the list, and save. Only workspace owners and admins can change the region, and every change is recorded in your audit log. ### From the API List the available regions: ```bash theme={null} curl https://api.orbit.devotel.io/api/v1/voice/regions \ -H "X-API-Key: dv_live_sk_..." ``` Read your current preference and the region calls would use right now: ```bash theme={null} curl https://api.orbit.devotel.io/api/v1/voice/regions/preferred \ -H "X-API-Key: dv_live_sk_..." ``` ```json theme={null} { "data": { "preferred": "auto", "resolved": "eu" } } ``` * `preferred` — your saved setting: `auto`, `eu`, or `us`. * `resolved` — the region your calls land in right now. When `preferred` is an explicit region the two match; when it is `auto`, `resolved` is the region auto-selection currently maps you to. Pin an explicit region (owner or admin API key required): ```bash theme={null} curl -X PUT https://api.orbit.devotel.io/api/v1/voice/regions/preferred \ -H "X-API-Key: dv_live_sk_..." \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "preferredRegion": "eu" }' ``` A value outside `auto`, `eu`, or `us` returns a `422`. Changing your region affects **new** calls. Recordings already written in one region are not moved when you switch — they play back from wherever they were stored. Switch before you start recording if you need every recording in one region. *** ## In-region guarantee Orbit does not carry an EU workspace's call through US infrastructure, or the reverse. Each region is self-contained: the media servers, the live call-state store, and recording storage for a region all live in that region. There is no automatic cross-region failover — a region is never silently substituted for the one you pinned. Playback is the one exception, and it is safe: a recording is stored with its region built into its address, so a recording written in the EU plays back correctly even when a teammate opens it from a US-based session. The audio itself is never copied out of its home region to serve playback. *** ## Bring your own recording storage If you would rather keep recordings in storage you control, you can point call recordings at your own Google Cloud Storage bucket under **Voice → Calls → Recording settings**. Orbit writes each recording directly to your bucket instead of Orbit-managed storage. This is useful when your retention, encryption, or residency policy is enforced at the storage layer by your own team. When a bring-your-own destination is configured but temporarily unreachable, Orbit falls back to its own storage so the recording is never lost, and flags the call so you can reconcile it later. *** ## How long voice data is kept Recordings and voicemail are retained for a configurable window, then deleted automatically. When the window elapses, the stored audio file is deleted and its playback link is removed from the associated call or voicemail record. | Setting | Default | Range | | ------------------------------------- | ------- | ------------ | | Voice recording & voicemail retention | 30 days | 7–3,650 days | Set your retention window per channel under **Settings → Compliance → Retention**. The window applies from the time each recording is created. ### Stricter retention under HIPAA When HIPAA mode is active, retention is **enforced** rather than optional, and call recordings are in scope. The HIPAA default is 365 days (configurable between 30 and 3,650 days), after which covered audio is securely deleted. See [HIPAA compliance](/compliance/hipaa) for the full covered-data list and configuration. ### Legal hold You can place an individual recording under **legal hold** to exempt it from age-based auto-deletion — for example, when it is material to active litigation or an eDiscovery request. A recording on legal hold survives its normal retention window until you release the hold. *** ## Playback links expire quickly Recording and voicemail playback links are short-lived: each link is valid for **one hour**, then stops working. This limits the blast radius if a link is copied into a browser cache, a shared bookmark, or a forwarded email. The dashboard fetches a fresh link automatically each time you open a recording, so day-to-day playback is unaffected — but do not treat a copied playback URL as a durable reference. Fetch a new one when you need it. *** ## Related Per-jurisdiction rules for lawfully recording calls, and how Orbit enforces consent announcements. Covered-data scope, enforced retention, and the BAA workflow for healthcare workloads. Handle access and erasure requests that cover recorded voice data. Backups, logging retention, and the broader control environment.