Recording telephone calls

rmg1

Hi all

I'm having some difficulties with a company who shall remain nameless.
They are disputing the fact that I have contacted them phone on several occasions which is causing delays and problems.
To save any future hassles, is it possible to record a phone call on the computer with a time/date stamp?
I have a broadband connection and the phone is a cordless digital.
If it is possible, can someone please say in very simple language how it could be done and point me in the direction of any software required?

TIA

iviv

Not sure how (Perhaps use skype, though you would have to pay). However, you would legally have to inform them that you are recording the phone call if you want to use it as evidence in a court of law.
Not 100% certain, but I'm pretty sure thats how it works.

rmg1

Don't mind informing them to make sure there's no misunderstandings in future, just wanted to know what was possible.

fwor

You can certainly buy devices that would allow this. I have one made by the company Maxview, and described as a "telephone call recorder interface".

This one can only be used on a corded phone, as it plugs in between the handset and the main body of the phone, and has a lead and a 3.5mm jack which you can plug into the Mic input on your computer.

You could then use something like the Open Source program Audacity to record the conversation.

However, you could not timestamp it in any way that would hold up in court, as you could have set the computer's time and date to anything you wanted!

McAzrael

You could ask the person on the other end to agree with you that the time is whenever and the date is whatever before you start.

timbim_2

There are systems where you dial through a number and then it emails you the file. Costs a bit, but cheaper than buying a device.

System

You used to be able to buy a cheap suction pad with wire attached which connected to one of those micro voice tape recorders. May be Maplins

Marty_J

Can't you just put the call on speaker and use a tape recorder?

rmg1

My original request was so that I could then burn the conversations onto CD as a permanent record.
Thanks for the advice folks, I think I'll have to have a rethink.

MothballsWallet

When I worked at a Tandy shop years ago (we're talking 1991), they sold a suction cup-based device that attached a microphone to your handset, then you connected it to a tape recorder with a 3.5mm (headphone) plug.

Another way is to take a microphone, plug it into your computer, put it near the phone (best to have it on handsfree, turn up the earpiece volume on the phone, and recording volume on the computer), and use a freeware/shareware program to record it.

Windows Sound Recorder usually records no more than 1 minute of sound at any rate, so best to look at a download site such as Tucows or Download.com to find something better to use.

You should get a .WAV file out the other end, and can burn that to CD as you wish.

fwor

rmg1 wrote: »

My original request was so that I could then burn the conversations onto CD as a permanent record.
Thanks for the advice folks, I think I'll have to have a rethink.

If you use Audacity to record the conversation, you can save the resulting sound file on a CD as a permanent record, no problem.

Though I wouldn't personally think of CD-Rs as "permanent", as I've had several go bad in less than 5 years...