by Moe Zilla

Created on: August 30, 2010

There's two very easy ways to record a phone call, and in both cases, the equipment is extremely cheap. For example, Radio Shack offers several devices which can easily record a phone conversation.  Ten years ago, all the audio was stored on cassette tapes, but today they seem to be moving into the digital age.  Now the recorded conversations are stored as digital audio files - and you can download them directly to your hard drive!

Search Amazon for a "Micro telephone recorder," and you'll find one of the old-fashioned cassette-based recording systems. But there's now also some telephone answering machines which offer the ability to record incoming phone calls. I've had two answering machines which provided this feature. One called it a "dictation" feature, maybe because they were envisioning a CEO who'd call his secretary to dictate a memorandum.

Of course, there's an even easier way to record a phone conversation: have the conversation on Skype! "Though Skype doesn't provide native support for recording voice conversations yet, you can easily record Skype Call Sessions using third-party add-ons or hardware devices," notes one technology blog, "or even with software that already exists on your computer." If you're using a Mac, there's fewer choices, though you can still record a call with software like Audio Hijack or WriteTrap Pro. But if you're using a PC, there's an even wider range of choices, including Kish Kish SAM or PowerGramo Recorder, Pamela 2.0 Professional, Total Recorder, MixCast, Skylook Business for Microsoft Outlook, and PrettyMay.

There's even "conference call" services which will let you dial in to a central phone number - and some of them offer the ability to record the conversation. But however you perform the recording, remember that a phone call is often legally classified as a personal and private conversation. Wikipedia offers a detailed run-down of the current laws governing phone conversations. The law requires you to inform the other party that you're recording the phone call if you live in one of the following 12 U.S. states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, or Washington.

The best tip for recording a phone conversation is to keep the actual conversation short. Remember that you'll have to spend an equal amount of time listening to the entire conversation. If the conversation is too long, it makes it difficult to find specific parts that you may be looking for. I've worked as a journalist, and was taught that you shouldn't really too heavily on phone recordings. If there's a technical malfunction, you'll leave the interview thinking you've recorded lots of wonderful quotes - only to discover that the only thing you have left to rely on is your memory!

So when you're picking your recording technology, choose carefully.

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