A solution for recording phone calls

We had a thread here a couple months ago about finding a good solution to record phone interviews, and I found a pretty good one, using Skype and a program called Pamela (there are others, but I like this one.)

Anyway, you can use Skype to make computer-to-computer calls for free, but you can pay $3 a month or $30 a year to get unlimited calls from your computer to landlines or mobile phones in the US and Canada. For a little more (not sure the exact fee), you can get a number to receive calls. It's best to also have a headset when you make calls with Skype.

Then you just have to buy Pamela, which costs $20-30, depending on the version you want. There is also a free version that can only record 15 minutes at a time.

So you're on the call and Pamela records it, with no little beeps or things, onto a mp3 file on your computer.

It doesn't really help if you're out at the grocery store when that call comes into your cell phone, but it's certainly something.

 

Yeah, something. And while the gesture is certainly appreciated by many, including myself ... you can also just put the thing on speakerphone and hit record.

 

Speakerphone is kind of annoying. I know I hate talking to someone who is on speakphone. Aside from the quality of the sound, you always feel like they are doing something else.

 

I have the solution: A 1996-era GE PROSERIES speakerphone with silent record technology. Pick up the extension and hit "record" when I get an answer.

 

For years I've used some recording thingy I got at Radio Shack. Inexpensive and hooks up easily between a recording device and a wired phone.

 

Just today I got an update in the iTunes sore for the recorder program. It records outgoing calls for a small fee ($2/hr), i think because it routes the calls through somewhere else to record them.

 

Cranking up the volume and holding the recorder between my ear and the speaker has yet to fail me, though I do have extremely long fingers that allow me to pull this off.

I'll look into this, though. Thanks

 

This is the best option. Used it for years. Works best with cell phones.

 

I'm sure we're all talking about the same device and it works perfectly.

The best option, at least if you are working from home, is Vonage. Not only do you get free long-distance, but there's a one-click recording option available. The file is saved on your PC and you can listen to it and edit it from there.

 

The cell phone volume thing cited by jlee works great with a digital recorder. Just make sure you hit the record button before you answer the call or before the person answers your call if your digital recorder makes a slight noise when you hit record.

There's a Radio Shack device that works awesome with the home phone if you have a shoebox tape recorder. You put your phone line in the device and there are two prongs that fit into the shoebox recorder.

So my question for someone to answer is this: Does Radio Shack offer a similar device for cell phones in which there are two prongs to insert into a shoebox recorder?

 

Olympus makes a gizmo that has a combination earpiece/microphone (one side in your year, the other to the phone receiver) and a cord that goes into the microphone section of your recorder.

 

I'll have to go back to Radio Shack. I have one that works on land line phones and was something I picked up from a since retired writer. But I have yet to find something good for my cell phone.