Telephone Recording
In many cases, people wish to post
telephone interviews on their web sites. Let's
look at how to get the phone recording into your
computer.
But first, a disclaimer. The laws for
recording phone conversations vary from state to state. Some
only need the consent of both parties, some also need the
consent of the phone company, and some require a background
beep every 15 seconds. Check the laws in your area prior to
recording any telephone conversations.
The easiest way to record phone interviews,
the way that I use now, it to use Skype or another VOIP phone system. Skype
is free for user to user phone calls. There are also options
for SkypeIn (your own Skype telephone number that others can
call from regular phones) and SkypeOut (call regualar phones
for about 2 cents a minute).
You are already on a headset tied into your computer, all
you need is a way to record the conversation. I found a handy
little shareware program called Hot Recorder that is designed especially
for recording VOIP phone conversations. It's free to try and
$14.95 to buy.
NOTE: Audacity can't record both sides of the
conversation; it only picks up your microphone. If you
are using another sound editing program, like
SoundForge, see if there is an option to record both
the microphone and speakers. That may allow you
to record both sides of the conversation.
You can also try a Phone Recorder Device
that you can buy online or at Radio Shack. Phone Recorders
sometimes include a cassette recorder that you probably don't
need since you want to record directly into your computer. All
you need is a Controller.
The phone recorder control we used to
use is the Radio Shack 43-228A. It plugs in between
the phone wall jack and phone with a microphone input for
the computer or a cassette recorder (it has a second input
plug for voice activated cassette recorders that you don't
use when recording to the computer). The sound quality is
not great but it is acceptable, especially for the
price.
Another type of phone recorder controller is
used with a corded or hardwired phone by placing an adapter
between the phone base and the handset like the Radio Shack 43-1237. But, we always
experienced a LOUD background hum on two different computers
and two different phones and two different phone lines.
We don't recommend this one.
I've also experimented with using
data/fax/voice modems and software that will record
phone conversations directly into the computer using the voice
aspect of the modem. However, the quality was poor.
Product Links...
Audio Recording Software
The free recording and editing program
Audacity is covered on the next page under Editing Audio.
| 
