anyone have any bright ideas on how to record phone calls on iphone? or other alternatives?

[bigben2wardpitt]

Believe it or not, there is not an app that will actually record phone calls. You can record all the voice memos and to do lists you want on the iphone, but cant actually record a phone call.

I was thinking of getting an audio splitter (it has to be the irregularly long one because i have the first gen iphone) plugging it into the iphone, having one headphone jack go to my ear for hearing and talking (these headphones would have to have a little speaker for talking on them as well), and the other just a headphone jack to headphone jack (female to female - is that what they are called) and have that go into the "mic" jack in my olympus electronic recorder. It sounds crazy, but i don't know how else do it (aside from putting then on speakerphone and recording.)

One idea I threw up was Skype. I have only used skype to talk between mac users (so its free), but if I were to make a phone call (meaning I would have to purchase whatever plan they have or whatever) through skype, can it automatically record it on the computer, or i could just have the phone call coming through the speakers and use my olympus recorder.

Let me know what you think/your ideas.

If you are wondering, I am a journalist and want an easy way to record phone interviews.

 

[pm]

If you figure out a way to do this, let me know. My wife is a journalist too (and I'm so glad that she'll be home for a while now that the election is finally over), and she'd love to know this too. As it is, she uses a speaker phone and a MP3 recorder.

 

[bigben2wardpitt]

i will. anyone else want to help me/us?

 

[bigben2wardpitt]

bump.

 

[gorcorps]

Recording phone calls is illegal in the US unless you have legal permission. THAT'S why you can't find anything that does this.

 

[pm]

Right. Understood. My wife and I are well aware of the laws. You need to inform the caller that they are being recorded and your recorder needs to issue an audible beep every minute to remind the caller that they are being recorded.

There are plenty of other things that are illegal in one circumstance but that are legal in another that are supported by equipment makers.

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: pm
If you figure out a way to do this, let me know. My wife is a journalist too (and I'm so glad that she'll be home for a while now that the election is finally over), and she'd love to know this too. As it is, she uses a speaker phone and a MP3 recorder.

Originally posted by: pm
Right. Understood. My wife and I are well aware of the laws. You need to inform the caller that they are being recorded and your recorder needs to issue an audible beep every minute to remind the caller that they are being recorded.

There are plenty of other things that are illegal in one circumstance but that are legal in another that are supported by equipment makers.

Isn't she "skirting" the law then pm?

 

[pm]

I guess I was mistaken. I talked to my wife - she said she's never heard of the beeping thing and she says that she just needs consent. I'm certain that it used to be a rule somewhere that you needed to have thing beep... but I guess not.

Checking Google, she's right.

http://www.rcfp.org/taping/

Federal law allows recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the call. A majority of the states and territories have adopted wiretapping statutes based on the federal law, although most also have extended the law to cover in-person conversations. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia permit individuals to record conversations to which they are a party without informing the other parties that they are doing so. These laws are referred to as "one-party consent" statutes, and as long as you are a party to the conversation, it is legal for you to record it. (Nevada also has a one-party consent statute, but the state Supreme Court has interpreted it as an all-party rule.)

Colorado is one of the states that doesn't require consent if you are a journalist - Colorado revised statute § 18-9-305(1) pretty much gives a blanket exception to wiretapping laws for news organizations.

http://michie.lexisnexis.com/c...me.htm&2.0#JD_18-9-305

(1) Nothing in sections 18-9-302 to 18-9-304 shall be interpreted to prevent a news agency, or an employee thereof, from using the accepted tools and equipment of that news medium in the course of reporting or investigating a public and newsworthy event; nor shall said sections prevent any person from using wiretapping or eavesdropping devices on his own premises for security or business purposes if reasonable notice of the use of such devices is given to the public.

For what it's worth though, she quit her job after the election ended. Which is good, I was tired of her travelling all the time. She's writing a book now.

Edit:
Reading the laws, they are way less strict that I thought they were. They seem almost too relaxed. In 38 states out of 50, you can record a call without even telling the other person.

 

[state 08]

Not to relevent for you unless this feature is vital enough for you to switch phones, but Palm OS has an awesome program called CallRec which automatically records all incoming/outgoing calls to the MicroSD.