Record Skype Calls - Easy Audio & Video Call Recording

We have posted before about recording phone calls through a TRX personal call recorder, recording multiple phone lines across a business network with VRS call recording software, or even saving conversations with the Express Talk softphone’s recording feature, but with the advent of internet technology like Skype, what if you want to record a phone conversation on your computer?

Record Skype Audio Calls

The solution to recording your voice-over-IP calls is our SoundTap streaming audio capture software. With SoundTap you can record any audio that is played on or through your PC or Mac, making it easy to record both sides of your conversation; instead of only your microphone input. It is akin to tapping your virtual phone and you can save the audio in .wav or .mp3 format.

Record Skype Video Calls

For video, we suggest you turn to Debut streaming video recording software. Debut is a powerful video capture program that can grab video from virtually any source, including your screen. Make sure your Debut options are enabled to record both video and audio, and then you can easily record your video calls, including Skype, to play back or edit later.

R is for Recording Software

NCH Software ABCs Series

Recording is another commonly needed feature. If you are anything like my family you have lots of things you save and hold on to and recording software is just one way to create digital copies of things you want. From recording voice overs and audio dictation to music and videos we have the software that you need. Whether you are digitizing a recording you have on another media, like a vinyl record or VHS tape, or recording something brand new, browse our complete recording software collection for the program perfect for your recording needs.

• RecordPad gerneral audio recording
  
• WavePad audio recording and editing
  
• MixPad multi-track audio recording and mixing
  
• SoundTap streaming audio recorder
  
• Express Dictate voice/dictation recording
  
• VRS multi-channel audio recording
  
• Golden Records analog audio recording
  
• Golden Videos analog video recording
  
• Debut video recording
  
• EyeLine video surveillance recording
  

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VoIP and Telephony Roundup

Since NCH is a leader in telephony and VoIP software, we want to give you as much information about these topics as possible in one place. Whether you are Wondering if Your Phone Got Left Behind in the Digital Transition, or if you are working on putting together a complete phone system for your home or office, here are some articles we have compiled over the last few months that will help you along the way:

• How VoIP Works
  
• How VoIP Can Help You Save, plus an example of some of those savings in action: Admin Corps Case Study on VoIP Savings
  
• Adding Voicemail to VoIP
  
• Call Recording Laws in the United States
  
• International Call Recording Laws and Regulations
  
• How Telephone On-Hold Messaging Can Help Your Business
  
• Tips For Designing an Interactive Voice Response Telephone System
  
• Auto Dialer Gives Added Power to Small Businesses Reaching Out to Customers and Clients
  
• When we added video call support to Express Talk for the Mac, we also talked about how video calling can be a great alternative to meeting in person especially when a team is spread out geographically
  

For more information about our different telephony software products that you can use to create a custom phone system solution, go to: www.nch.com.au/phone/index.html

International Call Recording Laws and Regulations

Last week we looked at Call Recording Laws in the US at both the Federal and State levels. Similar to how laws vary from state-to-state in the US, telephone recording regulations vary from country to country, and when you're recording an international call you need to be cognizant of the regulations of all the countries involved in the call.

Because many countries do not have specific laws covering telecommunications, or their laws are so vague they regulate on a case-by-case basis, your first course of action should be to check with your local government’s telecommunications authority. Local government agencies will be familiar with the various international telephone recording regulations. A great resource for Americans is the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) website, where there is a state-by-state listing of relevant local authorities. Outside the US, the consulate in any country is a good place to start; you should be able to find their contact information online. Be advised that calling these local authorities is important. It is not enough to do research online, there are simply too many variations and details.

Examples of international call recording laws:

Canadian one-party notification for call recording

Similar to a majority of U.S. states, Canada requires "one-party notification." This means you can record any phone call you participate in, even if you don’t inform the other caller.

British call recording notification law

The United Kingdom mostly requires single-party notification. However, the laws in the UK are somewhat vague. One of their missions is to protect employees by requiring non-recorded telephones in the workplace. So there’s little guidance for, say, an entrepreneur who works at home alone but makes sales calls they want to record. In such cases, it is advisable to check with a local attorney before recording any calls.

Australian call recording notification law

Australia’s applicable law, The Telecommunications (Interception) Act of 1979, states that whoever is being recorded must be informed. And this goes beyond mere phone calls to include any communication, including: "a conversation, a message, any excerpt of a conversation or message, whether in the form of speech, music or other sounds, data, text, visual images, signals or in any other form or combination of forms." Australia’s laws are extensive, so it’s worth taking a look at the guidelines available through the Australian Communications Authority (ACA).

Whether you want to set up a call recording system for quality assurance, compliance or any other reason, no matter what country you are in it is important to check your local laws, and the laws of other countries you will be recording. Particularly when laws are vague or have exceptions for businesses, you should get in touch with a lawyer or government official to make sure that your call recording plans won't be in violation of any laws.

Call Recording: A Great Tool As Long as You Know the Law

From medicine and law, to journalism or sales, voice records are kept for a variety of professions, making call recording software more and more popular. Any time when you need the voice equivalent of a paper trail—documentation that someone takes responsibility for saying something official—call recording can get the job done. Call recording can also be great for keeping minutes of conference calls.

But there are very serious laws governing call recording. So before you start recording, here is a quick introduction to the legal issues surrounding call recording:

First, US Federal law does allow recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party on the call. This means you can record any phone call you participate in, even if you don’t inform the other caller. At the State level, it gets a little trickier; some states have added another layer of requirements on top of the Federal law, insisting that all parties know when a conversation is being recorded.

It is important to note that when you record a conversation, you are subject to the laws of both the state you are physically located in, and the state(s) of the other people you’re calling. For example: California prohibits recording calls from other states unless the Californians being recorded have been told. So even if you are in New York, you are subject to California law if you record calls made to a Californian.

This is the reason why most American customer service departments begin their calls with a recording that says: “This call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes.” They say quality assurance, but they’re also keeping themselves in compliance with the recording laws of all states.

So how do you know what the law is near you? Thirty eight states and the District of Columbia permit individuals to record conversations they are having without informing the other parties, according to The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), a DC-based non-profit organization that offers free legal assistance to journalists. These laws are referred to as “one-party consent” statutes, and as long as you are one of the people having the conversation that’s being recorded, it is legal.

There are 12 states that require, under most circumstances, the consent of all parties to a conversation. Those states include: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. Warning: Sometimes these laws are inaccurately called “two-party consent” laws but all parties must consent to the recording in these states even if there are more than two.

One law that applies in all states: It is almost always illegal to record a conversation that you a) are not participating in and/or do not have consent to record, and b) could not naturally overhear.

The RCFP has a complete state-by-state guide of all call recording laws. Once you have done your due diligence and checked the call recording laws in your area, you can start enjoying the benefits of call recording software, and still sleep easy at night.

For International Regulations regarding call recording, look for a follow-up post on International Call Recording.

Switching to VoIP Helps Companies Save

In this economy, companies of all sizes are finding they need to tighten the purse strings and save as much money as possible. AdminCorp Limited is one company that has seen significant cost saving benefits from switching to VoIP.

As a business administration outsourcing specialist, AdminCorp manages accounts ranging from small to medium corporations throughout New Zealand. They used to have a hardware setup that was eating into resources between technician and telephone line provider fees. Last year, in order to keep up with technology and find a more cost effective solution, AdminCorp made the leap and switched to a Voice over IP solution.

AdminCorp was already familiar with NCH Software, having used Express Scribe, NCH’s free transcription application, for years. Because of this familiarity, AdminCorp chose to use another NCH Software program, Express Talk, to handle their VoIP phone calls. Express Talk is softphone that lets users make VoIP phone calls from their PC, Mac or Pocket PC mobile phone.

The switch to Express Talk has worked out well for AdminCorp, who saw their costs drop immediately. Recording calls they transcribe for clients has become a much easier task, and they can now transfer between different DID (direct inward dialing) phone numbers with ease. Additionally, they’ve benefitted from the added control they now have over their phone system. Previously they had to give direction to the telephone company, then wait around for the changes to be made. Now, without any outside tech support or service costs, they are able to update their system as needed.

See if Express Talk is the solution for your company. Between the free or low cost phone calls you can make with VoIP, the mobile softphone, video capabilities, professional and easy-to-use interface, and the full range of additional business features, you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Try Express Talk or any one of NCH's computer telephone software applications all with free 14-day trials available so you can make sure they will meet your needs.

9-1-1 Magazine: VRS Multi Channel Recording System Product Profile

9-1-1 Magazine just included a product profile of the VRS telephone recording system in their latest issue.

Voice Recording System from NCH



The VRS Recording System from NCH Software, a leading provider of audio, video, business, and telephony/VoIP tools and utilities, is an easy-to-use recording application designed for automatic digital audio logging of up to 64 channels simultaneously including voice radio and telephone recording. VRS works in voice activated or continuous moder, recording 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Automatically record, compress, and archive in high quality digital audio for accurate and reliable record keeping. VRS is the perfect affordable solution for logging important communications like dispatch radio transmissions and 9-1-1 calls.

www.nch.com.au/vrs/index.html

Recording emergency radio communication and logging 9-1-1 calls is just one of the many possible applications for this multichannel recorder, and we are really excited have the profile appear, and provide this helpful digital solution to emergency and law enforcement agencies in a addition to other call center, business and and corporate environments.

VRS Recording System in Law Enforcement Product News

The following product profile for the VRS Recording System is in the July/August 2009 edition of Law Enforcement Product News

Voice Recording Software
Developed by NCH Software, VRS is a professional voice recording application used for telephone line recording, radio station logging, control room recording and much more for Windows. VRS allows law enforcement the ability to record up to 64 lines automatically and simultaneously, log dialed number (DTMF) for searching with adjustable sensitivity levels to DTMF tones, find and play recordings ordered by date, line or DTMF number dialed and keyword search of recorded audio. With the maximum compression setting, VRS can record two years of 24 hour-a-day audio on a 32GB hard drive. Automatic upload of recordings to FTP server for Web or Internet Access.

The VRS Recording System is an easy-to-use recording application that is the perfect affordable solution for logging important communications like dispatch radio transmissions and 911 calls. Learn more about VRS at www.nch.com.au/vrs