Can I record a telephone call with Windows XP Sound Recorder?

I "m not sure where to ask this question. Sorry if this is the wrong place.

If possible, I want to record a telephone call and store it on my PC for later playback. Windows Sound Recorder works fine with a microphone, and has an option under Edit-Audio Properties that says "modem #0 line record" but when I select it, I get an error message that says "Another application is recording audio....."

I have a simple Dell computer with a modem connected to a dialup line. I can hear the dial tone and the modem sounds when I dial up, so I know that the sound is available through the modem somehow. In addition there is the standard BVRP phone tools program on this PC that will function as an answering machine, recording short incoming voice messages, so I know that what I want to do is possible through the hardware.

But I get the error message above with Windows Sound Recorder even when I am NOT dialing up. SO, is there any way that I can record a voice telephone call through my existing modem connection when I am making a standard telephone call and NOT using the modem for an internet connection?

Thanks for any response. This would be very convenient for me if I could get it to work.

 

Pete, thanks for your response. But like I said, the BVRP phone tools program (which was included when I bought my PC) clearly does do exactly what I want to do, but only records for three minutes maximum, like an answering machine, so it's not usable for a long call. That's what makes me think it's possible, although maybe I have to obtain some other program to do it besides Windows Sound Recorder. If that's the case, I would hope that there is a freeware program somewhere that will do this, since I would expect it to be relatively simple, but I don't know. I don't need anything fancy, just a way to copy the telephone call to a .wav file, just like the XP Sound recorder does with the microphone.

 

Have a look here...

There are many "recording jacks" to choose from.

The recording jack plugs in-line between the telephone socket and the handset, and sends the audio signal (normally) to a 2.5 or 3.5mm standard mic jack.

You can then simply plug the jack into the mic socket on your sound-card and record using Windows Sound Recorder or similar. Adobe Audition would probably be my program of choice.

Hope this helps.

Andy.

 

You say something about having an answering machine program. Have you tried turning it off. Maybe it's the source of the error you receive.

Also, have you tried setting the recording source by using window's recording properties applet? Double click the speaker icon in the system tray, click options>properties>recording. Make sure the box next to the modem setting is checked and then click ok. Then choose the recording source by putting a check in the box under the control for the modem and then try opening sound recorder and see if it'll record from the modem. There may also be a setting in the recording properties that will record any sound you that you can hear coming from your speakers. Soundblaster live cards have a setting called what-u-hear that does this. Some windows installations have one called record master that does the same thing. You can also control the volume of the recording by using the volume control under the device you want to record from.

How about the answering machine software? Have you checked to see if you can do this using it. I used to have some answering-fax machine software that would allow you to do this. Just a thought.

 

Ok, forget my last suggestion. I see you've answered this question before. I started to post when there weren't any answers to your question and had to leave for a bit. By the time I got back to it there was a couple of responses but I didn't check before I finished my reply.

There' another problem I see though. You want to use sound recorder to do this. Are you aware that sound recorder only records for 60 seconds? There is a work around for it but you'd probably be better off to use something else if you can. You say you have a Dell computer. I know the more recent Dell computers come with MusicMatch Jukebox. If you have it you can use it to do the recording. There's no time limit plus you can save it in mp3 format if you'd like and not have such a large file to put up with.

 

Thanks for all the resonses.

To Andy: I don't think I need a "recording jack" since I can hear what I want to record through either modem speaker or the answering machine program.

To Zander: You said: Double click the speaker icon in the system tray, click options>properties>recording. Make sure the box next to the modem setting is checked and then click ok.

When I do that, the options that I get are: CD Player, microphone, line in, all of which are checked; and phone, mono out, and waveout mix, which are NOT checked. There is no "modem" setting unless it is one of these. Am I missing something?

Also, I do in fact have Musicmatch jukebox on this machine but haven't tried to use it for recording. I'll see what I can find out. I was not aware that XP Sound recorder has a maximum time of one minute.

thanks for all your suggestions. I will continue to work at it and appreciate any further ideas.

 

I don't really know what it would be called on your system. My guess is that it's the "phone" one. The ones that are checked will show up in the recording properties applet. The ones that aren't don't appear there. So, put a checkmark next to phone and then click ok. You should then be able to select it as a recording source.

 

Success !!

This does just what I want to do:

http://www.allformp3.com/record-phone-conversation.htm

The only problem is that it's shareware, and I would really like to find a freeware one. But this one does at least work in a reasonable fashion.

Thanks to all who responded.

 

Glad to hear you found what you needed. It looks like a nice program and all packed into a measly 240KB.

 

Here's an even better option. It's freeware and has more options that the previous one:

http://www.reconphone.com/

thanks again !!