record a phone conversation?

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shakti
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record a phone conversation?

Post by shakti » Tue Feb 05, 2008 6:02 am

I want to record land-line phone conversations. I have multiple
handsets which have a headset
plug. .. Is there an easy reliable way to do this?

kozikowski
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Re: record a phone conversation?

Post by kozikowski » Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:30 am

<<<I have multiple
handsets which have a headset
plug. ..>>>

Lots more model numbers. "I have a Western Electric 2500 desk set with provision for dual tip sleeve Operator's Headset and Ring Bee Hive."

Single socket headset plug or dual?

The knee-jerk reaction to this is to just have it overwith and say no. All the ways of executing this task are ripe with problems. If you break into a headset with your tools, it may be possible to solder together an adapter to put the mouthpiece on one side of the capture, say Left, and the earpiece signal on Right. You need to deal with the 48 volts DC that appears on the mouthpiece (and will rip your computer to shreds if it leaks in) and you need to not be connected to the phone at all if it rings. Ringing current will put you right on your butt if your fingers are in the wrong place. That red/green pair of wires may look harmless...

There are adapters that put you across the phone line and they universally suffer from local sound being blasting hot compared to the far conversation. These are the jobs where you have a push-to-talk handset to keep your breathing out of the show.

Then there's the magnetic pickups. They glue to the handset and pick up the magnetic field around the earpiece. These aren't terrible, but you only get one side.

If you're rolling in cash (and who isn't), full-on telephone hybrid amplifiers are how "Doctor Laura" does it on her radio show. Totally independent outgoing and incoming audio signals. You can get single-line units.

Many people find it effective to put a live microphone in a quiet room next to a speakerphone. Juggle the mic position for far/near balance. You let the speakerphone juggle the dialing, ringing, ducking and echo cancellation.

Good luck.

Koz

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