Recording a telephone conversation to your Mac - Anyone know how?

Question

Hey all-
I'm searching for a solution to record telephone calls to my Mac G4. I've come across some devices that seem to work but are overkill for my needs. ( http://www.parliant.com/phonevalet/ and http://www.ovolab.com/phlink/index.php )
I need to record the phone calls of some of my clients. I sometimes use Skype and can record calls there, but for whatever reason, using Skype to call a land line just doesn't work well with some of the people I call, hence the need to use the phone.
I often use the recordings for my own reference, but may use them on podcasts and downloads as well. Basically, the recordings need to be decent, but not perfect.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
Chris

Answer 1

Hi Chris,
To record clients telephone conversations I use an Olympus Digital Recorder (there are many different brands available) plugged into a Radio Shack ‘Telephone Recorder Control’ which plugs into the telephone line. The Olympus recorder produces a ‘Windows Media’ file that can be downloaded and played by ‘Quicktime’. From there I run the Windows Media file through ‘Switch’ (freeware from Versiontracker) which creates a .aiff file. I usually burn the .aiff file to a CD using ‘Toast’, which does it own audio conversion. The CD can be played on just about any CD player or you can simply listen to it on iTunes. Hope this helps.
Beige DT   Mac OS X (10.3.9)   Beige G3 DT, 10.3.9/9.2.2, G4@542mhz, 786 ram, 80gb HD, UltraATA 133, Rage 128, USB, Epson 3170 scan