History

Law enforcement professionals began using hardware to record telephone calls in the 1890s. This required physical access to the lines over which calls were carried.

PBX based call-recording hardware is sold by PBX vendors and third parties. This hardware is attached to the PBX. It can be configured to record all calls or some calls, either randomly or on demand. Businesses, particularly call centers, use call recording for training, quality management, and legal compliance.

Consumer call-recording hardware was introduced in the 1970s, along with the first consumer-grade answering machine

Answering machine

The answering machine or message machine, also known as the telephone answering machine in the UK and some Commonwealth countries) and previously known as an ansaphone, ansafone, or telephone answering device is a device for answering telephones and recording callers' messages.Unlike voicemail,...

s. These devices were connected to the same physical line as one of the telephones involved in the conversation. While the more sophisticated devices were automatically activated when a call was made, most were manual.

Cassette Tape

Cassette tape recorders, like answering machines, are installed between the telephone wall socket and the telephone itself. Telephone calls flow through the recorder. If the recorder is on, the call is recorded. Recordings are made to magnetic tape and can be replayed on other compatible devices.

Digital

Digital recorders have largely replaced tape recorders. They work exactly the same way, but, instead of recording onto a magnetic tape, record onto digital media. Digital recorders are capable of recording call metadata such as, call time, call length, and caller ID

Caller ID

Caller ID , also called calling line identification or calling number identification or Calling Line Identification Presentation , is a telephone service, available in analog and digital phone systems and most Voice over Internet Protocol applications, that transmits a caller's number to...

.

Advanced features include:

• The ability to copy files onto removable media such as memory sticks,
• automatic upload to a PC, and
• automated transcriptions of recorded calls.

PC

The need to transfer call files from a recorder to a PC

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

 for review and analysis is completely eliminated if a PC is used instead of specialized hardware. This is possible if a PC is equipped with a sound board through which calls can be run. Calls can be terminated on a standard telephone or the PC itself. Calls and call metadata are store on the PC's hard drive.

PC-based call-recording usually includes software to retrieve and review recorded calls.

Recent Developments

Call-recording services

Call-recording services

- Hardware :Because hardware recording devices are cumbersome and expensive, they have been primarily used by law enforcement agencies. For this reason, hardware-based call recording is frequently conflated with telephone tapping.- Software :...

now make it possible for consumers and businesses to record their telephone calls without any hardware. These services are available on demand. They centralize recordings, usually making them available through a web portal, facilitating retrieval and review.

External links

• How Wiretapping Works