Surrender Calls Hall of Shame

[CavySpirit]

Does ANYONE know of any technology that would allow me to easily record an incoming phone call and get a transcript of it?

I want to change my phone system to something like this:

• I get a new phone number that I put on my rescue website.
• It answers, a recording comes on, saying, "You've reached Teresa Murphy of the Cavy Spirit - which does Guinea Pig Adoption, Rescue and Education. Your conversation may be recorded, please press 1 to continue."
• I hit another button and magically the call is transcribed and I get an mp3 or something of the call.

If I could publicly post the surrender calls I get, the entertainment and education value would be HUGE. I wouldn't have to be the only one whose blood boils or who is constantly challenged to remain calm and nice in the face of extreme stupidity, ignorance, rationalization, etc.

I've looked into software that will transcribe, and none of it works the way I want, at least that I've found. The only transcribing software I know of barely works if it knows your own dictating voice really well.

If I could figure out if it's legal, I'd just post the mp3 version and be done with it. I'd just have to edit out all the identifying information. Can someone tell me if that would be remotely legal?

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrr

[ArtisticRainey]

You could try this: https://www.recordmycalls.com/ It doesn't require any software. This article from USA Today reviews it: RecordMyCalls.com makes call-recording easy but pricey - USATODAY.com

There's also Call Corder: Phone Recording Software. It requires software, but it does have the option of automatically saying a disclaimer before the call is made.

I have no idea about the legalities of this, unfortunately. Call Corder has this page, which might explain a few things: American Legal Guide on Recording Telephone Conversations (USA). It does start off with this line: "The U.S. federal law allows recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the call."

Hope this helps a little.

[CavySpirit]

It looks like recordmycalls is just for you dictating to their phone number. Not a solution for me. Callcorder looks interesting. I'll have to check that one out in more detail.

[ArtisticRainey]

The 'Open Mike' feature is optional -- there is also the opportunity to record actual calls and store them. Check out the testimonials at the bottom of this page: https://www.recordmycalls.com/why.jsp

[CavySpirit]

Just signed up to test it out, but I don't see any way to record inbound calls.

[CavySpirit]

I have Skype. I thought I had tried Skype. I'll take a closer look.

[CF#5]

The legality of recording calls is simple. Depending on your state, either one or both parties must be aware of and consent to the recording. If you are in a state that requires only one party to consent, and you are the party that consents, then I don't think anybody (not you, and not the person actually fabricating the recording, if other than yourself) is under any obligation to inform the party on the other end of the phone that the conversation is being recorded. I believe California is such a state, but don't take my word on it.

As for making such a recording public, I don't know what the laws are. Based on what happened in the Clemens/McNamee steroid scandal, it would seem that any legally-produced recording can be broadcast, as long as the personally-identifiable information regarding THIRD PARTIES TO THE CONVERSATION are edited out. In other words, you don't even have to edit out personal information of the person who's actually talking to you - only that of people who aren't actually speaking on the recording, and probably of children, even if they are on the recording. But again, I'm not totally sure of this, so don't take my word on any of it. You definitely want professional legal advice, which I'm not capable of providing.

Whatever you do, don't waste money on software to EDIT the recordings after they're on your computer. All you have to do is get the phone conversation on your computer in wave or mp3 format (wave is actually preferable prior to editing), and the rest is a piece of cake. I can direct you to some free software if you need it.

[Susan9608]

You can go to Free Legal Advice in 100+ Law Topics - Law Attorney and get free legal advice based on your state and its particular statues.

[Alusdra]

You could just do it the old fashioned way and type out what people are saying, ne? It seems that might be easier than setting up some crazy voice-recognition system. Well, after you set up the recording bit, I suppose.

[CavySpirit]

Originally Posted by Alusdra

... It seems that might be easier than setting up some crazy voice-recognition system.

Have you ever tried transcribing a recorded conversation? Seriously, you need to try it. Then, you'll know the answer. I won't transcribe it, I'll just put up the recording if I get this to work.

[VoodooJoint]

My husband and I have transcribed at least a hundred hours of phone conversations for various court cases. NOT fun, NOT easy and I'm hoping to NEVER have to do it again.

[fourboys4now]

In my humble opinion, if someone calls and leaves a voice mail on your answering machine, they have no idea how many people are listening to the message and therefore I think they would have no expectation of privacy.

[Alusdra]

True- I haven't transcribed anything, but I would think you'd have to go over it anyway to make sure the computer didn't mess anything up. If you are just going to do the 'gems' or just select ones, then that's when it seems like it would be easier. If you are going to do a lot, then yeah- I can definitely see that becoming a nightmare quickly.

[SJane3384]

As far as the legality goes, just put something on the message like the cable company does: "This call may be recorded and used for quality and training purposes."

That way no one can sue for supposed "lack of knowledge" that the call was being recorded.

And posting the call on this site counts as training...you're TRAINING potential GP parents not to make impulse buys from petstores and end up surrendering the poor piggies for bs reasons later on.

[piggly wiggly]

SJane, I like your idea, I think that sounds like a great way of doing it.