One of the few things I learned at Uni that is actually useful in my day job is that recording a telephone conversation is only legal with the consent of all parties involved in the conversation. So there’s a lot of potential for criminal activity with this new service that records your conversation and emails you an MP3 of the call.
All you have to do – once you’ve set up your account at their website – is dial 1300 RECORD from any phone in Australia, and then call the desired number. Your number will show up on the other person’s phone, and once you’ve hung up, they’ll email you a link with an MP3 of the conversation.
The service costs between $2.65 and $3.75 per recorded call, depending on how much credit you buy up front.
This service could have saved my backside on a number of occasions over the years, but these days I just attach a special mic to my digital voice recorder and the phone I’m using to record interviews. But the real question here isn’t whether it will work – it sounds like a simple and elegant solution to something that could potentially be a problem for lots of people. No, the real question is whether it will be used more for good or evil. My money’s on evil.