1300 RECORD Makes Recording Prank Calls Easy
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.
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Comments
Well, to be precise, it’s illegal to record the call if the recording equipment is connected electronically to the phone line and you haven’t got permission from all parties on the call. It’s not illegal to stick an audio recorder next to a speakerphone and record the ambient sound of the room … which is, um, what I ALWAYS do when recording calls.
Blackmail just got a whole lot easier ;)
Great service, but if you’re using this for something business related and you try to use the mp3 recording as evidence, according to you it could be thrown out of court. But for personal phone calls and such it can definitely have its uses
Hi Nick
Thanks for mentioning the launch of our new 1300 RECORD phone recording service.
As Marketing Manager of 1300 RECORD, I understand your points over potential misuse – I guess you never can stop some people from doing the wrong thing – but pre-launch trials and feedback here in Australia have been overwhelmingly positive mainly due to time and money efficiencies to be gained. Especially when users don’t need to buy any special software, gadgets or gizmos.
From a legal perspective, 1300 RECORD abides by all Australian laws and is really no different to what large organisations such as banks are already doing; we’ve just added features to make it more accessible.
Currently, we’re running trials with accountancy firms, legal practices, recruitment agencies, sales representatives and insurance brokers; initial feedback is that 1300 RECORD is helping them become more accurate and efficient when they record mobile or landline calls.
I’d encourage you to trial the service yourself Nick, thank you for your interest in 1300 RECORD.
Kerri Sankovic | Marketing Manager