# Recording a cell phone call **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recording-a-cell-phone-call/675235 "2013-12-01T21:01:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recording-a-cell-phone-call/675235/1 "2013-12-01T21:01:01Z")
I’m scheduled to have an hour-long conference call next week, and I want to record it. The OP has given me permission to record. In fact, he will want a copy of the recording, which is fine with me. I have a BlackBerry Bold 9930. BlackBerry app world listed a couple of call recording apps, but they got bad reviews, so I’d rather go another route. I have a [Sony digital recorder](http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ICD-PX720-Digital-Voice-Recorder/dp/B001RB1XVQ) that I’d like to use and that I think will work fine. From the research I’ve done, it appears the [Olympus TP-8 Telephone Pick-up Microphone](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007OXMHDE/ref=s9_simh_gw_p229_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0BNHSWFNNYJV11S0VHSS&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1630083462&pf_rd_i=507846) is designed to record phone calls on a cell phone. This is the part I can’t figure out: you plug this Olympus thing into the recorder mike jack and stick the earpiece in your ear, correct? Exactly HOW does it record the phone call??? You’re just holding your phone and talking on it, so the mike hears YOUR voice, because YOU’RE talking out loud. Apparently there is a mike in the earpiece… but I still don’t see how it hears/records what the caller is saying??? Is your phone somehow included in the “this-plugs-into-that” loop? IOW do you plug the Olympus thing into the recorder and then into the phone, too? I can’t picture it. (Doesn’t have to be Olympus. That’s just the brand I came across.) I would like someone to spell this out for me in a step-by-step fashion as though you were talking to a very slow 4-year old. Also, is this my best solution for recording the call? Maybe I should just put my cell on speakerphone and use the digital recorder that way? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recording-a-cell-phone-call/675235/2 "2013-12-01T21:10:02Z")
Reading around a little more… apparently, you hold the phone up to the same ear where you have stuck the earphone/mike. I can’t believe this actually works. One drawback is that I wear hearing aids, so I already have something stuck in my ear. It’s gonna get crowded in there. It seems like there oughta be a better way to do this. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_York](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_York](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_York)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recording-a-cell-phone-call/675235/3 "2013-12-02T01:54:00Z")
This gives more info [http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mobile-phone-Cell-phone-Telephone-Recording-Mic-For-Voice-Recorder-Sony-Produce-/251292055662?pt=AU\_Gadgets&hash=item3a822c786e&\_uhb=1](http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mobile-phone-Cell-phone-Telephone-Recording-Mic-For-Voice-Recorder-Sony-Produce-/251292055662?pt=AU_Gadgets&hash=item3a822c786e&_uhb=1) If you removed your hearing aid and turned up the volume on your phone it should work. what if you placed the “mic” part to your phone speaker with blue tack and turned on speaker phone? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recording-a-cell-phone-call/675235/4 "2013-12-02T02:06:39Z")
Can you get to a landline? The hardware to record on a landline is much more ready for prime time. Here’s an example: > **[Amazon.com: VEC TRX-20 3.5MM Direct Connect Telephone Record Device (ADAPTER...](https://www.amazon.com/VEC-TRX-20-Connect-Telephone-ADAPTER/dp/B000KL0XA6)** > > Buy VEC TRX-20 3.5MM Direct Connect Telephone Record Device (ADAPTER ONLY): Telephone Cords - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases You just replace the line from the handset to the phone with that thing. Plug in your recorder and voila. If you have to use the cell, then I suggest finding a quiet secluded place, turning your phone on speaker and setting the digital recorder right by it. The little earpieces work but they are annoying. An hour call would be excruciatingly uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recording-a-cell-phone-call/675235/5 "2013-12-02T02:14:50Z")
Another vote for speakerphone in a quiet place. If I have to record a call I sit in my closet. With carpet on the floor and clothes hanging all around it’s like being in a recording studio. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recording-a-cell-phone-call/675235/6 "2013-12-02T02:15:58Z")
Download one of the apps. Do a test run. Or put your cell on speaker phone, then use the voice recorder. Also… Do a test run to see if it gives you a useful recording. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recording-a-cell-phone-call/675235/7 "2013-12-02T02:46:59Z")
> [@Doctor\_Who](#): > > If you have to use the cell, then I suggest finding a quiet secluded place, turning your phone on speaker and setting the digital recorder right by it. The little earpieces work but they are annoying. An hour call would be excruciatingly uncomfortable. > [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > Another vote for speakerphone in a quiet place. If I have to record a call I sit in my closet. With carpet on the floor and clothes hanging all around it’s like being in a recording studio. > [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > Or put your cell on speaker phone, then use the voice recorder. Also… Do a test run to see if it gives you a useful recording. This is prolly what I’ll do. Especially since I don’t own one of the recording doo-dads, and I’d have to go buy one. No room in my closet, but my bedroom has heavy drapes, so I can sit on the bed. And lock all the animals out of the room, of course. Thx.