Record Skype Calls - Easy Audio & Video Call Recording

We have posted before about recording phone calls through a TRX personal call recorder, recording multiple phone lines across a business network with VRS call recording software, or even saving conversations with the Express Talk softphone�s recording feature, but with the advent of internet technology like Skype, what if you want to record a phone conversation on your computer?

Record Skype Audio Calls

The solution to recording your voice-over-IP calls is our SoundTap streaming audio capture software. With SoundTap you can record any audio that is played on or through your PC or Mac, making it easy to record both sides of your conversation; instead of only your microphone input. It is akin to tapping your virtual phone and you can save the audio in .wav or .mp3 format.

Record Skype Video Calls

For video, we suggest you turn to Debut streaming video recording software. Debut is a powerful video capture program that can grab video from virtually any source, including your screen. Make sure your Debut options are enabled to record both video and audio, and then you can easily record your video calls, including Skype, to play back or edit later.

Express Talk is the First Hands Free Softphone

If you use a softphone like Express Talk on a regular basis you've probably noticed how convenient it is to have your phone on your computer. The newest feature added to Express Talk makes it the first and only softphone available with convenient hands-free voice-control, making it even easier to use your softphone on a day-to-day basis.

Version 4.27 of the Express Talk VoIP Softphone released this month added the new Voice Commands feature. With Voice Commands you can use your voice to harness the power of Express Talk while it stays hidden in the background. Not only can you dial any phone number simply by speaking it, you can also call anyone who is listed in your phonebook (home, work or mobile numbers, on any line that you wish to use) by simply speaking their name. In addition to being able to make calls with your voice, you can also answer incoming calls by saying "answer" when the phone rings. Opening the phonebook and dial list are two more things you can now do with your voice, and more features are sure to come.

If you have Windows 7 or Vista, you already have the speech recognition technology on your computer. All you have to do is train it to better recognize your voice and you're ready to go. While the easiest way to use Voice Commands is to let it listen all the time, you can have it only listen for commands when you press the hotkey. You can also configure a system-wide hotkey that uses the key combination of your choice. Express Talk lets you change the words used to perform each command in case you would rather use phrases other than the defaults.

Home Business: VoIP Phone System

Software for Getting Your Home Office Running
(Part 3 of 5)

Another key component to setting up your home office, after your accounting system is in place, is the phone system. You've likely heard about VoIP, which has been growing in popularity, and with good cause. As an entrepreneur the important thing to know is that VoIP can save you a lot of money on phone bills.

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, and what that means is that the call information travels over the Internet instead of through traditional telephone landlines. Essentially, the only cost for sending information over the Internet is the Internet connection; the transmission itself costs nothing. That means calls between VoIP users will frequently be free.

The only cost associated with VoIP calls come from connecting to other telephone networks that service cell phones and landlines. Even in this case, there are significant cost savings because the VoIP phone providers can use the Internet to travel long distance, and then switch the call to a standard phone line in the local area of the destination, and you pay only for the local call, eliminating long-distance charges. The benefit to this is that you can increase the reach of your business, because you won�t be worried about your long-distance phone call budget.You business can potentially be more functional�providing new opportunities to increase your productivity and responsiveness.

With that in mind, here�s an example of the cost savings. For your home office, the telephone line and long-distance charges using a traditional landline phone system can cost upward of $100 per month. Compare that to the cost of using a VoIP system, where the total cost can be as low as $3.25 to $4.30 per month, a savings of more than 90%! With those savings, the initial cost of a business-oriented softphone will be paid for in less than a month.

A VoIP phone, or softphone like the Express Talk softphone only takes a few minutes to set up and will work with any VoIP provider. Express Talk is designed for professionals and has all the features you expect from a business telephone including do not disturb, conference calling, and even the ability to record conversations. It can be used with a USB phone to give the feel of a traditional phone, or with a headset, or microphone and speaker setup�which you may already have�making the cost of setting up your office with VoIP only a matter of buying the software.

Next: Phone System Enhancements