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While all companies share some risk of liability, those with consultative sales teams or other public facing call center operations are even more at risk. Disputes with customers or clients over the phone, where there is no inherent “paper trail” can escalate, rising to the level of lawsuit rapidly, where companies are forced to settle with the customer or pay exorbitant attorney’s fees going to trial, whether they win or lose.

Simply put, because so many disputes result from miscommunication or misunderstanding between an agent and customer during a phone conversation, there is a need to preserve phone records.

That’s where voice or telephone recording technology comes in.  Digital or analog voice recorders are more and more a company’s biggest asset against liability lawsuits, as they allow companies to create and maintain audio records of individual phone conversations. These files are stored on network databases or other file preservation platforms, allowing easy access for businesses that need to retrieve particular calls between their representatives and clients or customers. By simply playing back a recording, managers and supervisors can hear the actual conversation in question, establishing the facts of a call beyond dispute. What’s more, these audio recordings can be stored, sorted and transferred via a number of convenient digital formats, which means businesses are able to quickly and efficiently diffuse potential legal problems before they ignite.

Recording calls is not just a preventative measure, it’s often the law.  Emergency first responders like police, fire, 911 dispatchers and ambulance services must record all phone conversations. And, since 2002 with the signing of Sarbanes-Oxley Act by President George W. Bush, financial service companies (accounting firms, financiers, banks and securities firms and others), have to record most of their phone conversations. Efforts by the Federal government as well as many state and local governments to bring about more transparency are inducing more and more companies with consultative sales teams, whether they are legally required or not, to record and store all customer/client conversations. The risks of not doing so are simply too great to be ignored.

Medical practitioners, credit card companies, hotel and hospitality brands, banks, and any other company doing business with the public are employing phone recorders to serve as a hedge against unmitigated lawsuits. The durability and security of a digital voice recorder can be had for a reasonable price, by businesses with 1 employee or 1 million employees. If you’re a business owner or decision maker, there’s no reason not to protect yourself with digital recording technology.

Recording telephone conversations used to require expensive hardware and dedicated recording equipment. On the low end, one could use a simple wire to connect a phone handset with a tape recorder. An office with multiple phone lines would need expensive solutions that integrate a PBX with call recording. PBXpress www.callcorder.com is a great example of this approach, providing effective simultaneous recording of analog and digital (VoIP) telephone conversations over multiple lines.

But what if you only need to tap certain conversations once in a while? Purchasing expensive hardware is not nearly cost-effective in this case. Using a tape recorder is always an option, but it does not give you the convenience of digital, its user-friendly instant navigation and transparent search.

Using a computer to handle the recording is perfect for the purpose. Surprisingly, you might already have the necessary equipment to start recording phone conversations immediately. A simple voice modem is the only hardware you need. It is fully capable and sufficient to record your phone conversations. Have a close look at your modem. If it is marked “Voice” or “Data/Fax/Voice”, you can use this modem for tapping. If, however, it is labeled as “Data/Fax” or “Fax Modem”, then most probably your modem does not support the necessary voice features, and therefore it won’t be able to record.

Having a voice modem alone is not enough to record calls. You need call recording software to complement your modem. The software would control your modem, record and store conversations on your hard disk. In the past, modem manufacturers used to bundle such software with their modems, but this is not the case today. Currently, you are on your own if you need software that can record your calls.

Call Corder (www.callcorder.com) by Pingram Software is one of such products. Its purpose is recording telephone conversations, compressing them, and storing in Windows compatible sound files that can be played back with Windows Media Player, Winamp, or any other music player.

Call Corder supports most brands of modemd. If it can’t find an exact match for your hardware, it defaults to the closest generic device. If you are recording an incoming call, Call Corder will log Caller ID information provided by your modem. This usually includes caller’s name and number. In order to receive this call information, you have to subscribe to the Caller ID service offered by your phone company. If you do not have Caller ID, you can always fill in the caller data by hand.

Make marks and memos about the conversation while you’re recording or when you’re finished. You can conveniently search for a particular call by typing any word or phrase that’s in the call’s memo, and Call Corder will automatically show you all conversations containing this information. Of course, you can also search by the telephone number or the name of the caller.

Try Call Corder free for 30 days to ensure that your modem is compatible! Download your free evaluation copy from www.callcorder.com