I've been looking for a simple way to provide call recording to end users without going through a lot of technical hassles. One of the most interesting features of the Polycom 670 SIP phones is that they can do call recording to a USB key. I thought this was going to be the solution I was looking for.

My supplier let me test out one of these units but unfortunately I could't get the phone to recognise any of the 6 different usb keys I had. I'm not sure if this was an extra licensing feature or the keys I had were not compatible. You would think with such a huge cost of the phone they would include atleast a small compatible usb key to test. In any case the Polycom 670 is really an expensive phone at $700 u.s.  Even  if the feature did work its use would have been limited due to the cost.

I decided to look for other end user solutions and I can across several devices that either worked on analog lines or analog phones. I wasn't sure if the handset from my IP phones was also analog but decided to risk it with the DynaMetric TLP-102. This lettle device plugs in between your phone and handset curly coord, the pink audio connector plugs into your computer mic port. I have tested this with Polycom 330, Grandstream 2000, Snom  300 (should work with other Snom Phones), and Cisco/Linksys SPA942/962. This should work just fine using analog phones that are connected to ATA's Linksys PAP2T.

The quality is pretty good and you can make recording very easily. The advantage to this setup is that its a user managed call recording function. Other benefits include:

1.Easy installation
2.Inexpensive (this is a cheap solution costing less than $100 u.s.)
3.Record in your favourite format (MP3/WAV)
4.Use your preffered recording software
5.Save your recordings to usb key,local hard drive, or network storage
6.Visual indication that you are recording the call (depends on your software but most provide a graph with spiked bars as you record)
7.Once the recording is saved and is accessable from s PC it can placed on CD or DVD for archiving or sharing
8.Your recording software will probably allow you to increase the volume or get rid of noise from the recorded call.

If your in Canada you can order one of these devices from the Commbits Online store under recording devices. Please note that I am associated with Commbits but you are free to order this from wherever you want. I just don't want to receive a bunch of emails where to purchase this from.