Replacement For PhoneValet on Lion 10.7.5

[dakrejci]

Hello! First time poster, but long time reader!

I recently upgraded from 10.6.8 to 10.7.5 and one of the programs that doesn't work anymore in the process is Parliant's Phone Valet - which I really liked for the sole purpose of recording my outgoing phone calls locally to my computer. It could do incoming too, but I could never get that to work.

Why I would want this is that in my state, Iowa, the phone recording laws allow businesses to record without announcement. This tool was particularly helpful in helping me to settle some lawsuits.

I can't seem to find a replacement product. There are some "services" that will record your phone calls for a monthly charge, but not keep them on your hard drive locally.

Can anyone please give me an idea of a phone recording program for Mac that allows the recording of both incoming and outgoing phone calls to your local mac drives?

Many thanks in advance!

[GaryATtmi]

According to Paliant, you need version 6.0.5 to run PhoneValet reliably under Lion. My recommendation is that you get a refurbed MacBook Pro, (Less than $500), and install Snow Leo, and use that exclusively as your phone answering machine recorder.

As PhoneValet development is now Dark, you will never get support from Parliant.

I have PV running on an older PowerMac, and do not have any issues recording incoming or outgoing calls. Were you able to get incoming call recording working?

As for recording your calls without announcing that you are recording, I assume Iowa is like Canada, and that the law allows recoding with single party consent. Which means,

1. At least one person participating in the conversation knows that the call is being recorded.
2. If the person that knows the call is being recorded, passes the call to a person that does not know that the call is being recorded (no one participating in the call knows that the call is being recorded) that portion of the call becomes illegal.

Legality, in this context, is the legal right to use the recording in court. Otherwise, there is no "legal" issue, and calls can be recorded for your own personal use. However, if you decide to publish, or release portions of a call for financial gain, or to embarrass someone, then that is a whole other can of worms, and the term "legal" has no bearing.

You need to be VERY careful as laws vary.

Personally, I have found PV invaluable, and record ALL calls. Especially handy when calling banks, or credit card companies to dispute charges. If they are recording me, then I will be recording them!!

I have been very tempted to call Parliant to get permission to start a community forum to assist existing PV customers. It is a fantastic product that, unfortunately, did not have a large enough customer base to make further development financially feasible.

I will continue using PV until my last compatible Mac dies!

Doing a Google search for "phone recording answering mac", gives several results, but I can not attest to the usefulness or reliability of any of the products.