Skype has over 600 million registered users – it was originally aimed at consumers but, especially since its acquisition by Microsoft in 2011, it is increasingly targeting business users. It is easy to see why it is so popular – businesses and consumers with offices/friends abroad can save a lot of money with free Skype calls and it also offers free video calling and conference calling.
Recording of Skype calls is possible (subject to local laws) – either for business purposes or perhaps you might want to record those from family/friends for later so that people who couldn’t be there at the time of the call can catch up on the latest news.
Skype itself doesn’t (yet) offer the ability to record but there are many other programs available to do this – they vary depending on whether you want to record voice calls only, or video calls as well. Note: many of the ‘free’ products available have limits on the number of minutes you can record. To record a longer call you have to buy the full version – I have noted below where this is the case.
MP3 Skype Recorder – a free program with no limits on call duration which records Skype voice calls only i.e. it does not capture video. It records calls from computer to computer as well as those to or from landlines and mobiles.
The program places itself in startup after installation and starts automatically every time you login to your desktop (you can change it to manual recording if you prefer). The main features are:
- Free with no recording limits
- Automatic or manual recording capabilities
- Compact format of stored records (mp3 files)
- May be used to record Skype to Skype, SkypeOut and calls made to Online number
- Able to track simultaneous calls and to save them separately
- Easy integration with Skype Conference recording
- Intuitive easy to use interface.
It is available to download here.
Pamela For Skype Basic – Pamela Basic is also free and, unlike the previous option, it does record both audio and video.
However, the Basic version has a 15 minute recording limit (audio) and 5 minute recording limit (video). These limitations can be removed, and many extra features added, by purchasing a license key and upgrading to Pamela Professional Edition – currently $32.41. The extra features available in the Professional (paid) Edition include:
- Skype Chat Recording
- Record automatically
- Mono/Stereo recording option
- Play sounds during calls
- Email Forwarding
- Contact Personalization
- Blogging & Podcasting
Pamela For Skype Basic (or trial of Professional) is available to download here.
SuperTintin Skype Video Call Recorder – Supertintin is a free recording tool for online interviews, conferences, lessons, podcasts, or family VoIP calls. Like Pamela, it can record both audio and video including Skype voice mail and screen sharing video.
However, the free trial version has a 5 minute recording limit (audio and video). This limitation can be removed by purchasing a license key – currently $29.95. Note for WOT users: the Web Of Trust safety ratings for SuperTintins website are poor but this appears to be due to the recording limit annoying people more than the content of the site itself – Norton Safeweb finds no issues with the site and my own tests of the program didn’t give me any cause for concern.
Supertintin is available to download here.
Evaer – Again, it can record both audio and video including screen sharing video. It supports recording single Skype video calls, Skype screen sharing sessions and up to 10 way Skype group video conversations. It also provides options to record video calls into MP4 or AVI files, and the ability to record separate MP3 audio files with video calls.
However, the free trial version has a 5 minute recording limit (audio and video). This limitation can be removed by purchasing a license key – currently $19.95. Evaer is available to download here.
Conclusion
MP3 Skype Recorder is the only free and totally unlimited recording program in this review and it works well recording audio – if you don’t need to record video it is an obvious choice.
If you only need to record short audio (and even shorter) video conversations occasionally then the restricted limits of Pamela Basic may suffice. However, if you need unlimited audio and video call recording then full paid versions are required – Evear is cheaper and just as easy to use as Pamela Professional, but Pamela offers more features that may be of interest to small business users.
Before paying for a full version, I would recommend installing it as a trial first to make sure it works well for you and includes all the features you need – if trying several programs it is important to uninstall one program completely before trying another to avoid any conflicts.