Is it illegal to record your own telephone conversations? How would you do this on a mobile phone?

Question

There are times that I would like to have recorded what was said by myself and the other party, just to keep it for reference later on so that there are fewer disputes or mistakes. Do I require verbal consent? Is there a device or a program upgrade I can buy that will let me do this?

Would this be admissible as evidence in court? What about a saved voice message?

Answer 1

A saved voice message is legal (obviously) and admissible in court because the caller has given implicit consent to recording, once you said, "leave your message after the beep," and they then spoke to the recording machine.  You may also record any conversation if you have everyone's consent, and (as somene else noted), you can even record conversations without every other party's consent, depending upon what state you live in.

Answer 2

Please let me know what state you are in...some states allow for 1 party consent(meaning if you know you are recording the other party then its legal) some states are a 2 party consent state, where both parties need to know that they are being recorded. By knowing that I can determine if it would be admissible.

Answer 3

I believe the only prerequisite to making a legally binding voice recording is consent. Obviously, verbal consent is not preferable (if you are recording a person, why not just get consent at the time)? Therefore, a phone message is legally admissable in court because the person leaving the message KNEW that they were being recorded. Mini recorders are sold for pretty cheap, some of them hold quite a bit of information.