• Phone recorders, or phone bugs, are a common tool used in spy movies and in police thrillers. However, the truth about phone recorders, how they work and when they're allowed, can make a lot of difference in your daily life. Especially if you want to bug your own phone lines to record conversations that might be important.
  
  

Landlines

• Most phone recorders that you can find for civilian use are meant to record conversations on a landline telephone. With so many people using cell phones these days, it might make it much harder to record conversations if at least one party isn't on a land line. It is possible to tap into cell-phone calls by monitoring the radio waves that carry the conversations, however that sort of technology is not something for which the average civilian would have the money to buy or the technical expertise to use.
  
  

Legality

• There are many legal rules about when the government can and can't tap your phone lines with recording devices. It requires a warrant, just like any other search, for instance. However, many of these rules do not apply to civilian concerns. Private individuals can record their own phone line for posterity and to back up anything they say for later review. Additionally, if someone, such as a private detective, wants to tap a client's phone, then all they need is the client's permission, and it can be done. As long as the phone line is privately owned, and the owner gives consent, then no other notification has to be given to those who might use the phone.
  
  

Recording Methods

• Phone recorders can back up the recordings made on a variety of different materials. More traditional phone recorders will use small cassette tapes that can be played back and listened to on a miniature recorder. Others will hook directly into your computer where the phone conversations will be turned into audio files that can be listened to on your computer, saved to a CD or emailed to someone else. Other telephone recorders may keep a digital record that can be played back or downloaded from the device. There is a lot of variety out there, depending on what you need.