Call recording has been getting better and better thanks to today’s technology. Apps for Skype (News - Alert), iPhones and more are selling like hotcakes, thanks to the convenience and benefits that having recorded conversations on hand can provide. However, as with all things, there is a time and a place, and call recording must be managed carefully.

There are currently a wide range of options for call recording, such as CallRec.me for the iPhone (News - Alert) and iPad, or Callnote for Skype. The U.K. startup Calltrunk is helping customers record conversations from any phone, with a keyword-based search of its audio databases.

There’s also some great IP call recording solutions from SIP Print, which are fully SIP-compliant and easy to use. SIP Print (News - Alert) offers three different versions, depending on a company’s needs, supporting from 15 to 200 seats. They’re compatible with a wide variety of IP PBXs and codecs, so interoperability is no problem.

Some customers have started recording calls with businesses as well, rather than the other way around. This way, if they have a problem with a call or customer service, they don’t need to hope the company looks into the recordings when they have it on hand to share.

However, call recording is not something that should be done randomly and recklessly. Many states have laws against recording calls without the other party’s knowledge and consent, and if the calls aren’t being recorded for some purpose, you’re just wasting money.

Naturally, call recording has been around longer than this, particularly in call centers and customer service for the sake of training and quality assurance. There’s a time to record and a time to let calls fade into memory, but if you’re working in a business where having call records on hand can help, it’s a tool worth using.