Easily Record and Save Skype Conversations To MP3

Easily Record and Save Skype Conversations To MP3

Skype is one of the more popular VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) programs available for chatting over the Web (or from the Web to a land line or cell phone).  It’s available for Mac, Windows and Linux, as well as mobile platforms, is free for making Skype-to-Skype calls, and relatively cheap for subscription plans as well.  One feature it doesn’t have, however, is the ability to record conversations.  With MP3 Skype Recorder, a free program for Windows, recording those conversations just got a whole lot easier.

The first thing you’ll need to do is have Skype installed.  So head over to Skype.com and download the appropriate installer for your platform, and go through the installation steps.  Next, log into your Skype account.  Now we’ll install MP3 Skype Recorder.

First, head over to the MP3 Skype Recorder website.

Now, click the link to download the compressed installer.

Once the archive has downloaded, you’ll need to extract it to your hard drive.  We’re using Hamster Free ZIP Archiver, but a program like Z-zip works just as well.

Once extracted, you’ll see there are two files, one named Setup and another named MP3SkypeRecorder; you can launch either to begin the installation process.

Once the installation is complete (and with Skype already running), launch MP3 Skype Recorder.  You’ll see a notice inside Skype itself that a program wants to access Skype’s stream.  You’ll need to allow access in order to record conversations, so provide that access by clicking the Allow Access button.

Once you’ve granted access, you’ll see the full main MP3 Skype Recorder window.

Here, you can pause, stop or play your recordings, change the directory used to store recordings, change the recording mode (mono, stereo or joint stereo), the recording bitrate (24, 32, 64 and 128 Kbit/s are supported), as well as whether or not MP3 Skype Recorder should start whenever you start Windows, as well as whether to start minimized or not.

If you start MP3 Skype Recorder without Skype itself being launched, you’ll notice the following in the lower right corner.

Once Skype is launched, MP3 Skype Recorder simply waits in the background until you begin making a call.  Once you do, a notice will appear in the lower right corner of your desktop.

MP3 Skype Recorder automatically names your recordings based on the date and time of the call, as well as the type of call and who the call was with.  When the call is complete, the following window will appear.

All in all, MP3 Skype Recorder does an excellent job.  It doesn’t have a messy interface that needs to be fussed with or configured each time you use it.  It will remember your settings, wait patiently in the background until you make a call, and then do what it’s supposed to do.  Record your calls so you have a record of your conversations, no matter who with, or for how long you talked.