Matthew Ahrenstein bio photo

Matthew Ahrenstein

DevSecOps Engineer for an amazing company, hiker, amateur radio operator, target shooter, developer, and cryptocurrency enthusiast.

LinkedIn Github GPG Key Bitcoin Ethereum Dogecoin

UPDATED (01/28/2016): Sadly due to a change in the Google Voice API, this method no longer works as the second part of Step 3 is now impossible.
UPDATED (05/04/2016): IPKall has shut down so Step 2 is also impossible.
I will leave this article up for reference purposes.

Yes, you read that title right! You do not need a jailbroken phone to record your phone calls. “What’s the catch then” you ask? Well you need to be willing to use a Google Voice number, and spend about $7 (as of this writing) on an app. I promise there are no subscriptions that you have to pay. Anyway, here’s what you do.

There are a few caveats that you have to be OK with before continuing:

1) You must spend $7 (as of this writing) on this iPhone app
2) You must use a Google Voice number to send/receive any calls you want to record. (The other party will not be notified of the recording, so make sure you don’t break any laws)
3) You must use the service (either send or receive a call) once every 30 days, or your accounts (more on them below) will be deleted for inactivity. Just check your Google Voicemail through it and you’ll be fine
4)I’m assuming you know how to configure Google Voice as a normal Google Voice user already. If not, then a Google search will help you there.

All good? OK so here is how this works. Instead of forwarding your Google Voice number to a phone, you will be forwarding it to a SIP address. This means your Google Voice calls will consume your data instead of minutes. Then you will forward the SIP call to the app I had you download, and it will record any incoming, or outgoing SIP calls. Here is how this is done.

Step 1:

You need to visit this domain (http://serweb.iptel.org/user/reg/), and create a SIP account. This is free, but you must use a valid e-mail address so that you can verify your account. Here is an image of the sign up screen, and what to fill out:

IPTel SignUp Settings

Step 2:

Next you will get an actual phone number that you will forward Google Voice to. This number then forwards to the SIP address. I recommend a free service called IPKall (http://phone.ipkall.com/) Here is a shot of the signup screen, and what to fill out:

IPKall SignUp Settings

As you can see IPKall is the service that you must use every month or you will lose the service. Just dialing your own Google Voice number from the app and letting it connect will suffice. IPKall will send you an e-mail containing the phone number you need to forward Google Voice to.

Step 3:

Now forward your Google Voice number to the IPKall number, but don’t bother trying to verify it yet. You need to configure the app first. To configure the app, go into the settings for it and set “Incoming Calls” to “Push Notifications” This will let you receive calls even if the app is not running. Next go to Settings > SIP Accounts and add a “Generic SIP Account” Use the following settings:

IPTel Settings for Acrobits

Leave the Display Name alone. Now you are going to go back and add a Google Voice account the same way. Here are the settings for that:

Acrobits Google Voice Settings

Final Step:

Now all you need to do is go back to your Google Voice settings on your computer, and verify the new number. Your device should ring through this app. Answer it, and enter the two digit code to verify your number. That’s it!

One more thing: If you have trouble verifying your number, then when typing in the two digit code, hold each number down for an entire second. Sometimes SIP based calls don’t like key presses. Also, you can go through the Acrobits app settings and configure it to record automatically every time you send/receive a call. You’ll find the setting easily.

Please follow all applicable laws, and only use this for legal purposes. Enjoy!