Twenty Five Little Known

Telephone Tips for

Private Investigators

By Ralph Thomas

Most people think that the standard weapon used by most

private investigators is a gun. The fact is, the most powerful
weapon a private investigator uses is the telephone. Knowing all
you can about them when practicing your profession is
important. It's the telephone, not a gun that is the most
important piece of equipment a private investigator uses. The
telephone brings you both business both new and old and is the
one major communications medium you obtain information
with. Product knowledge on it's use as it relates to your
profession is of extreme importance. This article gives you
some general but little known tips about private investigators
use of their major weapon, the telephone. Some of them employ
little techniques that are quite useful well others require special
equipment. In the case of those that require special equipment,
I'll lead you right to the web page for review.

Anonymous Calling: Outgoing And Incoming

The number one question these days about private investigators

and telephones is how to make calls anonymously without
revealing your caller ID stuff and how to answer calls coming in
when you are undercover or under pretext. Here are some
answers.

Tip One:
Call the operator and tell her that every time you dialed a
certain number, you are getting an "all circuits are busy"
message. She'll dial the number for you which then avoids
caller ID. It's important to note that some telephone service
areas offer caller ID blocking techniques you can employ any
time on your phone. To find out, just call your telephone
service.
Tip Two:
On most phone systems, you can hit *67 which blocks your
caller ID information that goes tough.

Tip Three:
Set up a separate unlisted and unpublished line in your office
for receiving calls and give this number out when you are under
pretext or want to avoid mentioning who you actually are.
Always answer the phone, "Business Office."

Cell Phone Tips

Tip Four:
To find out what carrier a person has for their cell phone, simply
call the number when you know the phone number is not in use.
The recorded message about the number not being in use at this
time usually tells you what carrier the subject has.

Tip Five:
To trace an old cell phone number, go to the cell phone service
and tell them you are interested in using the number but want to
know who had the number before you. They will usually look it
up and verbally tell you the information.

Tip Six:
Many investigators don't know it but there are several cell
phone directories posted on the net. Here are the major ones:

Mobile Digits
http://www.mobiledigits.com/lookup.html

Cell Phone Directory

http://www.cellphonedirectory.com

Dialed Number Info From Recorded Calls

Tip Seven:
When a telephone call is recorded, there is a new self-contained
long play tape recorder on the market that will log both
incoming dialed numbers and outgoing dialed numbers. It's
simply called the R2D2 Long Play Automatic Telephone
Recorder. You will find information on it at:
R2D2 Telephone Recorder/Two Way Info Logger
http://pimall.com/nais/r-rtwodtwo.html

Tip Eight:
If you already have purchased recording equipment and just
want a decoder that will decode the dialed number for you, you
can one that will decode it by playing the recorded tape back.
You can review the Decoder at:

Dialed Number Decoder

http://pimall.com/nais/decode.html

Keeping Your Line Secure And Free Of Eavesdropping

Tip Nine:
There is a new generation telephone line monitor and analyzer
on the market that keeps your telephone line free of bugs,
wiretaps, hidden tape recorders and extension line pick-ups.
This unit is unique in that it not only detects them, it also stops
them! Simple to operate, you just hook it into your telephone in
30 seconds or less! It's called Safeline and it can be reviewed at:

Safeline 2001
http://www.pimall.com/nais/safeline.html

For a completely self-contained secure phone that is

inexpensive with countermeasures built right into the telephone
see:

SecurePhone 2000
http://pimall.com/nais/secphone.html

When Using Wireless Phones

Tip Ten:
The convenience of a wireless phone is nice but it's like
broadcasting your conversion over the radio! If you are going to
use one, get a digital one. The digital wireless phones transmits
from the headset to the base in a digital method. Many of them
come with scramblers and descamblers. This scrambles the info
going from the baser to the headset. The other feature to look
for is what is called spread spectrum. Spread spectrum sends
data at one frequency and receives on another. Using these
features and secure wireless phones will prevent most
eavesdropping except for diplomatic level eavesdroppers. If you
are at that level, don't discuss anything on the telephone at all--
either a wired phone or wireless one.

Telephone Lie Detection

Tip Eleven:
Did you know you can turn your computer into a live lie
detector when on the telephone? Truster software will do live
analysis or analysis from tape recorders. For information on this
unique software, go to:

Truster Telephone Lie Detection

http://www.pimall.com/nais/truster.html
Educating Yourself About Your Local Telephone Company
Options!

Tip Twelve:
Want a huge and free education about the options you have with
your local telephone service? Read the front pages of your local
telephone directory. You will get a huge education about what
you can use and I guarantee you will find something useful.

Blocking Call Waiting Beeps

Tip Thirteen:
Block incoming calls when you are on an important call. Many
investigators these days use call waiting. Call waiting gives a
little beep when another call in coming in and you are on the
phone. This can be annoying when you are doing an important
interview and will sometimes disconnect you when you are
using the line on a modem or fax. By simply dialing "*9" before
you make the call, you block call waiting. Any caller will get a
busy signal.

Installing A Special Code For Callers To Make Your Phone

Ring

Tip Fourteen:
Did you know you can filter out unwanted called with a new
phone called The Call Filter Phone? When your number is
dialed, the caller is asked to input a special security phone to
make the phone ring. Without the code, the phone will not even
ring. It's a great aid for a special phone line you only want a
limited number of people to have access to. For more
information, see:

Call Filter Phone

http://pimall.com/nais/callfilter.html

Quick-Check Telephone Tampering Tip!

Tip Fifteen:
Want to be able to quickly check to see if you phone has been
tampered with? It's easy! Use A UV marketing pen on the screw
heads of both your telephone and your telephone jack plate.
Simple mark the location of the screw heads and check them
with a UV light. If the screw head does not line up with your
mark, you know someone has opened either your telephone or
your jack outlet plate. You will find a selection of UV lights and
marking pens at:

UV Lights And Marking Pens

http://www.pimall.com/nais/e.smark.html

Know The Number You Are Dialing From

Tip Sixteen:
These are known as ANAC numbers which are used by
telephone repair people. Here are some national ones certainly
reported. 800-444-4444, 888-324-8686, 800-444-3333, 800-
727-5207, 800-555-1160.

Headset Telephone Recording Patchcord

Tip Seventeen:
On multi-line phones, investigators are often frustrated that they
can not use a conventional telephone recording patchcord to
record their investigative interviews. This problem is
completely solved with the Headset Telephone Recording
Pathcord. You will find a review of it at:

Handset Telephone Recording Control

http://www.pimall.com/nais/telrec.html

State-By-State Telephone Recording Laws

Tip Eighteen:
When recording telephone conversations, it's very important for
you to know and understand which states permit one party
consent. One party consent means that one party to the
telephone conversation has to have knowledge and give consent
to a recording (you!). In States that do not permit one party
recording, the other party needs to be advised and give their
consent to a recording. You will find a detailed state-by-state
listing of this at:

State-By-State One/Two Party Telephone Recording Law

http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.recordlaw.html

You will also find a complete online handbook on this subject

you can use for free at:

A Practical Guide to Taping Phone Calls And In-Person

Conversations in the 50 States and D.C.
http://www.rcfp.org/taping/

Answering Your Phone Without Even Being There!

Tip Nineteen:
One and two man investigative offices are often in the field
performing investigations. However, you need a way to answer
your phone anywhere and anytime and need to do it 24 hours a
day seven days a week. This can be accomplished with your
telephone company call forwarding services. When in the field,
you can forward your calls to your cell phone. When at home,
you can have your office phone forwarded to your home. It's
important to answer your phone with a live person so you don't
miss any important new case assignments or new clients so do
this!

Lifelong Answering Machines

Tip Twenty:
In my lifetime, I bet I have purchased a dozen answering
machines. The problem is, after a while they break down.
Almost all telephone services have what they call CallNotes.
For a small fee, they act as your automated answering service
for you. Check it out with your local telephone company.

Log And Manage Outgoing And Incoming Telephone Calls

From Any Phone
Tip Twenty-One:
You can now obtain inexpensive equipment that logs and
manages incoming and outgoing dialed telephone numbers with
small telephone managers that plug right into your phone
system. The Phone Manager logs and manages outgoing dialed
numbers and the Two Way Information Manager logs and
manages both incoming and outgoing numbers. For more
information see:

Phone Managers/Loggers
http://pimall.com/nais/phonem.html

Recording Calls From Your Cell Phone

Tip Twenty-Two:
Recording calls from your cell phone seems problemistic but
here is your answer for the solution. Obtain any compact tape
recorder with an external mic jack. Purchase a small amplified
mic that will fit in your ear. Place the mic in your ear, turn the
tape recorder on and dial the number. When you place the cell
phone up to your ear, you will record the call. For information
on various types of tape recorder mics see:

Specialized Microphones
http://www.pimall.com/nais/e.mic.html

Change Your Voice On The Phone

Tip-Twenty-Three:
With a number of different types of voice changers on the
market today, it's easy to change your voice when on the phone.
Some of these voice changers make you sound digital but the
better ones tend to let you find one or two settings that work
well. For more information, see the following reviews:

Telephone Voice Changers

http://www.pimall.com/nais/vc-menu.html
New Generation Digital Telephone Recording

Tip Twenty-Four:
Did you know tape recorders like everything else is going
digital? The advantage is you can keep your recordings on your
computer and use various types of software to enhance the
audio with simple audio software. You can now keep your
recorded investigative interviews that tape place either by
telephone or in-person in a digital form and deliver them to your
client on a disk or CD. For more information on digital tape
recorders see these reviews:

20 Hour Micro Digital Recorder

http://www.pimall.com/nais/dr20.html

10 Hour Micro Digital Recorder

http://www.pimall.com/nais/digten.html

Portable Telephone Scrambling Keeps Telephone

Conversations
Confidential And Impresses Your Important Client!

Tip Twenty-Five:
By obtaining a set of portable telephone scramblers, you can
keep two telephone conversations VERY private! Not matter
what kind of eavesdropping is taking place, portable telephone
scramblers will only allow communication to be understood by
the sender and the receiver who both must have the scrambler.
This type of covert communication over the telephone line is
highly impressive with your important client and tells him or
her that you are concerned about the confidential nature of the
case. For more information on portable telephone scramblers
that simply attach to the headset of a phone, see:
 Portable Voice Scramblers
http://www.pimall.com/nais/e.privacy.html

With all that said, I hope I have given you an education and a
better understanding on how to make full use of the private
investigator's number one weapon, the telephone!

Copyright: 2001, Ralph D. Thomas

All rights Reserved

Note
Investigative Associations and newsletters have blanket permission to use this article without
modification.