CallBurner is a new standalone Skype recording add-on from the Australian team behind Skylook.

CallBurner uses the technology behind Skylook to deliver the same functionality as Skylook without the need to have Microsoft Outlook installed. The CallBurner client delivers professional recording in a simple interface, recording Skype calls direct to MP3 or to the WAV format for higher quality recordings.

CallBurner isn’t the first software of this type available. What impressed me with CallBurner was how it worked: it worked exactly as advertised where as some packages I’ve tried previously were difficult and/ or temperamental.

This isn’t free software; users get a 14 day free trial then there’s a charge of $49.95 (Windows only), but for heavy Skype users or people conducting business or interviews over Skype that have a need to record calls it’s a price worth paying.

I first wrote about Australia-based Skylook back in August when they released v. 1.0. It’s a plugin for Outlook that ties Skype very nicely into email.

They’ve continued to innovate to stay ahead of Skype’s own Outlook toolbar product. And while Skylook isn’t free, it has a number of great features, including presence (see who’s online from Outlook), integration with the address book, call recording and transcoding to MP3 format, and archiving within Outlook. The Skype toolbar, in comparison, is basically a way to initiate instant message and voice calls through Skype from Outlook only.

And you don’t have to initiate calls within the toolbar to record them. As long as Outlook is running in the background, Skylook can automatically record calls and instant message conversations and archive them for you. Note that Skylook does not support recording of video calls.

There are a number of other great features, including syncing of Outlook and Skype contacts and receiving Skype voicemals in your Outlook inbox. For a complete list of upgraded and new features, see the what’s new page here.

As I mentioned, Skylook isn’t free, although they offer a free basic option that doesn’t include recordings. Licenses run up to $50.

Company: Skylook
Launched: July 27, 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Overview:

Outlook is cool. Skype is cool. Get a couple of Australians to bang them together and what do you get? Skylook. It skypefies Outlook and it’s awesome.

Skype does already have a product for Outlook, which we profiled last month. Skylook is much more advanced and easy to use (although, unlike Skype’s Outlook Toolbar, it is not free).

The download is about 2.2 mb. You can try it out for free with a 14 day trial. $29.95 after that to purchase.

After installation, there are three main feature areas that I like.

The first feature I like is auto-recording of all skype calls and IM chats. After recording, Skylook places the file in a special folder and they can be forwarded via email, searched, etc.

The second feature I like is that you have presence information for skype contacts directly within Outlook, and you can start IMs and voice calls directly from Outlook.

The third feature I like is the ability to “one click” call contacts via either skype or skype out, directly from their vcard.

Skylook’s CEO, Jeremy Hague, wrote to me and included the following information:

What differentiates Skylook from the Skype Outlook toolbar?

Skylook is much more than an Outlook toolbar for Skype. Skylook does for Voice and IM what Outlook does for email. Skylook allows you to store and later retrieve all of your Skype communications, in exactly the same way you store and retrieve emails today.

Outlook is a great tool for managing email. It lets you store, organize, sort and search in many different ways. Wouldn’t it be great if you could use all those great Outlook features not just on email, but on all of your communications? Skylook lets you do just that.

Skylook records all voice calls as items in a special Outlook folder. Each item includes details such as who you called, the duration of the call etc., but best of all the actual conversation is recorded as a high quality MP3 file and included as an attachment to the item. Because this is saved as a standard Outlook item, just like an email, you can file it for later reference in exactly the same way as you do with email.

Skylook also records all text chats as items in Outlook. Each item includes details such as who took part in the chat etc. Because this is saved as a standard Outlook item, you can file it for later reference. Later on, you can search on it, sort it, archive it or use any of those great Outlook features that normally only work with email.

To remove the need for you to constantly switch back and forth between Outlook and Skype, Skylook has a presence button in the Outlook toolbar for each Skype contact who is currently on-line. This button shows the status of the contact (e.g. on-line, away etc.) with a handy icon, and also allows easy access to contact details and recent emails and Skype conversation recordings.

In addition to the above, Skylook provides all the features you would expect from a Skype toolbar for Outlook. You can call an Outlook contact using Skype, start a text chat with an Outlook contact, select an email and immediately start a voice or text chat with one of the recipients, select an appointment and immediately start a voice or text chat with one of the recipients, and more.

Skylook is a keeper for us. And not just because Jeremy gave me a free activation key. I’d pay for this.

Team Members:

Jeremy Hague
Paul Andrews

Additional Links:

VentureVoice (interview with Jeremy Hague), skype journal, Brad Feld, LifeHacker, Masternewsmedia,

Update: Skylook has offered 20 free licenses to TechCrunch readers. See Jeremy’s comment below.