ResourcesThis page will offer some of my best solutions for the production of testimonials on the web and elsewhere. I do not offer technical support for these products. But they all are products I use successfully. If you are a FeeResistance Member, and therefore have access to our Member forum, I would be happy to answer any questions I can about using any of these tools. Truth in Advertising! Yes, some of the links below are affiliate links. Yes, I will receive a commission, if you buy through these links. Before you buy -- you should always shop the web for the best prices. I am more interested in you getting the best price, than getting affiliate commissions. If you find the links I provide offer you a great price, then I would love it if you clicked through and made your purchase. All affiliate commissions go toward the special education needs of my autistic son Max. Use these quick links to find the package you need based on what you want to do: A. I want a basic package to record telephone conversations directly onto my PC from my analogue phone (your regular phone company phone). B. I want a simple package to record telephone conversations directly onto my PC from my Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol phone (Skype, Vonage, Cable Company Phone, and the like) C. I want an advanced package with the best quality to record telephone conversations directly onto my PC from my analogue phone. D. MAC LOVERS! I want a basic package to record call onto my Mac. Of course, I want it to be easy! E. MAC LOVERS! I want an advanced package to record calls onto my MAC with the best quality. (Coming Soon!) F. I want to record my teleconferences without having to buy anything! G. I want to convert my audio interviews into multimedia presentations for the web and CD/DVD (PC Only -- Sorry MAC, I will find a solution for you later and it will probably be simpler!) H. I do need that external sound card you mentioned above. A. Basic Package for Recording Telephone Conversations using a PC and your Analogue telephone (not Voice Over IP)
The back of the box has various outputs. In most cases you would run a 1/8" stereo "phono" cable out from the JK Audio to the stereo "line in" on your desktop. This cable is not supplied by JK Audio but is a simple Radio Shack buy. If you use a laptop for this, you will most likely not have a "line in" port. Don't despair, scroll to the bottom and you will find a small external sound card you can use with your laptop. 2. You use the Inline Patch with your regular phone. No need for a headset or microphone. You can use with ANY phone as long as you can plug in the phone line that comes from your wall into the "Phone Line" port and then plug your telephone into the "Phone" port. BUT you want the best quality you can get when recording. That often means having a good hard-wired phone to plug in. You can just test your current set up to see if the quality is good enough. 3. This allows you to record directly on your computer: Sony Sound Forge Software. With the Inline Patch feeding your computer sound, you just need sound editing software. For the basic package, I used to recommend Sony Sound Forge Studio at $70. However, there is currently a great bundle being sold of Sony's Sound Forge Studio AND theirNoise Reduction Plugin. Those two used to sell fro about $600. This offer has them bundled together for $199 so it is by far the best solution I can recommend. The noise reduction plug in is incredible and it will clean up a lot of phone noise. Trust me. You will love this plug in. It the software hard to use? My 13 and 15 year-olds have no trouble using it after a 20 minute overview. It is MUCH easier than video editing. You can do this!
That is it! The Inline Patch and Sound Forge and you have close to a professional sound editing set up for telephone conversations for under $500. B. Simple Recording Package for VOIP -- Voice Over Internet Protocol (SKYPE Calls and more). What do you have for a VOIP telephone service? Is it Skype? Do you make your calls over your PC or MAC headset and your computer? Or do you have a regular looking phone that is just supported by VOIP service? If the phone has normal telephone plugs such as you get from most phone services, then you can use the analogue services described in this article. If you do your calls over your computer, then Hot Recorder might work quite well for you. At $20 or so it wi worth a try! Just buy the software, download and install it, and try it on your next call. Choose to boost up the call quality when recording.
C. Advanced Package for Recording Telephone Conversations using a PC and your Analogue telephone (not Voice Over IP) 1. This is a serious upgrade to the JK Audio Inline Patch. It is only for people who are doing a lot of interviewing and need the highest quality. I used the inexpensive Inline Patch for several years very successfully. Start there and move up later. But if you are ready for more control and quality, then here is the link. List price is $795.
2. This headset and microphone replaces your telephone handset. It gets plugged into your mixer. The microphone is very directional so even in my very noisey office with fans blowing and people talking in the next office, I get good isolated sound. Very comfortable to wear. It terminates in an XLR 3-pin connector for the microphone input to mixer (your voice on the phone), and a 1/4" phono plug to connect to the monitor output of the mixer for your headphones (the caller's voice on your phone).
3. This mixer allows you to control the volume level of your microphone (your side of the call) and the caller's volume (from the JK Innskeeper 1x). With a mixer, you can also play sounds from your computer into the call recording which is very handy in teleconferences. Nearly any mixer will do, but this one is relatively inexpensive and works well.
D. MAC Lovers Basic Package. Like everything in the MAC world they made this easy. Now I must tell you that I am a PC guy so my recommendation on the following two items for MACs is based upon recommendations from others. But they have been truly Raves! I will soon have interviews on this page from people who have used these solutions. The clear recommendation is the Phone Valet system. It does it all. Check out their site. Lists for$170 on their site. http://www.parliant.com/phonevalet/
E. MAC Lovers Advanced Package. This one is coming soon. I will be interviewing someone in the next 30 days and will give you his recommendations and you can listen to his interview. F. Using 3rd party recording services so you don't have to buy anything!
G. Converting Audio Interviews to Multimedia Presentations (PC Only). Now if you want to convert these audio interviews to multimedia presentations, then here is what I do. There are no doubt other more sophisticated ways but this works well and looks good. It is pretty simple really. I create a simple PowerPoint presentation that is synched to the audio. Then I create a movie in a great program called Camtasia Studio and produce the movie as a Flash for the web or AVI files for CD/DVD. There are examples of these movies all down the right side of the page. Producing Flash or AVI Testimonial Movies: 1. Use PowerPoint to create slides to go with your audio. I have provided a link but you might already have PowerPoint or some sort of presentation software you use when speaking. Anything you can put into a screen show and advance with a mouse can work. You simply create a template that has the look and feel of your website. I normally "steal" from my client's website, by just hitting "print screen" while their website is on screen, then grab graphics by using a simple photo editor. Then you listen to the audio, and write up text slides that reinforce the message. If you don't have PowerPoint, here is a link for that software.
PowerPoint 2. This software can turn your PowerPoint into a great looking Flash or AVI movie that is platform independent. It is what I use to create movies for my clients. Basically, I put the finished PowerPoint into a slide show format and then record a video of the slide show using Camtasia. I do not record the audio at the same time. This is just a video-only record synched to the audio. Then I open the studio editor, through the audio and the video together and create both an AVI movie for CD/DVD and a Flash movie for the web. You can also create Quick Time and Windows Media movies. This latest bundle also include Snag It which is a great tool. Since Camtasia will record anything you have on your computer screen, it is simply my most valuable production tool. You can turn it on to record you doing a speech or teleseminar, while it records the slides you put up. It can record your webconferences with audio and visuals. It's just really cool. I have used it for 7 years.
H. External Sound Card. If your recordings have a lot of system noise or hum, or if you are using a laptop and it does not have a stereo "line in" port, then you can try this external sound card from M-Audio. It does work just fine on my desktop. On my laptop, it does have an annoying habit of needing to be recognized often as new hardware. Not sure if that is me or the device, but the quality is good and the price is right. On many "computer super store specials," they put in real junk when it comes to sound cards. So this will no doubt ne an upgrade!
Stay tuned to this site. More valuable resources will be added as time permits! Ciao,
Bill Metcalf
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