The recording of a large-scale meeting, conference or focus group more often than not takes care of itself, with responsibilities left to those with high-tech equipment and experience of handling those types of situations. However, if you're an individual further removed from the corporate world tasked with hosting a small-scale meeting or more likely a one-on-one interview - be it for business or research purposes - recording the event could well be left down to you, and believe me, there's a bit more to it than simply pressing 'record' and 'stop' at the start and finish.
Here are the three main aspects you have to take into account before your meeting or interview takes place:
Location
A lot of people choose to conduct interviews and minor meetings in a more informal setting away from an office environment, however this should always be done with caution. Background noises like people talking and music playing can be disruptive to the recording, while recording outdoors if pursued brings with it its own set of problems like noise from traffic and airplanes. If sticking to an office environment as is sensible, make sure it is in a quiet office away from the busy hub of work. It may be the case that the clients, colleagues or interviewees are not present and that it is done over the phone, but the same rules still apply.
Equipment
The equipment used is dependent on the type and scale of the meeting or interview. When meeting people in person, using a digital recorder is best for capturing the longest lasting, highest possible quality of recording. Analog recorders are a great deal more limited in this way and do not have capacity to record the excessive length of recordings that their digital counterparts can store. Telephone calls are gradually being phased out to record these types of conversations partly due to the issues that they bring like bad connections, static, dropped words and dropped calls. Skype is viewed as more reliable for long-distance communication, but again bear in mind that it must be used in conjunction with a high quality computer and headphones to garner the best results.
Preparation
Once adequate equipment has been acquired, you're going to need to test it out beforehand just in case. You might even have multiple options like sets of headphones available, so it's a good idea to test and compare everything in advance of the scheduled recording. This should preferably be in the form of a mock interview or meetings, with friends or colleagues substituting those who will really be involved in the event.
All of these factors are geared towards producing the best possible recording for transcription services to work with and create an audio transcription of interview or meeting proceedings. Professional transcriptionists are trained to deal with obstacles in audio recordings, but you can be only be guaranteed a transcription of the utmost accuracy if you present them with a recording of pristine quality. Good luck!
Robert Davies is Marketing Manager at London Translation Agency, who provide high quality transcription services as well as linguistic solutions.
http://www.london-translation-agency.co.uk/
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