record phone calls for podcast

The best way to record phone calls for podcast interviews is by using our Call Recording Service. But it is important to remember that our service alone will not guarantee the best phone call recording.  There are a few steps you must take to ensure the interview recording is as good as possible.

How to record phone calls for podcast interviews.

  1. All podcast participants should be dialed-in on a landline phone.
  2. Non-speaking participants should be muted.
  3. A phone handset or headset should be used, not a speakerphone.
  4. Call waiting should be disabled.

All podcast participants should use standard landline phones.

But, don’t fall into the trap of pressing the speakerphone button—that is the quickest way to ruin your high-quality phone call recording.  Also, do not use a cell phone, a VOIP service, or even a wireless phone connected to a landline.  All of these technologies degrade the telephone audio in some way and should be avoided.  VOIP is getting better every day, but you should be very careful if you are going to break this rule as some VOIP phones sound just as bad as cell phones.

Non-speaking participants should be muted.

Any participant who is not speaking should press their own mute button well before the podcast recording begins.  Some conference call services allow for muting by pressing *6 or some other combination of keys.  Do yourself a favor and use this functionality.

A phone handset or headset should be the tool of choice.

A bit earlier we talked about not using a speakerphone on a podcast recording.  Instead, use a wired headset.  Most headsets these days have very good audio quality and will allow you to talk with your hands free.  Although, once in awhile, even a good quality headset can act-up.  At those times, pick up your old reliable handset; you’ll be amazed how good it sounds.

Disable the Call Waiting feature on your phone.

Most phone companies allow you to disable this feature temporarily.  Before
connecting to your call recording service, press your phone company’s magic combination of buttons to disable this function—usually restored when you hang up.  *70 seems to be the ticket with CenturyLink, but be sure to check with your local telephone company in case they have a different method.

If everyone follows these rules, your podcast production should be off to a great start.  If any of your participants sound noisy, distorted, or the quality is lacking in any other way, follow these…

Troubleshooting Steps:

  1. Ask the person to move to a quiet location.
  2. Ask them if they are really dialed-in on a landline phone.
  3. Ask them if they are on a headset; if so, pick up the handset.
  4. If the noisy/poor quality audio persists, ask them to dial-in again to re-establish the connection.

Tip: Poor quality audio can most often be tracked to a non-landline phone.  So, whatever you do, do not break this one rule.  Ignore all the others before you omit this one.

Finally, after you have gotten the best phone call quality over a standard landline, continue by notifying the participants of the following:
  1. Make every effort to keep the phone still while recording.  Phone handsets are notorious for popping and clicking when played with or squeezed too tightly.
  2. Keep the handset mouthpiece at the same distance from the mouth as when the audio quality tests were underway.  Moving the mouthpiece around will cause a fluctuation in volume that will drive your podcast editor crazy and increase your editing bill exponentially.
  3. Refrain from breathing directly into the handset when you are not speaking.  Not only is this distracting to the listeners, it’s a little creepy.
  4. Try your best not to talk over another participant.  Phone calls are not a wide frequency bandwidth medium.  This means that it is more difficult for the ear to distinguish between voices.  When two or more voices are talking at the same time, the ear loses track of who is speaking and the brain becomes confused.  Confusion leads to anger, and anger always tells the listener’s finger to click the “off” button—always!

Record phone calls for podcast interviews.

Follow these rules and recording phone calls for podcast interviews will become easy-cheesy. Be sure to use our services to ensure the best quality podcast recordings; your listeners will thank you and your audience will grow.

We’ve been recording podcasts via phone calls for over 20 years—before they were even called podcasts! We’d love to help you too. Contact us for more details.