Voice logging
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[edit] Introduction
Voice logging or telephone recording, is the practice of regularly recording audio, usually in a business situation. Most commonly telephone lines or business radio channels are recorded. This allows businesses to keep records, improve customer service, increase security, and decrease errors. Although Voice logging is synonymous with telephone recording, or phone recording, it includes also recording the radio and VoIP conversations. In a call center environment it is often called "agent monitoring" or "call logging" The word "logging" comes from the log of calls or audio files that is generated as each recording is made.
[edit] History
The original voice logging system was a large analog tape recorder, refrigerator sized, designed by Bill Stancil. His company, Stancil, is still in business today more than 50 years later. In the early 1970's the systems became computerized and shrank to the size of a large PC. The original computerized systems were designed and manufactured by Eventide, Eyretel and Dictaphone. In 1996 Mercom introduced Audiolog the first Windows-based voice logging system.
[edit] Types of Voice Loggers
Today there are three types of business phone recorders in use:
- The analog tape system: Some businesses still use older model reel-to-reel tape to record multiple phone lines, or hook up individual cassette or micro-cassette tape recorders up to each individual phone. Analog tape is usually more expensive to maintain and much less convenient to search than digital systems.
- Digital systems: These are the most commonly used today. Either they consist of A proprietary box of hardware (See NICE) that hooks into the phone system or specialized hardware that plugs into a PC in a PCI slot (see Versadial) or by a USB cable (See Digital logger). Because both systems are digital they also combine with software that makes it easier to search, archive, and integrate telephone recordings into a database.
- Software only systems: These systems use existing hardware on a PC, such as a sound card, to do the work of recording and typically only require a user to install the software on their PC, and use some type of simple adapter (See Dynametric) to connect the PC to a phone. However this type of software can usually only record a single line at a time, and is much more limited in features.
[edit] Advanced systems
Today's systems feature various sophisticated capabilities depending on the field of application. Some systems allow users to listen to live conversations or to access records from any remote location over the Internet or a local network. Besides ease of use and access to voice messages systems usually offer a wide range of signal detection capabilities such as extraction of dialled keys (DMTF), Caller ID, various radio codes (Ex: CCIR Tone5) and even Fax demodulation. (See BTT Fax Interception).
