Simple, Clever Technology for Recording Interviews

Olympus TP7Everyone who does qualitative research has to deal with ways of recording interviews. Just found something useful, simple, and effective — and clever!

So I have an Olympus digital voice recorder (DVR) for use with interviews. But it looks like I may do some phone interviews — how to record?

There is an Olympus accessory for recording calls. Had to order online – $20.

I was thinking it would plug into the phone, and after I ordered it I thought — does my phone at work have a jack for a headset? And when I do such calls from home I use my cellphone, free long distance — this says “suitable for cellphones” but mine has a different kind of headset jack from others.

Ha! No problem.

This device looks like an earpiece you would use for an MP3 player. It plugs into the mic jack of the recorder. Then the earpiece has a mic on its back! So you put the earpiece into an ear, then use your phone on THAT ear, so the earpiece is between you and the phone, and it funnels both sides of the conversation into the voice recorder. Clever!

3 responses to “Simple, Clever Technology for Recording Interviews

  1. Pingback: Recording Phone Interviews « Nancy’s Blog

  2. Oh, man, how I wish I saw this before I figured this out for myself! I was just writing it up on my blog when I found this… oh well, I’ll link here, too, so we can help more people :)

  3. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
    I was looking for a simple solution that didn’t involve downloading and talking through a computer or getting a landline at home.
    You are a life saver. Love this solution.
    Thanks again.
    Tracy

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