Podcast Telephone Interview Made Possible by App

My last exciting blog post detailed creating my first podcast for the Teaching Multimedia course, an overview of the Hancock County Courthouse in Sparta, Georgia.  After that, I was ready for another task, namely one that didn’t involve recording myself.

But wait—there’s more!  Now I had to create another podcast that would include interviews with others.

Hancock County Courthouse.  Sparta, Georgia.  National Register of Historic Places 
(April 16, 1974).  Photographed by Stephen Milligan (July 20, 2015).

I decided to delve more deeply into the courthouse topic, particularly the fire that virtually destroyed it in 2014 and the reconstruction process. 

I had contacted officials in Hancock County’s government, offering them my photos (a whole year’s worth) for archival purposes, and I’ve kept up with two of them: Sistie Hudson, Chairman of the Hancock County Board of Commissioners, and Teresa Kell, District 4 Commissioner.  Both were willing to participate in an interview.

Conducting the interview presented a challenge.  Sparta is more than two hours away, and while I wouldn’t mind a Saturday jaunt to Georgia, with endless schoolwork, housework, and yard work, I hardly had time!  I could neglect these chores (I do most weekends), but both ladies in Sparta were just entering a busy period of personal and professional commitments.

What’s the next best thing to being there?  A telephone interview!  But how would I record it?  If I used the speakerphone at school and recorded on the iPhone, I may sound clear and “live,” whereas my subjects might sound tinny and artificial.  If only I could record both ends of the conversation with a balance of sound quality!

Surely there’s an app for that.

There is…more than one.  After some internet research, I settled on an app.  Call Recording by NoNotes.com had positive reviews and required no special equipment (no VoIP or Skype connection needed).  This app would record a call I had initiated (many only record incoming calls).  The app is free, including 20 free minutes of recording per month, with options to purchase extra minutes (most charge, but this one was reasonably priced); I purchased more time in case the interview ran long…and it did.  For an additional fee, calls can be transcribed (hence the name).

Using the app is easy:  After entering my phone number and creating a password, I made a sample call.  The app accessed my contacts and routed the call through its network.  Immediately I received an incoming call from NoNotes.com.  I answered to hear the phone ringing, connecting me to the contact dialed.  After the call, I received an e-mail message that the recording was ready.  I downloaded it by simply logging in to NoNotes.com on the computer.

I composed my questions and called Sparta at the appointed time.  The interview went well, mostly.  A few words of mine are unclear near the beginning, and there was some latency between questions and answers, similar to latency during televised satellite interviews, but I edited that out in Audacity.  Thanks to previous lessons on Audacity, editing wasn’t difficult.

Now I’m tired of hearing myself talk—on to the next task!