Plum IVR Support

Hi,

can I use pre-recorded voice messages and where would I be looking for information on that? Especially the file formats and recording tips.

Thank you.

Hi,

Yes, you can use pre-recorded messages with the IVR system.

As for file formats, I would recommend encoding it as a .wav file with these specifications:

- channels: mono
- sample rate: 8 kHz
- encoding: 16-bit linear PCM headerless

As for recording tips, I would recommend:

- a quiet echo-free environment
- a high quality microphone
- high-end recording software
- always record at the rate you will be playing at

Regarding the microphone, a USB microphones is going to give you the least amount of interference for computer audio recordings as a headset tends to pick up a lot of sound from the person wearing it (both movement and breath). I would recommend a USB microphone that is either shock mounted or at least has a padded base placed on a solid surface. It is also critical that you try to maintain this audio environment for future recordings so that even audio recorded at different times can be used in the same IVR application.

Regarding the recording software, I would recommend using Audacity, which is free, open source software that allows you to record and edit your sounds. You can find it here in this link: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

As for some pre-processing tips, you want to make sure that the audio levels for the recordings come as close to peaking volume the recording software as possible without ever reaching the peak. If you do reach hit peak volume you will want to rerecord the audio, as normalizing with not fix the IVR issue of digital clipping. For post processing, you should normalize all of your audio recordings. You should normalize all audio files to the same threshold percentage and we usually do a 90% threshold. This level prevents the audio from clipping on certain phones and keeps a consistent volume throughout your recordings.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Plum Support

Thanks a bunch, perfect exhaustive answer.

Mark

Hi,

Just to clarify, the "Upload Prerecorded Audio" tool in Plum Survey gives you the option to record your own prompts via telephone, but it is not recommended if you are looking to create professional-sounding prompts.

As for creating your own pre-recorded prompts for your survey, we would recommend using Audacity, which is free, open-source software that allows you to record and edit your sounds. You can find it here in this link: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

You can view all the phrases you have typed into your survey by going into "Upload Prerecorded Audio" for your survey. Then, using Audacity or whichever audio recording program you have chosen, you can record each of these prompts as separate audio files on your computer. For tips on file formats and recording, you can view the forum post above.

Once you have finished recording all of your audio files, you can upload these files from your computer to your survey using the "Upload" feature in "Upload Prerecorded Audio" for your survey.

If you need further information on how to upload an audio file to your survey, please see here.

Regards,
Plum Support