Tips to a successful conference recording

Professionals who are planning on recording any conference or meeting will understand the importance of the quality of the recording  . Corporate meetings that discuss important information may need to be transcribed verbatim for full data preservation.  Board meetings, municipal meetings and the like may only need to preserve the "action points'  such as roll calls,  voting decisions, etc to produce the minutes of the meeting.  This is why having the correct equipment is crucial.


                      


Most of these meetings are normally held in a conference room, so the manager or director needs to ensure that the space is properly equipped with recording devices that will catch audio input from several people at the same time. This can be done by placing the microphones in strategic areas that will allow for them to effectively capture the conference.

To accomplish this, there are many styles and types of microphones.  Omni-directional microphones capture all sound in a 360 degree radius around the mic.  Directional microphones can be aimed at the source of sound, such as a podium or lectern.  More advance still are array microphones such as the Voice Tracker which house multiple microphone elements within that will adjust their listening focus towards the source of sound within milliseconds.

Using a combination of these input devices will allow quality recording of all participants in a meeting of just about any configuration, without requiring a high powered, hard wired installation.


Besides the recording hardware, digital transcription equipment  should be available to properly transcribe the data afterward.  This software often allows the separation of stereo signals during playback, so that the typist can listen to one recording channel, and block out the sound on the other channel.  Handheld digital recorders that can record in 4 channels, such as the Zoom H4n are also available, further enhancing these sound separation capabilities.


The greatest benefit of the new digital age, is the portability of the equipment.  Many towns and organizations buy one complete setup, and move it from room to room as needed.  This keeps the cost down while actually increasing recording quality, a rare feat today.


Additional information, as well as a video of our most popular conference recording system, the Philips 955, can be found here.