Difference between revisions of "Telephone Tech"

Revision as of 20:24, 15 February 2018

Telephones and Telos Interface

When you are recording an interview, have your Audio Hijack or ProTools session open and ready to record before the interviewee calls in or you call out.

Listener Lines: KDHX has 2 listener lines:

1. Line 1 is (314) 664-3688, and is the only line available in AIR 1. It can dial long distance, but use needs to be approved by the Chief of Media Production or Music Director.
2. Line 2 is (314) 371-4322, and is the only line available in AIR 2. This line cannot dial long distance. In AIR 2 the ringer on the side of the phone needs to be turned on to know that a call is coming through the line. You will also see that a call is coming through visually, if you are looking at the Telos box. Be sure to turn off the ringer on the phone in AIR 2 after your interview.

Both lines are available in Prod 1, as this room is our preferred studio for long-form phone interview recordings for air or for podcast. When using Line 1 in Prod 1, be sure to let the DJ in Air 1 know not to pick up the phone.

In order to move a phone line into the mixing console for air or pre-recording, we'll use the device called TELOS.

Single Telos in AIR 1 and AIR 2 - When OFF: When ON:

Dual Channel Telos in Prod 1

The TELOS device operation is simple:

• Pick up the handset and say your hellos, and seek expressed permission to broadcast the call, a legal requirement.
• When the interviewer and interviewee are both ready, on the board -- turn on the MIC channel of the interviewer and the PHONE channel on the board and bring the faders up.
• Warn the caller that s/he will hear a ½ second of static, then press the ON button on the actual Telos machine.
• You will now hear the caller through your headphones, so make sure those are at a good level for you and be sure the studio speaker volume is down. Hang up the handset and switch to speaking through the microphone at this point.
• If the phone interviewee sounds digitally garbled or muffled, ask that they not speak so close into the phone. This tends to help, although cell phone reception can be terrible.

• Begin recording. The volume of the mic and the caller should peak around -20. [Volume levels can always be brought up later, but distortion is perminant.]

Important: make sure to turn the Telos OFF after use, as leaving it on will hold the line, and render it unavailable for other users. We do not recommend use of the HOLD button. It will not assist us with standard basic function.

This is a video walkthru of using the "Telos" phone patch: https://youtu.be/8YnYcO5X9U0

NOTE: advanced users will want to spend a little time in training and trying out the "Offline" function of the mixer and our Telos system, in which you may use signals from Mic channels that are OFF to talk with a caller on the line in the Telos, or send on-air signals to the caller as a means of monitoring the air pre-interview. The Offline button above the Phone channels are the send-to, and the Offline buttons above the other channels initialize the send.