I am looking for a system to record telephone interviews and focus groups in the US. A system that also provides transcription services is a plus. This is for a large number of interviews and data security is very important.
If you have a corded (not wireless) phone, there are simple devices that will plug a digital recorder directly into that line. If you are using a smart phone, there are a number of apps that can record calls.
Transcription is a separate matter, and the available technology is not good enough to transcribe individual interviews, let alone focus groups.
HI
I use Audacity. Its really effective and records voices clearly making transcription straight forward
I believe audacity is a program for recording sound once you get it into a computer, right?
We used Avaya phone systems in the past for conducting survey interviews for a clinical trial. Is it an absolute necessity that you record the conversations? In our case, data security was also an issue, so the surveys were programmed into the computer, and our interviewers would record the patient responses directly into the program. With this approach, there was very little extra paperwork, and it avoided someone having to enter the data later, as well as avoiding issues of securing paper files. Our biggest issue was having 4-5 interviewers in the room at once, and finding it distracting to hear others on the phone. Dual ear headsets helped alleviate this issue (vs just one ear headsets). Hope this helps.