Record a Personal Greeting or Announcement

You use this procedure to record a personal greeting or an announcement using a PC.  The Application Server accepts .WAV and .WMA file formats.  The following lists the validation rules for the file formats:

For .WAV files:

For .WMA files:

For both .WAV and .WMA files:

 

To generate a .WMA file, first generate a .WAV file using the following instructions, then invoke ffmpeg to convert the .WAV file to a .WMA file.  For example, to convert recording.wav to newrecording.wma, invoke:

ffmpeg -i recording.wav -acodec copy newrecording.wma

The following table describes the procedure to record a .WAV file.  Instructions are provided for the following sound recorders:

 

Tasks

Steps

To record using the Windows XP Sound Recorder or Windows 98 Sound Recorder:

  1. In Windows 98, select Start>Programs>Accessories>Multimedia>Sound Recorder from the Windows task bar.  In Windows XP, select Start>All Programs>Accessories>Entertainment>Sound Recorder.

NOTE:  It is possible that your Sound Recorder is located in a different file, or that your default sound recorder is another product.  Please note the required format for your greetings below and follow the instructions for your specific sound recording product.

  1. Make the setting selections.  Click Properties from the File menu.  The properties for Sound window appears.

  2. Click Convert Now and then click OK.  The Sound Selection window appears.

  3. Select PCM from the Format list.

  4. Select 16.000 kHz, 16 bit Mono, under Attributes, and click OK.  You may want to save this format at this point, so that you can easily select it in the future.

  5. In the Properties for Sound dialog box, click OK.

  6. Click Record on the Sound Recorder.  Speaking clearly into your PC microphone, record your message.  When you have finished, click Stop.  To listen to your message, click Play.  If you are not pleased with your message, record it again.

  7. When you are satisfied with your message, select Save As from the File menu.  Name your sound file, being certain that you remember its location and that the file type is a .WAV file.

  8. In the File name field, enter the desired name of your recording.

  9. Click OK.  To exit without saving, click Cancel.

To record using the Windows 2000 Sound Recorder:

  1. Select Start>Programs>Accessories>Multimedia>Sound Recorder from the Windows task bar.

NOTE:  It is possible that your Sound Recorder is located in a different file, or that your default sound recorder is another product.  Please note the required format for your greetings below and follow the instructions for your specific sound recording product.

  1. Click Record on the Sound Recorder.  Speaking clearly into your PC microphone, record your message.  When you have finished, click Stop.  To listen to your message, click Play.  If you are not pleased with your message, record it again.

  2. Click OK.

  3. Click Change to modify the settings.  Select PCM from the Format list.  Select 16.000 kHz, 16 bit Mono under Attributes, and click OK.  You may want to save this format at this point, so that you can easily select it in the future.  In the Properties for Sound dialog box, click OK.

  4. When you are satisfied with your message, select Save As from the File menu.  Name your sound file as .WAV file type.

  5. In the File name field, enter the desired name of your recording.

  6. Click OK.  To exit without saving, click Cancel.

To record using the Windows NT Sound Recorder:

  1. Select Start>Programs>Accessories>Multimedia>Sound Recorder from the Windows task bar.

  2. Select Audio Properties from Edit menu.  Click the Customize button under Preferred quality.  The Customize dialog box appears.

  3. From the Format list, click the drop-down arrow to select PCM.

  4. Under Attributes, click the drop-down arrow to select 16.000 kHz, 16 bit Mono.  You may want to save this format at this point, so that you can easily select it in the future.

  5. Click OK in the Customize dialog.  Then click OK in the Audio Properties dialog box.

  6. Click Record on the Sound Recorder.  Speaking clearly into your PC microphone, record your message.  When you have finished, click Stop.  To listen to your message, click Play.  If you are not pleased with your message, record it again.

  7. Click OK.

  8. When you are satisfied with your message, select Save As from the File menu.  Name your sound file as .WAV file type.

  9. In the File name field, enter the desired name of your recording.

  10. Click OK.  To exit without saving, click Cancel.

To record on Windows 7-64bit or Windows Vista using Audacity (works with version 1.3.12 Beta):

NOTE:Using the built-in Sound Recorder from Windows 7 or Windows Vista does not work as it is not possible to control the output format.  The output format defaults to WMA (44.1 KHz 96 KBps) encoding - a format which is not compatible with the Media Server.

Audacity can be downloaded from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/.  When using Windows Vista or Windows 7, it is required to use Audacity version 1.3.12 or later.

  1. Select Start>All Programs>Audacity from the Windows task bar.

  2. Set the default sample rate for recordings:

  • From the Edit menu, select Preferences.

  • Click the Quality tab.

  • Select 16000 Hz for the Default Sample Rate. Select 16 bits for the Default Sample Format.

  1. Set the number of channels for recordings:

  • Click the Devices tab.

  • For Channels, select 1 (Mono).

  1. Click OK to exit the Preferences pop up.

  2. Click Record (the round red button at the top).

  3. Record your message.

  4. When you have finished, click Stop (the yellow square button).

  5. To listen to your message, click Play (the green arrow at the top).  If you are not pleased with your message, record it again.

  6. When you are satisfied with your message, from the File menu, select Export.

  7. Select Save As Type WAV (Microsoft) signed 16 bit PCM.  Name your sound file as a .WAV file type.

  8. In the File name field, enter the desired name of your recording.

  9. Click OK.  To exit without saving, click Cancel.