phone patch

[voice of vicki]

Hi Colin,
Can you please walk us through the 2008 best options for setting up a phone patch?

[Colin Campbell]

Skype is your best option but takes a little PC-tech skill. For a traditional phone patch....

JK Audio

[Jodi Krangle]

So how does it work with Skype, Colin? I'm curious ...

[Jacob Ekstroem]

Me too!

I've had two big potential clients asking me about either ISDN or phone-patch options lately. At the moment I don't have neither. I need something, and I need it fast!

Please, Obi-wan Campbell, you're our only hope!

[Claired]

Same for me!! Please!

[Jodi Krangle]

I'm actually lucky enough to have a phone patch option with the outside studio I go to - and it's nice to be able to let someone else handle that while I just stand there and warm up. But it would certainly be nice to have the option from home too ... And the pricing for Skype seems really reasonable.

[Colin Campbell]

Skype to Skype calls are free. (PC to PC... sort of an audio chat.)

To call real phones, Skype is $30/year for OUTBOUND calling to US and Canada, unlimited. (Jacob... you'll have to research international rates.)

If you want an inbound phone number that "rings" Skype on your PC, it's another $60 a year. I don't really think this is necessary. Just tell the client "I'll call you."

Skype quality is not good enough for actual reads but it's quality is great for phone patch directing, probably better than a regular phone patch.

Now... in my setup, I had to connect my mixer to my PC's internal cheapy sound card so that I could record on my good sound card simultaneously. So, skype goes in/out of the cheapy internal sound while my recording goes through the good system as usual.

I have it rigged so the caller can hear what I am recording.

I'll have to work on a diagram.

[Jodi Krangle]

I actually already have unlimited long distance in the US and Canada with my regular phone carrier (Bell) - and I also have a cordless phone that has a little plug for me to put a headset into...

I guess if you just put the headphones of the headset beneath the headphones you use when recording and plug them into your cordless, that's also a cheapie way of doing it? Although ... what's the effect of having two microphones that close to one another - even if the one is really tiny ...

[Colin Campbell]

The two mics shouldn't be a problem. I know a lot of folks that just use a speakerphone feature of a phone they already have. This is how I used to do it and the clients couldn't really tell. But with my current setup, I like how I can send the recorded audio directly down the "phone line" (Skype) with fairly good quality for their review.

[Jodi Krangle]

Ok. I think I'm definitely going to need a diagram, Colin. Any info you can impart on how to set that sort of thing up would be HUGELY appreciated!