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Recording audio for a call campaign

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Sina Khanifar edited this page May 15, 2014 · 11 revisions

Here is some example text you can use for a call. You'll need to change it for your own campaign.

Sample script for a call where the zip code is collected on the phone:

msg_intro:
"Hi, and welcome to the Trolling Effects call tool. In just a few moments we're going to connect you to your representative so you can tell them to support the Innovation Act when it comes for a vote on Wednesday. But first we need your zip code so we can lookup your representative."

msg_ask_zip:
"Enter your 6 digit zip code now."

msg_invalid_zip:
"Sorry, we couldn't recognize that zip code, please try again."

msg_call_block_intro:
"Okay, we're going to first connect you to each of your two senators, then to your representative in the house. Press * instead of hanging up after each call, and we'll connect you to the next person. Remember: tell them to vote for the Innovation Act and help curb patent trolls."

  • Important note: You can target calls however you want. If you want to target house reps first, then senators, or just house reps, or even just judiciary committee, change the text appropriately and let me know.

msg_between_thanks:
"Awesome! You're doing great. Now for the next call."

msg_rep_intro:
"We're now connecting you to {{name}}"

  • Important note: You don't need to record msg_rep_intro, it will be read by a computer, but you can customize it if you want.

msg_final_thanks:
Thanks for taking the time to fight back against patent trolls! You're awesome. [or something like that]

To create a tool where the zip code is collected via the webform:

You need a different msg_intro: from above:
"Hi, and welcome to the Trolling Effects call tool. In just a few moments we're going to connect you to your representative so you can tell them to support the Innovation Act when it comes for a vote on Wednesday."

And you no longer need msg_ask_zip.

Post-processing the audio

Before sending over the audio, you should try and remove any segments of blank audio at the end and beginning of recordings, and convert them to a lower fidelity format.

If you're on OS X:

  • Use Quicktime to trim the audio.
    • Open the audio files in Quicktime
    • Select "Edit" > "Trim"
    • Expand the window horizontally to make trimming easier.
    • Trim any blank audio at the start and end.
  • Use Audio Converter to convert the Audio. Select "Convert to MP3", and under "Settings" choose:
    • Encoder: "libmp3lame"
    • Sample Rate: "44100 Hz"
    • Channels: "1 Channel Mono"
    • Bit rate: "64kbps"

Example

Here's a recording that Adi did for EFF's Trolling effects campaign (not all files included):

Send us mp3 files when you're all done (or I can convert from .wav for you too).

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