[thelist] Using the computer to answer phone calls

[Scott Schrantz]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: the head lemur [mailto:headlemur at clearskymail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 9:14 AM
> To: !Evolt
> Subject: [thelist] Using the computer to answer phone calls
>
> My question is most of these programs use .wav files for storage.
> 
> Aren't these rather large files and do i need to consider 
> another harddrive for storage?

	.wav files can be very large, or they can be small and manageable.
Just like MP3s, .wav has variable quality and sampling levels. High level
CD-quality sound (stereo, 44000Hz, 16bit) can take up to 10MB per minute of
recording, while a lower level can sit around 500KB or so. For telephone
recordings, you don't need high quality since the quality on the telephone
channel is so low to begin with. You definitely don't need stereo.
	It all depends on what options the software gives you, and what the
defaults are, but recording voice in mono at 8000Hz, 8bit will only take up
half a meg per minute (smaller than high-quality MP3). You could easily fit
hours and hours of recordings on a modern hard drive.