General Questions

What is Evoca and how does it work?

Evoca lets everyone instantly create, organize, search, and share audio recordings.

Look at these simple steps and see how easy it is:

1. Speak
• Make a recording with EvocaMic™, our browser recorder
• Record your voice with by calling EvocaTell™, and make recordings on the fly.
• Professional members can call with Skype™, the call is free and the quality impeccable.
• Or simply upload an existing recording from your PC.
2. Organize
• Tag your recordings with searchable key words
• Place them into albums or groups
3. Share (or not!)
• We'll help you spread your voice around the world, within a select group, or keep everything you say absolutely private. The choice is yours.
4. Search
• Type in a keyword and we'll bring you to the exact place in the recording where that word is spoken. (We know, it is hard to believe.)

What can I use Evoca for?

Get ready because Evoca can enhance just about anything. It's spontaneous, it's far-reaching, and it's flexible to your needs. Here are just a few ideas

• Leaving messages for your friends
• Podcasting
• Leaving notes to self
• Journalism
• Oral History
• Storytelling
• Testing a few jokes
• Secret messages for your loved one
• Genealogies - by voice
• Vocal Wedding Albums
• Dictating
• Audio post cards
• We transcribe!
• We translate too!

Check out  Getting Started to find out more.

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Can everyone listen to my recordings?

Yes or no - you decide. When you set up your account, you can specify if you want to share your recordings with the world or if you want to keep them private.

If you want to share your voice, set up a Public Group. When you make a recording, you can specify that you want it to be stored in this Group, so all the world can hear. If you want to keep your recordings private, you set up a Private Group or Album with restricted access. And when you make your recording, it will go into this Group or Album for your eyes and ears only. You can also make recordings that only a specified group can access.

To learn more about sharing and privacy, check out "Organizing your recordings"

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How do I search and listen to recordings?

Just type in your search term we will provide you with 2 types of results:

• Audio content. Search for a keyword and we will search the content of all public audio recordings on Evoca. We will display a list of sound bytes that include this word. You can click and listen to that section to decide if this recording is the one your looking for.
• Text. We will also search any recording titles, descriptions or tags which might contain your keywords.

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What types of accounts do you offer?

We offer two types of accounts:

• FREE Accounts. You get 15 minutes of recording time.
• Professional Accounts. Need more space? For $29.95 for 1 year, you get up to 180 minutes of recording time. If you decide you have more to say, you can purchase additional minutes.

For a feature comparison chart, click here.

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How does the Evoca Skype call recorder work?

Evoca lets you record your Skype calls. All you need to do is add Evoca as one of your Skype contacts, and simply bring it into any call (just as you would do to add another call participant). You will not be charged SkypeOut credit, calling Evoca is a free Skype-to-Skype call. When you are done, simply hang up, or remove Evoca from the call. You will receive a chat message with a link to your recording. Learn more.

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Making Your Recordings

How can I record directly to my account with EvocaMic™?

EvocaMic™ is quite possibly the easiest way to capture your voice. Here's how it works:

• Plug in any microphone into your computer
• Click the red record button on the EvocaMic™ and speak.
• Voila! Your recording is automatically stored in your Evoca account. Could this get any simpler?

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Can I call from any telephone to make my recordings?

You can make recordings at anytime and from anywhere by calling EvocaTell™ (our record-by-phone feature) from any phone you wish - cell phone, home phone, whatever. All we need is your phone number so that our EvocaTell™ system to recognize you the instant you call us. You can make a recording from your phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without having to be at your computer. This feature is perfect for recordings on the go.

There is no limit to the length of your phone recordings, you are only limited to the space in your account. You can also specify how you want EvocaTell to work for you. You can set all your phone recordings to public or private by default, automatically assign them to albums or groups or tags.

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What is Skype™ and how does it work?

Skype™ is a software that lets you call anywhere in the world over the internet for free. If you'd like to check it out, install Skype on your PC (visit Skype.com to download), and then look for the link on your Evoca Professional Account home page that says: "Record using Skype™". From here, it's just like calling from any other phone - except you're calling from your computer (and it's free!) - you just make your recording and press the # key or hang up. Your recording will automatically be stored under "My Recordings".

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Can I make a recording with my MP3 recorder?

Absolutely. You can upload any recording made with any digital recording device. You can also upload recordings you have made on your PC. Once your recording is made, just click "Upload a recording "on your home page, and it will go directly to "My Recordings".

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Listening to Recordings

Whoever you want. And that means everyone, just a few people, or absolutely no one. Just specify if you want your recording to be public or private, and put it in a private, semi-public or public group, and we'll make sure they do... or don't.

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How do I share my recordings?

Share your recordings with the entire world or only with certain people by organizing them into groups. When setting up your group, you can choose if you want the entire world to hear them, or just a select few.

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How do I email a recording?

Select the recording by clicking on the recording title. Click the 'Send to a Friend' button and fill in your friend's name, email address and a personal message. Press the 'Send' button, and your recording is on its way.

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Can I keep my recordings private?

Absolutely. Simply mark your recordings as "private" when you add them to your account by using any of the 4 easy ways listed above and we will make them invisible to the world. And to make matters even easier, you can set your phone preferences so that every recording you make from your phone is marked as private. No buttons pushed, no questions asked, if privacy is important to you - we'll make it automatic.

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Organizing your Recordings

What is "My Recordings"?

"My Recordings" holds all of your recordings. The second you make a recording - with EvocaMic™, from your phone, Skype™, or by uploading from your digital recorder - it's automatically stored under "My Recordings".

Here are a few things you should know about "My Recordings":

• Everyone can view recordings that you marked Public.
• Private recordings are invisible.
• A copy of every recording is stored in under "My Recordings" - even if it's in an album or group too.
• To permanently remove a recording from your Evoca account, you must delete it from your "My Recordings" section.

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What is tagging?

Tagging is just another way to organize your recordings. A "tag" is a word that captures the essence of your recording. A tag can be a name or a place, an adjective or a verb, concrete or abstract. And you can add as many tags to your recording as you want.

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What are albums?

Albums contain only the recordings that you make. When you create an album and mark it as public, then everyone can listen to the recordings inside it. But if you specify that they're private, then no one can see them. They're your recordings, so you decide. Albums are good for organizing your personal recordings into topics of your choice. If you would like to share your recordings, we recommend you create a group.

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What are groups?

Groups allow you to create a space where you and other Evoca members can share their recordings. Each group has a unique RSS feed letting you subscribe to it instantly creating a form of "Podcasting". With an RSS reader, you will know as soon as someone has added a recording to a group. There are 3 types of privacy settings for your groups: private, semi-public and public:

• Private groups allow you to share your recordings only with people who you personally invite. Evoca members will not see your private groups and will not be able to listen to private recordings contained inside them. Members of your private group will be able to listen to private recordings you have in there. Also, members you have invited will be able to add recordings and share them with you too.
• Semi-public groups will let you share your recordings to the world, but Evoca members will only be able to add recording to that group by requesting permission from the group creator or "administrator".
• Public albums let any Evoca member listen and add a recording to the group.

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How can I know when a new recording has been added to a group?

Very easy! Each group has a unique RSS feed. You can also bookmark the group with the friendly URL we provide with each group. You will find both options on the main group page.

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What's an RSS feed?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. To read RSS feeds, you will need an RSS reader. So, once you subscribe to an RSS feed, you will be notified when a new recording has been added. It's the best way to spread the word to your group - and fast!

RSS feeds are also used with Blogs and Podcasts. Whenever a new entry or podcast is available, the RSS feed will let you know right away.

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What's RSS?

First off, RSS stands for "Really Simply Syndication," and it's a way to spread your content (blogs, podcasts, audio recordings) around the web. Here's how it works with Evoca.

If you're making recordings:

• Evoca automatically creates an RSS feed for your profile and groups.
• The moment you create a new recording, "podcatchers," will detect the RSS feed and let everyone subscribed to your recordings know that you've released something new. Make sure you share your RSS with your friends so they'll know when you have created a recording
• By using RSS, your recordings will be downloaded to your friend's computer or iPod automatically, without having to visit Evoca.com.

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• Click on the RSS link on a member's profile or in a group
• We'll take you to a page with the RSS address
• Copy and paste the address you see it into a Podcatcher (iPodder, Doppler, or iTunes)
• Every time a recording is added to the group, your Podcatcher will automatically download the audio without you having to lift a finger.

Didn't find the answer you were looking for? Visit our extensive help section.

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