Document History's Life Story Recording

Practice Phone Interviewing

FAQ - Frequenty Asked Questions about Life Story Recording^TM

How much time will the interview take?
How long is it between when I order and when I get my biography?
My parent (grandparent) is not very computer literate. Will this be a problem?
How do I speed up the process if I want to give this as a gift for an upcoming event?
Why do I pay up front?
What is your refund policy?
What is your privacy policy?
What products and services are charged by the hour and which are a fixed price?
I am a previous customer and want more copies of my biography and I am thinking about updating it. How do I do this?
How do I order for more than one person?
What are example categories of questions?

1. How much time will the interview take?

Answer: The interview will be done in as many phone calls as you need. You may decide to spend an hour per week or you may decide to spend five 30 minute periods per week. The total amount of time will be 10 to 20 hours for most people doing the full Life Story Recording^TM interviews, but people find it easy because it is just talking over the phone. Your time will depend on the number of questions you want asked and the amount of time you spend answering them. We encourage everyone to slow down in order to be reflective: Everyone is welcome to take their time since our automated attendant is very patient and because the system is automated, there is no additional cost for long answers!

2. How long is it between when I order and when I get my biography?

Answer: Typically, it is 3 to 5 months for our premium product and just a few weeks for shorter interviews. That may seem like a long time but it is almost entirely dependant on the length of the interview process which really comes down to your time and level of energy. Here is a breakdown of the elapsed time for each phase of the process:

Phase Estimated Elapsed Time For Each Phase

1. Selecting the questions and creating custom questions 1 to 2 hours on the web site or 2 weeks by postal mail or e-mail.

2. Interview 6 to 12 weeks

3. Revisions, review, and approval of the first draft 2 to 4 weeks

4. Create and deliver final copies 2 weeks

Total 12 to 20 weeks or 3 to 5 months

3. My parent (grandparent) is not very computer literate. Will this be a problem?

Answer: Life Story Recording^TM requires no knowledge of the Internet. If you are giving this as a gift to them, you can select the questions on-line for them or we can send them a paper-based list of questions and they can check off the questions they want in their interview. After that, all they need to do is use the phone to call our toll free number to conduct their interview. It's easy to use and no Internet connection is required. Our customer service representatives are there to help as well.

4. How do I speed up the process if I want to give this as a gift for an upcoming event?

Answer: We can provide certificates saying that you have given this service as a gift and that they will receive a copy as soon as it is complete. These are suitable to hand out as gifts at Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, or other special occasions. You can then take your time during the interview to help produce a high quality biography.

If you must complete the biography in a short amount of time, we would be happy to expedite the process. Call us or write in the "special instructions" of the order form when you would like it complete. We will develop a schedule to meet your deadline by creating a project plan.

5. Why do I pay up front?

Answer: We ask for payment up front to cover our costs of doing business. We have invested heavily in our process and systems that provide 24 hour per day service. Paying up front reduces the cost of our Accounts Receivables collection process which lowers the price that we charge to our customers. Making biographies affordable is at the core of our mission and this is one of the ways to do this.

6. What is your refund policy?

Answer: If you wish to reduce the quantity of copies that you ordered, you will be issued a full refund on this part of the order prior to you giving final approval to the first revisions (which is after the interview).

We are committed to customer satisfaction and want to know if we should improve ourselves. Whenever possible, we want your biography to be successfully completed, so we will encourage you to finish. When this is not possible, we encourage you to transfer the order to another person. After these options have been explored, we will work with you to come to a fair agreement. See our Terms and Conditions.

7. What is your privacy policy?

Answer: Document History takes privacy issues seriously. We will not provide or sell your biography or your contact information to anyone. We will treat your answers to the interview questions as confidential unless you tell us otherwise. We will only allow access to your interview to members of the team working on your biography. We will not solicit family members or other people that you provide without your prior consent.

8. What products and services are charged by the hour and which are a fixed price?

Answer: Our standard product is a fixed fee and includes all of the interview recording time through the automated attendant and a CD or DVD of your interview recordings. Also included is a custom CD or DVD cover. We also charge a fixed fee for additional copies of the interview. Lastly, as we expand our services in the future, we will charge by the hour for personal interviewing and for typing your interview.

9. I am a previous customer and want more copies of my biography and I am thinking about updating it. How do I do this?

Answer: We save your biography so that you may update it now or in the future. Subject to changes in technology, we should be able to replace, add to, or remove questions and answers to your interview and republish your updated biography. We will work with you to overcome any obstacles. We can make copies of your first version or of your updated version.

10. How do I order for more than one person?

Answer: The interviews are set up for one person, not a couple or a family. While it may be helpful to have another person on the line or to use a speaker phone during the calls to help bring back memories, the interview is designed to capture one person’s perspective, memories, and beliefs. You should place two orders if you want to have two people create their oral biographies. The media quantity is not the number of people being interviewed, it is the number of identical sets of the interview that you wish to give away.

11. What are example categories of questions?

Answer: We currently have over 1000 questions to choose from. Averaging 18 questions per category, they are classified into categories such as the following: Birth to One Month, Growing Up, Elementary School, Dating and Courting, Wedding, First Years of Marriage, Children, Career, Military, Life’s Decisions, Death, Faith and Religion, Controversial Topics, Who I Am, Leisure Activities, Health, Parents and Grandparents, Relatives and Ancestors, Custom Questions, and so on. The questions range in depth from fact finding questions to deep introspective questions.