How to Access Historical Audio
- Click Administrative Functions in the left-hand navigation bar.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the menu and select Live Audio.
- Select Historical Audio.
The Historical Audio feature allows agency administrators and dispatch personnel to review, play back, and export past radio transmissions. Whether you need to reconstruct a complex multi-channel incident or export audio clips for an investigation, Historical Audio provides two primary views tailored to your workflow:
Multi-Track / Timeline View: Ideal for post-incident reconstruction across multiple channels simultaneously.
- Channel History View: Ideal for searching, continuous playback, and downloading audio files for a single channel.
View 1: Multi-Track / Timeline View (Post-Incident Analysis)
Use the Timeline View to get a complete picture of an incident—such as tracking who was speaking across different channels simultaneously or verifying why a unit missed a specific broadcast.
Navigating the Timeline
- Select Channels: Check the boxes next to the channels you want to monitor. They will populate as stacked audio tracks in the timeline area.
- Play & Pause: Click Play or press Spacebar on your keyboard to start and stop playback.
- Simultaneous Audio: If transmissions occurred at the exact same time across different channels, they will play simultaneously.
- Isolate or Silence Channels:
- Solo: Click Solo on a channel to isolate its audio. All other active channels will gray out and mute.
- Mute: Click Mute to silence a single busy channel while continuing to listen to the rest.
View 2: Channel History View (Single Channel & Exports)
Use the Channel History View to review chronological audio clips on a single channel or to export audio files for monthly reports and official investigations.
Navigating Channel History
Locate your desired channel and click Channel History.
- By default, the Channel History page displays all clips from the last 24 hours (this view is not restricted by the 3-hour timeline limit).
- Transmissions are listed chronologically, displaying the exact timestamp along with the Source Name / Radio ID (if supported by your stream setup).
Downloading and Exporting Audio
From the Channel History View, click Download Audio to export recordings for your selected timeframe. Select from three available export formats:
| Download Option | Best Used For | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Zip File (Individual MP3s) | Formal Evidence / Case Files | Downloads every transmission as a standalone MP3 inside a .zip archive. |
| Single MP3 (Silences Removed) | Rapid Review | Combines all transmissions into one continuous file, cutting out dead air. |
| Single MP3 (Real-Time) | Exact Incident Reconstruction | Combines all transmissions into a single file while preserving real-time dead air. |
How Downloaded Files Are Named
When exporting individual MP3 files within a Zip File, each file follows a standardized naming structure:
- Timestamp: The date and exact time of the transmission.
- Source Name / Unit ID: The radio ID or callsign sent by your streaming software. (Note: Conventional analog streams without metadata will display the stream name).
- Internal System ID: A unique system identifier used for file tracking.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
We recommend downloading the audio files within 12 months of the recording day to ensure you have retention of the data
The displayed unit information depends on what your streaming software transmits. Digital trunked radio systems pass source/talker IDs directly into the audio header, whereas basic analog scanner setups default to displaying the overall stream name.