I was doing a voiceover for a radio ad in an ISDN session today when something unusual happened.
I was asked to do something that used to be a regular thing but which I suddenly realised hadn’t happened in a long time.  During the VO session it turned out that the version of the script I had wasn’t the final signed off one. So the client asked me for my fax number so he could send me the latest version.
My fax number!  I was so surprised to be asked for this 80’s technology that I actually gave him my ISDN number by mistake.

It took me back to when I first started out in voiceover work: lots of people did “fax and dial”.  It’s a description of the kind of voiceover work that involves sitting in your studio booth, being sent (faxed) scripts for radio ads and then doing the voiceover down the line to the production studio that has dialled up your ISDN codec. It also means you are generally available for voiceovers and you have your own VO studio.

In fact I think it’s still called “fax and dial” on some of the on-line VO databases I’m listed on but the point is, with email, no one ever “faxes” a script anymore. So it was a slightly nostalgic moment as I waited for the little click that means a distant fax machine is connecting followed by the insistent whirring as the pages prints out.

The fact that my dust covered and neglected fax machine still works was a source of great surprise to me.

So thanks to the guys at BKP –  today I experienced a rare thing – a real “fax and dial” session.

The ad for Al Hilal Bank (UAE) was produced by BKP