General Recording Techniques

• The best way of ensuring usable surveillance material is to record it well at the outset. Since these recordings are often made covertly, a good audio forensic training program will explain how to plant microphones in concealed locations without interfering with the sound quality. Further, training should cover recording basics such as testing equipment to make sure the levels and batteries are good.
  
  

Audio Enhancement Software

• There are numerous forensic audio software packages on the market, often with associated training programs. Among other things, training on forensic audio software allows for the recovery of speech in audio environments masked by loud music or other coherent noise. Additionally, training programs instruct how to use filters for repairing clipped audio signals as well as how to decipher speech where the ambient noise environment is in constant flux.
  
  

Preservation and Storage

• In the course of an investigation, a detective or law enforcement agency may amass hundreds of hours of audio recordings. Audio forensic training also instructs students in how to organize and archive recordings as well as proper storage conditions for audio elements.
  
  

Evidence Presentation

• Recovering the speech in a noisy audio recording is only half the job of an audio forensic specialist. The other part involves how to present (often still-muddy) audio recordings to a jury or other legal body in a convincing manner. For example, a forensic audio expert should be able to explain why a voiceprint can be connected to a unique individual as opposed to a clever forgery from an overzealous police department. As a result, audio forensic specialists must receive training in audio theory as well as recording and clarification.
  
  

Accreditation

• Since 2003, the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accrediting Board (ASCLD/LAB) has offered a "Digital Evidence" accreditation for crime labs. The accreditation consists of four sub-disciplines (Audio Analysis, Computer Forensics, Digital Imaging Analysis, Video Analysis). While this certification is for laboratories and not people, trained audio forensic specialists are essential for a lab to achieve accreditation.