Hi Brad,
These people want to lead me into bureau-land (i.e. fill out a form and wait),
it's not free, and they don't think I'm entitled to know how much it costs
(until I fill out the form).

For future reference, what I really need in a TTS product is a command-line
program that supports 3 arguments:
         1) Text to convert (input)
         2) .WAV file (output)
         3) Bit rate
If I had this, I could support it in an hour.
Otherwise, I probably won't go there (given what MS put me thru with their 
SDK).
You would not believe what a messy/complicated procedure they required to 
perform
a simple conversion (i.e. there ain't no function call like 
"TextToWav(text, file, rate)").
Gates must hire people to complicate things (that or he hires former 
federal employees).

Later...

At 10:54 AM 5/3/2003 -0400, you wrote:

>Mark,
>
>Maybe you could look into support for the V5.1 TTS engine from MS. It is 
>free and appears in my limited testing to offer better voices then the V4. 
>They aren't quite up to the level of the AT&T voices but are they are 
>better than our current choices. I'm hoping that support for 5.1 will be a 
>simple change for you. I have it installed on my PC, but the 5.1 voice 
>choices don't show up in my soundcard/TTS selections.
>
>Thanks and take care,
>Brad
>
>   -----Original Message-----
>From: Chamberlain, Brad
>Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 10:33 AM
>To: 'ecs@netbloc.com'
>Subject: [ecs] AT&T voices
>
>Mark,
>
>I am interested in getting support for AT&T natural voices added to ECS. 
>Please take a look at this link and try out the demo. The voices are a 
>huge improvement over the current MS voices.
>
><http://www.naturalvoices.att.com>http://www.naturalvoices.att.com
>
>Just a reminder! I am also interested in getting support for the MS agent 
>technology. See the link
>
><http://www.microsoft.com/msagent/default.asp>http://www.microsoft.com/msagent/default.asp

>
>
>Let me know what you think.
>
>Thanks,
>Brad
>
>P.S. The Omni support is working out great!
>
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>
>
>The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to 
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Mark Gilmore
http://OmnipotenceSoftware.com 

Mark,
 
Maybe you could look into support for the V5.1 TTS engine from MS. It is free and appears in my limited testing to offer better voices then the V4. They aren't quite up to the level of the AT&T voices but are they are better than our current choices. I'm hoping that support for 5.1 will be a simple change for you. I have it installed on my PC, but the 5.1 voice choices don't show up in my soundcard/TTS selections.
 
Thanks and take care,
Brad

  -----Original Message-----
From: Chamberlain, Brad
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 10:33 AM
To: 'ecs@netbloc.com'
Subject: [ecs] AT&T voices

Mark,

I am interested in getting support for AT&T natural voices added to ECS. Please take a look at this link and try out the demo. The voices are a huge improvement over the current MS voices.

http://www.naturalvoices.att.com

Just a reminder! I am also interested in getting support for the MS agent technology. See the link

http://www.microsoft.com/msagent/default.asp

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Brad

P.S. The Omni support is working out great!

The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential, proprietary, and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination, or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you receive this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from all computers.

The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential, proprietary, and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination, or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you receive this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from all computers.

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