RE: How do they record the actors for voice response systems

["Downing, David" <david -dot- downing -at- fiserv -dot- com>]

Well I'm sure some of them use snippits of real voices. I think I can
tell the difference between a real voice and a synthetic one - although
the synthetic ones are admittedly getting more realistic-sounding all
the time.

 

David Downing

Senior Technical Writer

Credit Union Solutions

Fiserv

 

 

________________________________

From: Fred Ridder [mailto:docudoc -at- hotmail -dot- com] 
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 11:08 AM
To: Downing, David; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: How do they record the actors for voice response systems

 

David Downing asked:

> There's something I've always wondered about voice response systems,
and I was wondering if anyone here has had firsthand experience
constructing one and so could answer my question. My question concerns
the systems that recite phone numbers you just dialed, your bank
balance, dates, etc. -- "The number you have reached -- nine - two -
three - four - five - six - two -- has been disconnected because the
customer didn't pay his bill," "Your pathetic bank balance is -- two -
dollars - and - ninety - three - cents." How do they go about recording
the raw material for those snippets they piece together so that the end
result reasonably approximates natural intonation? And I have to say,
some systems do it a lot better than others.

The voice is not an actor. It's synthetic, generated by a text-to-speech
(TTS) algorithm. Same thing with the voice that spew directions from
dashboard GPS devices. 
 
-Fred Ridder

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