gopstein@soleil.UUCP (Rich Gopstein) (04/06/89)
I need a device or combination of devices controlled by a PC which could be used to answer a phone, interpret touchtone keys, and respond vocally. I have heard about DECTALK, but I would prefer to use recorded messages instead of synthesized -- although I would consider using a synthesized voice if a recorded voice was impractical. The messages are pretty short, but they have to sound at least reasonably good. IF you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks. Rich Gopstein -- Rich Gopstein ..!rutgers!soleil!gopstein
ddurbin@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Daniel A. Durbin) (04/07/89)
In article <653@soleil.UUCP> gopstein@soleil.UUCP (Rich Gopstein) writes: > >I need a device or combination of devices controlled by a PC which >could be used to answer a phone, interpret touchtone keys, and respond >vocally. I have heard about DECTALK, but I would prefer to use >recorded messages instead of synthesized -- although I would consider using >a synthesized voice if a recorded voice was impractical. > >Rich Gopstein I have designed and built a prototype of a plug-in-card for the IBM PC which does exactly what you have described. I will be mass producing these cards this summer and hope to have them ready for sale by the end of June. I expect to retail them for less than $125. If you are unwilling to wait that long, there are a number of other cards which perform the function you have described. I have requested further information from one company and will forward it to you as soon as I receive it (I forgot the company's name). However, I have yet to find a commercial answering card that retails for less than $225. I hope my card will pick up the rest of the market! Daniel Durbin___________________________________________________ SysOp: Cygnus X-1 BBS | CIS: 73447,1744 (805) 541-8505 (data) | GEnie: D.DURBIN EL major at PolySlo | ddurbin@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU
gopstein@soleil.UUCP (Rich Gopstein) (04/07/89)
In article <10008@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU>, ddurbin@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Daniel A. Durbin) writes: > In article <653@soleil.UUCP> gopstein@soleil.UUCP (Rich Gopstein) writes: > > > >I need a device or combination of devices controlled by a PC which > >could be used to answer a phone, interpret touchtone keys, and respond > >vocally. > I have designed and built a prototype of a plug-in-card for the > IBM PC which does exactly what you have described. I will be > mass producing these cards this summer and hope to have them > ready for sale by the end of June. I expect to retail them for > less than $125. > Daniel Durbin___________________________________________________ I really need something soon... It turns out that the device(s) doesn't really need to answer the phone (I'll be using a dedicated keypad/speaker). So all I really need is a message recording and playback device and a touchtone decoding device. If you can give me the address or phone of the place you I could ask them what they have. Thanks for the offer to copy the material when it comes in! Rich -- Rich Gopstein ..!rutgers!soleil!gopstein
lenny@icus.islp.ny.us (Lenny Tropiano) (04/08/89)
In article <10008@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> ddurbin@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Daniel A. Durbin) writes: |>In article <653@soleil.UUCP> gopstein@soleil.UUCP (Rich Gopstein) writes: |>> |>>I need a device or combination of devices controlled by a PC which |>>could be used to answer a phone, interpret touchtone keys, and respond |>>vocally. I have heard about DECTALK, but I would prefer to use |>>recorded messages instead of synthesized -- although I would consider using |>>a synthesized voice if a recorded voice was impractical. |>> |>>Rich Gopstein |> |> I have designed and built a prototype of a plug-in-card for the |> IBM PC which does exactly what you have described. I will be |> mass producing these cards this summer and hope to have them |> ready for sale by the end of June. I expect to retail them for |> less than $125. ... Call 1-800-WATSON for a demonstration of a voice messaging/touch tone response card for the PC's ... They will be happy to send you literature. I have not dealt with this company, since I don't have an IBM compatible. I do have a VOICE card for the AT&T UNIX pc, but it's of a proprietary nature, and only works on this machine. I believe the WATSON card which can handle many incoming lines at once also has a 2400 baud modem which can be used for dialing out too. It retails for about $199.00 -Lenny -- Lenny Tropiano ICUS Software Systems [w] +1 (516) 582-5525 lenny@icus.islp.ny.us Telex; 154232428 ICUS [h] +1 (516) 968-8576 {talcott,decuac,boulder,hombre,pacbell,sbcs}!icus!lenny attmail!icus!lenny ICUS Software Systems -- PO Box 1; Islip Terrace, NY 11752
davidsen@steinmetz.ge.com (Wm. E. Davidsen Jr) (04/10/89)
In article <662@icus.islp.ny.us> lenny@icus.islp.ny.us (Lenny Tropiano) writes: | Call 1-800-WATSON for a demonstration of a voice messaging/touch tone | response card for the PC's ... They will be happy to send you literature. Actually, call 1-800-6-WATSON, it will work a lot better. I am told that the "on-line store" which advertizes in _PC Week_ is using Watson, but I'm not really stating it as a fact... -- bill davidsen (wedu@crd.GE.COM) {uunet | philabs}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
tim@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu (Timothy L. Kay) (04/11/89)
>|>>I need a device or combination of devices controlled by a PC which >|>>could be used to answer a phone, interpret touchtone keys, and respond >|>>vocally. I have heard about DECTALK, but I would prefer to use >|>>recorded messages instead of synthesized -- although I would consider using >|>>a synthesized voice if a recorded voice was impractical. >Call 1-800-WATSON for a demonstration of a voice messaging/touch tone >It retails for about $199.00 This is very misleading! The demo that you hear on 1-800-WATSON is a product called VIS. For $199, you don't get VIS. It costs $399, or you can upgrade Watson to VIS for $299. I have tried CAM, Watson, VIS, and PCX (also called BigmOuth). By try, I mean I have purchased them all on a 30-day trial. Here are my opinions: CAM is a piece of junk. It sounds terrible, lacks features, and the company is into marketing, marketing, marketing. Their attitude at COMDEX seemed to be, "Oh, you already bought one? Then we don't want to talk to you." I sent CAM back. Watson is a piece of junk. It sounds great but lacks features. I wanted to be able to do "telemarketing" (which means that the caller can interact using his Touch Tone(R) pad). I called NMS and told that that they are engaging in false advertising (in that the 800 number claims that Watson can do what it can do), and they upgraded me to VIS for the $199 difference rather than the $299. VIS is an OK product. It has the features and it sounds great. However, it is a little weird. The menu structures are a little bizarre, and it generally takes several passes over a confusing and LARGE manual to figure it out. It is much too expensive though at $400. I would have sent it back to, except that a business associate liked it. I sold it to him. All the previous reviewing was done over a year ago, but I believe that nothing much has changed with these products, except maybe that CAM no longer sounds terrible. However, I couldn't tell at COMDEX because there was a band playing in the next booth! Even after I told them to reduce their volume, I couldn't hear CAM too well. Then recently I saw that PC/Works was selling a product called PCX. I ordered it (after trying their 800 demo). They were selling it for $269. I installed it, tried it, and I am of the opinion that It is great! This baby is reasonably priced, and for the money, you get a full answering machine, telemarketing machine, plus many other features. It comes with a speaker so that you don't have to pick up your phone to listen to you messages. There is a connector on the back to which you can hook your burglar alarm, etc., and have it call up to three numbers if it goes off. It comes with two programs (rpad and ppad) which allow you to record and then play messages. This way, you can add your own voice to a program trivially (in C: system("ppad filename"); ). It sounds good (though not as good as Watson). It is easy to use (much more so than Watson). If you call my office at 818-356-6633, you'll here what I put together. I did this in about an hour. Please leave a message with your impressions. I called PC/Works (805-654-0721) to ask some questions. They explained that they only market the thing. The company that built it is called Talking Technology (415-652-9600). There are a few things I missed that Watson did. I called Talking Technology and told them those things that Watson does that I missed, and they said they would put them into the new release of the software. I also made a few other suggestions, to which they were receptive. The list price is $299 from Talking Technology, but PC/Works is selling it for $269 (for a limited time). The upgrade to the new version of the software will cost $30 from Talking Technology. One problem: They recommend in their manual that you can use PCX with DoubleDOS. I tried it and found the configuration unacceptable. It degrades the voice quality and adds complexity. I have no connection with PC/Works nor Talking Technology. Tim
blume@netmbx.UUCP (Heiko Blume) (04/11/89)
u might want to look at "watson" which is a voice mailbox combined with a 1200/2400 modem. i'm not too sure about what it really does in detail but i guess it uses tones to identify users etc. there are adds in BYTE. if you find out details please let me know. -- Heiko Blume,Seekorso 29,D-1000 Berlin 22,VOICE=(+49 30)365 55 71,BBS=()365 75 01 TELEX=184174 intro d,FAX=()882 50 65|ARPA =crash!pnet01!pro-cess!blume@nosc.mil PSI =PSI%45300043109::netmbx:blume |BITNET=pro-cess.UUCP!blume@PSUVAX1 UUCP =blume@netmbx.UUCP |INET =blume@pro-cess.cts.com
uncosb@sw1e.UUCP (6300]) (04/11/89)
In article <653@soleil.UUCP> gopstein@soleil.UUCP (Rich Gopstein) writes: > >I need a device or combination of devices controlled by a PC which >could be used to answer a phone, interpret touchtone keys, and respond >vocally. I have heard about DECTALK, but I would prefer to use You might try "WATSON The Business Modem" from Natural Microsystems Corporation; #6 Mercer Road; Natick, MA 01760; Phone 617-655-0700 or The "Dialog/2" from Dialogic Corporation; 60 Baldwin Road; Parsippany, NJ 07054; Phone 201-334-8450. Steve Brown
lenny@icus.islp.ny.us (Lenny Tropiano) (04/11/89)
In article <662@icus.islp.ny.us> lenny@icus.islp.ny.us (Lenny Tropiano) writes: ... |>Call 1-800-WATSON for a demonstration of a voice messaging/touch tone ... I guess 6 numbers doesn't cut it ;-) Sorry... the correct number is 1-800-6WATSON. -Lenny -- Lenny Tropiano ICUS Software Systems [w] +1 (516) 582-5525 lenny@icus.islp.ny.us Telex; 154232428 ICUS [h] +1 (516) 968-8576 {talcott,decuac,boulder,hombre,pacbell,sbcs}!icus!lenny attmail!icus!lenny ICUS Software Systems -- PO Box 1; Islip Terrace, NY 11752