New Zealand Asterisk Voice Prompts

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cokemaster

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Reply # 66604 posted on 8-APR-2007 19:30
So far - /var/lib/asterisk/sounds/ is looking good.... Just exploring the file system here :) webhosting \|New Zealand connections \| geekzone IRC chat Loose lips may sink ships - Be smart - Don't post internal/commercially sensitive or confidential information!

sbiddle

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Reply # 66605 posted on 8-APR-2007 19:38
You should just be able to extract them to /usr/share/asterisk/sounds and it'll work. Need help with installation or consulting advice on VoIP hardware or VoIP solutions in the Lower North Island? Contact me. Need help configuring your Linksys ATA or IP Phones for New Zealand? Check my blog post

tonyhughes

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Reply # 66728 posted on 10-APR-2007 16:18

I havent installed these yet, but I know a few people who have, and arent overly happy with them (some prompts missing, or not quite right). Having said that, I understand its still a good resource, and a much better option than North American accents when presenting especially a customer-facing system.

My question is this - would there be any interest in kicking off a new project to create a full set of New Zealand voice prompts for Asterisk?

I would happily organise a suitable female voice (I have worked with a few people here who have done voice prompts for customers IVR systems before). I guess it would be a case of enough people displaying interest in both using the prompts (and supporting the creation in some way).

I would also be happy to make the recordings if I find a good voice here to use, though a little work may be needed to to come up with a list of all the prompts required, and their filenames (basic organisation of the prompts themselves).

I am thinking that donations to pay the voice a fair price to release the work under a free licence of some sort would be good, and perhaps donators could request specific custom prompts (a custom prompt for every $5 donated or something like that?).

Any comments? Is this worthwhile to pursue? Or are the current prompts good enough?

Perhaps adding more prompts to the current set (sure, you end up with two voices, but its a lot less work than recreating somebody elses efforts).

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ajobbins

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Reply # 69211 posted on 2-MAY-2007 12:04
cokemaster: So far - /var/lib/asterisk/sounds/ is looking good.... Just exploring the file system here :) I put the files in here without success (It still plays the standard ones). I dont have a /usr/share/asterisk/sounds directory. Using Trixbox 2.0 Website AdamJobbins.com Twitter: ajobbins Facebook: ajobbins

ZollyMonsta

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Reply # 69221 posted on 2-MAY-2007 13:01

If anyone wants custom voice prompts recorded in a NZ voice I may be able to help. Used to work in commercial radio (DJ among other things) and now run my own station. Got a semi-decent studio at home and good large diaphram mic.

What format do they need to be in? (ie: PCM, ADPCM. ULaw...)

Not even sure what it would be worth doing it.. maybe I could do it jsut for the heck of it.. or a donation.. kudos on geekzone.. whatever... :)

How many average voice prompts are there?

Cheers,
ZollyMonsta

Any opinions expressed on Geekzone are my own, and not of my employer.

ZollyMonsta

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Reply # 69222 posted on 2-MAY-2007 13:04

Hi Tony,

Whoops. didn't read this post... add a male voice to the mix as I can also record voice prompts. (See my post above).

Cheers,
ZollyMonsta

tonyhughes: I havent installed these yet, but I know a few people who have, and arent overly happy with them (some prompts missing, or not quite right). Having said that, I understand its still a good resource, and a much better option than North American accents when presenting especially a customer-facing system.

My question is this - would there be any interest in kicking off a new project to create a full set of New Zealand voice prompts for Asterisk?

I would happily organise a suitable female voice (I have worked with a few people here who have done voice prompts for customers IVR systems before). I guess it would be a case of enough people displaying interest in both using the prompts (and supporting the creation in some way).

I would also be happy to make the recordings if I find a good voice here to use, though a little work may be needed to to come up with a list of all the prompts required, and their filenames (basic organisation of the prompts themselves).

I am thinking that donations to pay the voice a fair price to release the work under a free licence of some sort would be good, and perhaps donators could request specific custom prompts (a custom prompt for every $5 donated or something like that?).

Any comments? Is this worthwhile to pursue? Or are the current prompts good enough?

Perhaps adding more prompts to the current set (sure, you end up with two voices, but its a lot less work than recreating somebody elses efforts).

Any opinions expressed on Geekzone are my own, and not of my employer.

Glazza

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Reply # 69229 posted on 2-MAY-2007 14:06
i'd rather a male voice myself anyhow...

ZollyMonsta

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Reply # 69338 posted on 2-MAY-2007 23:25
Can someone provide a list of the prompts and what format they need to be in? Any opinions expressed on Geekzone are my own, and not of my employer.

tonyhughes

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Reply # 77433 posted on 9-JUL-2007 13:04

chrishodgetts :
New Zealand Voice Prompts

Hey,
(I would post this to the forum but it's locked)

I was looking for something else and came across your post on geekzone:
"I havent installed these yet, but I know a few people who have, and arent overly happy with them (some prompts missing, or not quite right)."

I created the New Zealand Voice Prompts, and have said time and time again even on the website, and in many many public forums, that if people are not happy with them, or if they think there are any missing or are not quite right I would fix them.

With regards to missing ones, I took my list from the files in debian install of asterisk 1.4, we listened to each one and repeated what was said, so I dont think there should be any missing, unless asterisk 1.2 has some that 1.4 does not have. (apart from the demo files which were a waste of time anyway as who uses them in a live enviro)

The only thing we found was voicemail and had a filename-1.2 and filename-1.4 due to difference in voicemail.

As for why I did not put a location to replace the files, was demo'ed in the posts...
Each distro puts them in differing locations.
And being a Debian user, I did not want to cause confusion, once assumes if you are using linux then you should know where your distro / install puts these types of files.

As I have moved city's, I am looking at recreating these with a new voice (which is why no more updates could be done), as the voice I used is based in Wellington.

Anyway, just thought I would put my reply to the post.

Thanks.

(Via pm, as this thread was locked at the time, due to inactivity)

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mruane

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Reply # 77617 posted on 10-JUL-2007 15:02
Does anyone know what the fornat of the WGET command is to retrieve the sound files referred to above. I downloaded the GZ file to Windows then copied it to the Asterisk box, but the TAR command doesn't recognise the file. Perhaps if I downloaded directly to the Asterisk box from the source, I might get a better response. Cheers Mike

davemc

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Reply # 78962 posted on 20-JUL-2007 11:44
We'd kick in some cash to help make this happen, say $50 We can also contribute hosting space, tech time to mangle the files etc. David www.mcpond.co.nz

AndrewTD

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Reply # 81741 posted on 9-AUG-2007 15:03

Hi,

just thought I'd add my view on the topic:

About a year ago I tried our Chris Hodgetts NZ voice prompts on a couple of my Asterisk installations.

To be frank, I didn't like the "voice" used.

I hasten to add that I very much appreciate all the work that Chris and his team did to create the full set of prompts. And especially appreciate that he chose to give away the prompts free under GPL. So I don't want to sound like an ingrate.

Given that Chris has already gone through the process of figuring out how to record the prompts and translate them to the required formats, I think we should encourage him to do it again, if he is at all interested.

Clearly we need to find a new Auckland based "voice" for him to use. Or even mutilple voices - it would be nice to offer a male or a female voice.

I too would be prepared to donate a small amount of money (say $50 - $100) towards the effort.

Perhaps we could get some sound samples from "candidate" voices prepared, and the community could vote on which one(s) to use.

kind regards Andrew TD

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