Appointments Book® Speech Engine Support

System requirements

Windows 98,Me,2000,NT,XP.

Installation

1. Before you can use this component you have to install MS Speech API. If you use Windows 2000, most likely, your system already has the necessary components.

2. You also need at least one Speech engine installed. Speech engine is a "voice" that can be male or female, and can speak English or French or any other language.

3. Once you have the MS Speech API and a Speech engine installed, restart your PC. Then launch Appointments Book, open the Speech window, type "speak to me" and adjust the voice scrollbar settings.

Note: The voice component utilises additional voices only available in the Windows 2000 operating system.

Microsoft Speech Engines (free)

Mary voice

Language: American English. Size ~2.4 Mb.

Lernout & Houspie Speech Engines

Languages: American English, British English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian.

Other Speech Engines

Digalo Text-To-Speech Engine

Digalo is an affordable TTS engine designed for end-users and developers. The engine is offered in a number of languages: French, German, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish, Russian, and UK and US English, with Italian, Polish, and other languages coming soon. You can listen to sound samples and download free trial versions from Digalo's Web site. Developer information, as well as details on end-user registration and affiliate programs, is also available.

Elan Speech Engine

Elan Speech Engine® uses Elan’s Text To Speech® technology and is available in seven languages: French, German, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish, Russian, U.K. and U.S. English. You can find sample sound clips of the engines, as well as technical and licensing information at the Web site.

Eloquent Technology ETI-Eloquence

ETI-Eloquence speaks using highly intelligible synthetic voices with natural intonation and stress patterns. Languages available are American English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Mexican), and UK English. French (Canadian) and Mandarin Chinese will be available in the near future. You can find sample wave files of the engines and developer information at Eloquent's Microsoft Agent Information Web site.

IBM ViaVoice® Outloud

IBM has developed several Microsoft Agent characters for use with ViaVoice Outloud. IBM ViaVoice Outloud is a text-to-speech (speech synthesis) technology and is available in French, German, Italian, Spanish, UK English and US English. When combined with Microsoft Agent, you can create vibrant applications in many languages and extend your sales opportunities to new worldwide markets. For more information, or to download a free 90-day trial version of ViaVoice Outloud, see their Web site.