Speech not working

Questions, problems, and other issues for Ascendis Caller ID that aren't covered by the other forums.
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jucaso
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:18 pm

Speech not working

Post by jucaso »

Hi,

I've been running Caller ID for some years now, and all I can say is awesome!

I just upgraded my old Dell 2400 from Windows XP to Windows 7/32. Ascendis Caller ID has been running on a Dell 2350 which I just retired.

I've installed Caller ID 3.0 and the USB modem has been recognized. However, I can't get "voice" to announce the calls. I have two voices from NeoSpeech installed and they work fine using Windows "Text to Speech" feature. I can get a voice to speak if I restart the computer but after a while it will not work anymore. I can also switch voices and it will work on the next call but that is about it.

I have noticed that the "Preload speech support every x minutes" can be selected but I can't change the amount of minutes, it's grayed out. I'm not sure if this will have anything to do with my problem. I even reinstall just in case.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Juan.
Bill Root
Site Admin
Posts: 1025
Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:29 pm
Location: Perrysburg, OH
Contact:

Re: Speech not working

Post by Bill Root »

Hi Juan,

Can you confirm that you're using a 32-bit version of Windows 7? I have not been able to duplicate your problem, although I did discover that in my 32-bit Windows 7 virtual machine all sound (including text-to-speech in Ascendis Caller ID and the Windows control panel) stops working when the machine wakes from sleep.

Is your machine sleeping? Windows 7 enables sleep mode by default.

If you leave the text-to-speech control panel up until the problem occurs, does the "Preview" button in the control panel still make the computer speak if you don't change voices first?

Does the problem occur if you use the Microsoft Anna voice?

The inability to change the "Preload speech support every x minutes" time is not related.

I checked the speech code and it's using SAPI 5.3, which is the most recent version supported on Windows XP. SAPI 5.4, the most recent version, has very minor additions.


Finest regards,
Bill Root
Ascendis Software LLC
jucaso
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:18 pm

Post by jucaso »

Hi Bill,

First of all, thanks for the prompt response.

Yes, I'm running Windows 7/32, and sleep mode is not enable.

However, I decided to migrate the whole thing to a HP T5710 thin client with a 20GB 2.5 hard drive (rigged by me) and USB modem. I have installed Windows XP (not XPe), NeoSpeech Kate16 voice, CallerID version 2.3 and everything is working great.

This small package is a lot more efficient and almost noiseless, the hard drive is the only moving part and it only whispers.

Once again, thanks for your help.

Juan.
Bill Root
Site Admin
Posts: 1025
Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:29 pm
Location: Perrysburg, OH
Contact:

Re: Speech not working

Post by Bill Root »

Hi Juan,

Your thin client sounds like an efficient way to have Ascendis Caller ID clients in convenient locations.

I still haven't been able to duplicate the problem with Neospeech voices on Windows 7 32-bit, although I found many internet references to problems with Neospeech voices and other programs on Windows 7. I have not found a source of standalone Windows 7-compatible Neospeech voices.

Your use of Windows XP seems like a good idea. Windows 7 would be problematic on the thin client, if it fit at all.


Finest regards,
Bill Root
Ascendis Software LLC
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