Centigram Communications Inc has launched a datatovoice conversion product for its interactive voice response system which it claims sounds more natural than any other comparable product. San Josebased Centigram markets systems that convert data held in computers to spoken information. The data is accessed through touch-tone telephones and then sent down telephone lines. Centigram’s latest product, TruVoice, uses a new conversion process recently developed by the company. Instead of splicing together pre-recorded human sounds to form words, TruVoice has a completely synthetic system, which applies speech rules to ASCII text. The algorithms predict which of the variations for each vowel sound is appropriate for a particular word, depending on the vowel’s position in word, the letters in the word and the position of the word in a sentence. Centigram claims that this imitates the way humans read and speak. For example, the difference between the a in bat and the a in bait is recognised by the system, without the word having to be programmed into the system. This gives the system an unlimited vocabulary without constant updating. Centigram says the system is particularly useful for applications that bring up unpredictable and unlimited words, such as audio access to electronic mail. And a catalogue company would not have to prerecord new words each time the catalogue was amended. Hardware requirements for TruVoice include a 16bit processor, 1Mb of memory and a digital signal processing chip.
