Acapela TTS Arabic with Voice Guide

[Guest mohammedzoheb]

Dear VoiceGuide,

I am using VoiceGuide Enterprises+Dialer.

I am going to  install acapela tts on server.I want to SAPI TTS to read the text of English and Arabic based on selection from user(Example:Press 1 for Arabic,press 2 for English) once user press 1 script will go on as Arabic scenario.

Let me know how can i set up the above scenario as well as if i placing Arabic text its showing as "????" please check the image below

[SupportTeam]

Can you please try placing the Arabic text in a text file (with a ".txt" suffix) and then specifying that .txt file as the 'Sound file to be play'.

If a text file is specified in the ”Sound file to be play” text box then VoiceGuide will read in the text file and will speak (TTS) the contents of that file.

We are working on version of script designer that will allow you to use Arabic etc languages in the "Text-to-Speak" etc. text boxes.

[Guest mohammedzoheb]

Ok I will place  Arabic text in  .txt file but any configuration needed for TTS.

[SupportTeam]

The default TTS engine to use by the system is set in VG.INI, in section [TTS]. Please see here for more information:

https://www.voiceguide.com/vghelp/source/html/config_tts.htm

If you have multiple TTS languages from same vendor then it is usually possible to switch languages by including tags in the text to indicate what language TTS should be used. Please refer to your TTS supplier's documentation.

[Guest mohammedzoheb]

Hi ,

I want to set SAPI Engine type dynamically based on languages selection.

Welcome to Company,Press 1 for Arabic,Press 2 for English,

once the user press1,

i want to set $RV[tts_EngineType]= Arabic

if press 2,

$RV[tts_EngineType]=English

Let me know how can i handle this 

[SupportTeam]

Acapela supports SSML tags (Speech Synthesis Markup Language) in the text to be spoken.

So in the text to TTS you can select which of the installed voices is to be used. See example below.

Pretty much all TTS providers support SSML. You can refer to your TTS providers documentation for details of what features of SSML they support.

SSML example:

<speak>
    <voice name="Kendra"><lang xml:lang="en-US">Hello, I'm Kendra.</lang></voice>
    <voice name="Brian"><lang xml:lang="en-GB">And I am Brian.</lang></voice>	
    <voice name="Kendra"><lang xml:lang="en-US">This is Kendra again!</lang></voice>.
</speak>

 

[Guest mohammedzoheb]

You are asking me to placed this text in Text To Speech right? if in that case Arabic language wont work.

8 minutes ago, SupportTeam said:

<speak> <voice name="Kendra"><lang xml:lang="en-US">Hello, I'm Kendra.</lang></voice> <voice name="Brian"><lang xml:lang="en-GB">And I am Brian.</lang></voice> <voice name="Kendra"><lang xml:lang="en-US">This is Kendra again!</lang></voice>. </speak>

So i already have installed TTS for Arabic as well as English based on the selection i want to continue my script.

So it will be helpful for me to provide a syntax for Setting TTS dynamically .

[Guest mohammedzoheb]

Please check the Attach document TTS Support SSML 

let me know how can i use this in VoiceGuide also any configuration need to be done in VG file if i am using SSML.

SSML-Support.pdf

[SupportTeam]

Attached document shows that both <voice> and <lang> SSML tags are supported. See page 8 of the document that was attached in preceding post.

[Guest mohammedzoheb]

Ok but how to use them where to place those SSML Tag in IVR

We need to set SAPI ENGINE if using SSML TAG

[SupportTeam]

The SSML tags are used in the text that is sent to the TTS engine.

The default SAPI engine would be set to one of the Acapela engines, and then the SSML tags in the text to be spoken can be used to switch between the engines.

 

[Guest mohammedzoheb]

Please check the images attach.

First i have set a default SAPI TTS in VG then i place a SSML tag in text file  but its only speaking default one not the other one.

TestIVR.txt

[SupportTeam]

You should contact Acapela support for confirmation on how they need the SSML tags specified.

Were any examples provided by Acapela that demonstrate SSML use?

Acapela documentation says that they support:

SSML v1.0  - https://www.w3.org/TR/speech-synthesis/

and

SSML v1.1 - https://www.w3.org/TR/speech-synthesis11/

so maybe yo need to change your current:

<speak>
<voice name="Leila">اهلا كيف انت</voice>
<voice name="Sharon">Welcome To global Arabian modern application</voice>  
</speak>

to:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<speak version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/10/synthesis"
       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
       xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.w3.org/2001/10/synthesis
                 http://www.w3.org/TR/speech-synthesis11/synthesis.xsd"
       xml:lang="en-US">   
<voice name="Leila">اهلا كيف انت</voice>
<voice name="Sharon">Welcome To global Arabian modern application</voice>  
</speak>

to fully adhere to the SSML v1.1 specification. But most TTS providers do not require all theses headers to be specified.

Some would work without the <speak> tag, so all that you would need in the .txt file would be:

<voice name="Leila">اهلا كيف انت</voice>
<voice name="Sharon">Welcome To global Arabian modern application</voice>  

You just have to use whatever they support.

 

Also, note that your current TTS text is the same for every call. For static files its recommended to use the .WAV files instead of having the system generate speech using TTS on every call. This way you will avoid the slight delay that happens with TTS generation.

VoiceGuide saves the TTS generated sound files in VoiceGuide's \temp\ subdirectory, so if some TTS is static then you can use any of the files saved there as files to be used on future calls.  (copy file you will use to new location first).

[SupportTeam]

This version of VoiceGuide now supports changing of TTS engine during VoiceGuide callflow:

[link removed. changes included in v7.6.5 onwards]

Setting of TTS engine is done by assigning the name of TTS engine to this Result Variable:

$RV[TTS_SAPI_Engine]

This assignment can be made using an Evaluate Expression module, or using any other method that allows setting of Result Variables.

Here is a VoiceGuide callflow that demonstrates usage, and screenshot of the callflow as it looks like in the Script Designer:

test_tts_rv.vgs

 

To change from one release of VoiceGuide v7 to another:

1. Stop VoiceGuide Service and exit all VoiceGuide programs. (eg Script Designer, Line Status Monitor, etc) and all other programs.

2. Run the VoiceGuide install and install into same directory as existing installation. (Do NOT uninstall the previous VoiceGuide installation).

3. Start VoiceGuide service.

Running a VoiceGuide install over the top of an existing install will NOT overwrite existing configuration or license files (Config.xml, ConfigLine.xml, VG.INI, etc) and will not remove any of users script or sound files, and will not remove any log files etc.

Edited 02/02/2019 07:13 AM by SupportTeam
Link Removed

[Guest mohammedzoheb]

Ok i  will test this scenario.

I truly appreciate your support.Thanks

[Guest mohammedzoheb]

Dear VoiceGuide,

Please check the attach file wan to confirm this file is  "U-Law 8 khz 8 it Mono".

I generated this file using Acapela TTS.

ThankyouEnglish.wav

[SupportTeam]

Attached ThankyouEnglish.wav file is in "u-Law 8 kHz, 8 Bit, Mono" format.

[Guest mohammedzoheb]

ok Thanks