Making Hospitality Application Working

[tundeogidi]

My VoiceGuide now start. I tested the application by dialling into the system and the system picked up call with Voice Prompt to enter my Client ID and so on for a Credit Card.

 

Then, I configured the Hospitality application as instructed in the install.txt, edited VoiceGuide's Congfig.xml to make all lines use the c:\IVRS\hospitality\hospitality.vgs script

 

I also configured VoiceGuide TTS in VG.INI to installed TTS Voice, I edited the VG.INI with the below data;

[sAPI]

TTSEngine=Microsoft Mike-8kHz

 

I restarted the system then call the system, this time it was just ringing with no pickup.

 

I attached here a zip file containing the Voice Guide Log (zip format), the edited config.xml and vg.ini, also a word Document showing screenshot of the VoiceGuide Line Status Monitor during no call and when Call was made to the system.

 

The Log under c:\ivrs\hospitality\log is blank without any data; I would have added it as well.

 

I will expect your prompt response on what to do next.

 

Regards

VoiceGuide.zip

[SupportTeam]

vgEngine trace shows:

 

095240.348 6 1 OpenChanels could not load script [C:\IVRS\hispotality\hospitality.vgs]

...

095552.554 6 1 NOTE not answering as no script attached to line.

 

Is the path to the script correctly specified in the Config.cxml file?

 

The directory name after IVRS seems to be misspelled.

[tundeogidi]

Yes I finally figured it out. There was a typographical error in the hospitality.vgs path on config.xml file. Also, the Database parameters in the 'Init' VBS of the hospitality.vgs was configured as root for username and root for password which is wrong, so I entered the correct parameter and it is working now.

 

However, there are numbers of issues with the application. I tried to use the 'dbedit' to update database (adding record, edit record and deleting records). I was able to add, but I wanted to edit a newly added record in air table for example and I got the error message below;

 

----

Warning: mysql_field_flags(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs\dbedit\db\db_mysql.php on line 284

 

Sorry the Query failed: Select * from hosp.air where index='9'

Error:You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'index='9'' at line 1PHP version: 5.2.9-1

-----

 

How do I solve this problem?

 

Secondly, the application is not using the TTS specified in VG.INI, I specified

[sAPI]

TTSEngine=Microsoft Mike-8kHz

 

But that is not the voice prompt I got.

 

Lastly, how do I modify the application (hospitality.vgs) to include option for callers to go back to 'previous menu'. Example, press * (press star) to go back to previous menu, we expect this features to be included in the application design but I believe I can implement it with proper guide that is simple and straight forward.

 

Thank you

[SupportTeam]

For the TTS you should use:

 

TTSEngine=Microsoft Mike

 

The name must match one of the listed TTS voices names, and Microsoft Mike is named "Microsoft Mike", not "Microsoft Mike-8kHz".

Names of all the TTS voices are also listed at the beginning of the ktTts trace file.

 

 

For the "press *" option this path could be used:

 

on {*} goto [$RV_PreviousModule]

 

but you really should specify the module titles explicitly if you have a chain of menus one after another.

 

If you want you can post your current script file here and we can modify this for you to include the "press *" option.

 

 

Regarding the database editing app (which is an external app and not part of VoiceGuide itself) we'll need to have a look at it here to see if we get similar problem. Will advise our findings.

 

 

 

 

[SupportTeam]

Regarding the problems with editing records in the air table you will need to change the name of one of the columns in the air table from "index" to "idx"

 

Select the Write Query option when viewing the air table and the copy and paste all the 3 lines below:

 

ALTER TABLE `hosp`.`air` CHANGE COLUMN `index` `idx` INT(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,

DROP PRIMARY KEY,

ADD PRIMARY KEY USING BTREE(`idx`);

 

And then click the Run Query link.

 

The table will now have the column name altered and you will be able to edit entries in it like in other tables.

 

[tundeogidi]

Hi,

 

Please find attached the Hospitality Script so you can help me edit to have the option to go back to previous menu with 'press *'.

 

I will like to confirm that the air table is the only one giving problem, if possible, could you just send me the newly corrected database script so I can create a new database that will not have problem when updating or editing. I also attach here the copy of the dbedit I have with me so you can study it, correct and send back.

 

The flight information that is been retrieved is not detailed enough; we will like the voice to extract the Flight Name and Flight Departure time available for that day for all flights and also give an option for caller to retrieve the contact telephone number of the Flight Operator for ticket/sit reservation. So the database air table will include Flight Name, Departure Time, and contact telephone number of the operator/ticket desk, but the last one should be optional and not read out if not selected by caller.

 

Lastly, if I want to change the text for the first voice prompt on the Hospitality.vgs, can I do that using the Script Designer on VoiceGuide?

I opened the hospitality.vgs and edited the initial Voice Prompt from

'Welcome to NTDC Tourist and Travellers Information System to speak to an operator at time please press zero'

to

'Welcome. This is the Interactive Voice Directory of the NTDC Tourists and Travellers Information System. To speak to an operator at any time please press zero'

 

Then saved, but the old voice text is still been read out even after restarting the system.

 

Will expect your prompt response.

 

Thank you.

hospitality.zip

[SupportTeam]

If you would like to use a script to recreate the databases then unzip the attached file and place the extracted .sql file in dbedit's backup directory and then recreate the database as before. ie:

 

1. In Restore a Database section click on the Backup Directory option

2. Select the hosp database in the dropdown box that appears.

3. Click Restore

 

this new script will create the air table with idx name and adds the phone column as well.

 

 

The first voice prompt in the script is played using the sound file welcome.wav (have a look at the "Start" module and the two sound files that it plays).

 

 

We will modify the script to use the * for previous menu and read out the flight name as well as the telephone number when asked for it and post the new script here in a while.

hosp_2009_03_31.zip

[SupportTeam]

How are the callers to be given the option to hear the telephone number?

Should the sound file that advises callers to "press X to retrieve the contact telephone number of the Flight Operator" be played after each flight number?

You may as well play the phone number itself, it'll be quicker.

[SupportTeam]

The attached hospitality script will use * to go to previous menu and for the flight details will speak the flight number followed by time followed by phone number. You may want to record some sound files to play before the flight number etc to let the caller know what information is played next.

 

hospitality.vgs

[tundeogidi]

I will update the application with the new hospitality.vgs and create new database with the script sent and let you know what happen.

 

However, back to the TTS, how do I get the list of all the TTS voices from the ktTts trace file.

 

Also, I tried to use the Text to Speech facility under the Control Panel, but it has disappeared. On the WinXP Control Panel, if I click on 'Sound Icon', it should open a window with two tabs, Speech Recognition and Text to Speech tabs, but right now it is only showing Speech Recognition tab only.

 

I also tried using the 'TTSApp' application under Tools of the Microsoft Speech SDK 5.1 but I am getting error message "Error initializing speech objects. Shutting down"

 

How do I resolve this please?

 

[tundeogidi]

Please I am still expecting your response regarding the TTS issue raised above.

 

I have updated the VoiceGuide Hospitality application with the new hospitality.vgs file and remove the old 'hosp' database and recreated it using the new .sql file sent to have an 'air' table with Column for Telephone.

 

Find below my observations and issues;

 

1. There is need to have a voice recording to inform callers to press * to go back to previous menu at all voice menu. I pressed * to test if it will work and it worked but that information is not available to caller who doesn't know it exist.

 

2. The application is not retrieving data from the database again. I used the air option I have been working on and it kept telling me that no information available for Current Location, Destination and Day of the week that I know exist in the database.

 

What do you think could be responsible for this database issue?

[SupportTeam]

It sounds like the TTS is nor correctly installed on your system. Recommend you download SAPI5.1 from Microsoft and try installing in.

 

The ktTts log lists the TTS voices at startup time. Hve you had a look at the ktTts log file?

 

1. There is need to have a voice recording to inform callers to press * to go back to previous menu at all voice menu. I pressed * to test if it will work and it worked but that information is not available to caller who doesn't know it exist.

Yes, the sound files would need to be re-recorded by you to include this information. The sample TTS sound files provided with the application are meant to be replaced by your own sound files.

 

2. The application is not retrieving data from the database again. I used the air option I have been working on and it kept telling me that no information available for Current Location, Destination and Day of the week that I know exist in the database.

To see what is going on we would need to see the vgEngine trace capturing the call, as well as the database backup file. The database backup can be done using the supplied dbedit application. Please .ZIP up bot files and post them here and we can then see what happened.

[tundeogidi]

Please help me prepare and send a step by step instruction (manual) on how to create voice recording and how to use it on the application to replace the sample voice recording, please include hardware options and requirements.

 

The TTS was working before it stopped working and I have re-installed it but that did not correct the issue I am having with it or do I have to first un-installed the existing one?

 

I attached here a zip file containing the vgEngine and the new database backup for your review. The application is now retrieving data from the database after I updated the database connection parameter on 'init' VBS to include correct username and password on the hospitality.vgs using VoiceGuide Script Designer.

 

The issues at the moment are;

1. The application is only retrieving data that were included during the database recreation from restore file sent by you. Newly updated data were not been retrieved and even new data for same day that existed were not been retrieved. For example, the application only retrieved flight time and number on Tuesday for 1350 and did not retrieve the newly added flight on 1500.

 

2. The data retrieved are no complete even for existing data from backup, for example, retrieving flight details for Monday, the Voice will only say "Flight are at this time, 8am 5551234", then it will pause for few seconds and continue repeating 5551234 until line is disconnected without retrieving the rest of the flight for that day when there are two other flights for that day.

 

3. The way the flight data were been retrieved is not appropriate, the retrieval should include numbers of data available for retrieval and for each should state

a. Flight name

b. Flight time

c. Ticketing Desk contact number

 

The Voice prompt should say the following using the retrieval for Monday as an example

"There are three flights on Monday;

The first flight is Bellview

Flight Time is 8am

Ticketing Desk Telephone Number is 012609876

 

The second flight is Arik

Flight time is 2:30PM

Ticketing Desk Telephone Number 1 0705423133

 

The third flight is Aero Contractor

Flight time is 5:30PM

Ticketing Desk Telephone Number is 08034444441

 

The above data assume that the database has been updated to include flight names stated above and the telephone numbers.

 

Please note that this is also applicable to the other tables in the database as well, there is need to inform callers the numbers of data available and system play the first 5 only where there are more than 5 data, then give the caller option to press # to play the next 5 data.

 

The information should complete and make sense, not just reading data from the database, it should tell caller what the data are, for example, in the telephone number part of the air table, the existing system just says the number without telling caller what the numbers are.

VoiceGuide.zip

[SupportTeam]

Please help me prepare and send a step by step instruction (manual) on how to create voice recording and how to use it on the application to replace the sample voice recording, please include hardware options and requirements.

Just use the Windows Sound Recorder (sndrec32.exe) to record a sound file (use a microphone attached to the computer to do the recording). Alternatively you can generate the sound files using the SAPI apps (once you have SAPI working).

 

The say number script modules allow you to specify the sound files to be played before/after each data item, so once you have decided the wording to be used you can record your sound files and use them in those modules. The supplied sound files are only meant to be temporary files and you are supposed to record your own sound files to be used.

 

The sound files should be saved in ULaw format (or ALaw if that is what you selected as default format at install time)

 

We now look at the log files and will comment on the database questions once we can see what happened.

[tundeogidi]

The say number script modules allow you to specify the sound files to be played before/after each data item, so once you have decided the wording to be used you can record your sound files and use them in those modules. The supplied sound files are only meant to be temporary files and you are supposed to record your own sound files to be used.

 

Where will I specify the sound file in the script?

 

You can help record sound files to resolve all the issues raised so far with the air table on the database while we work on making the SAPI application work on our system.

 

The issues again are summarised below;

1. The system check for numbers of data available in the database for the information requested for by caller and tell the callers while it play back the first five data if more than five.

Using the airline table example.

 

"There are three flights on Monday;

The first flight is Bellview

Flight Time is 8am

Ticketing Desk Telephone Number is 012609876

 

The second flight is Arik

Flight time is 2:30PM

Ticketing Desk Telephone Number 1 0705423133

 

The third flight is Aero Contractor

Flight time is 5:30PM

Ticketing Desk Telephone Number is 08034444441

 

2. Kindly help update the hoispitality.vgs file to reflect the issues raised above

 

3. Record the sound required for the purpose for purpose of the above issues while we troubleshoot our SAPI application. The sound to be recorded are;

a. Welcome Sound -

"Welcome. This is the Interactive Voice Directory of the NTDC Tourists and Travellers Information System. To speak to an operator at any time please press zero"

 

b. Press * -

"Press star to return to previous menu"

 

c. Situation where there are more than five data available for a request, the syste should tell callers to press # (the hash key to play the next 5 data).

" To listen to the next five information, please press the hash button"

 

d. Telling the caller the number of data available in database, I will use the airline example here as stated above but this will be required for the other tables as well depending on type of data. But we may concentrate on the airline first as this is urgent for our scheduled DEMO for tomorrow.

 

"There are three flights on Monday;

The first flight is Bellview

Flight Time is 8am

Ticketing Desk Telephone Number is 012609876

 

The second flight is Arik

Flight time is 2:30PM

Ticketing Desk Telephone Number 1 0705423133

 

The third flight is Aero Contractor

Flight time is 5:30PM

Ticketing Desk Telephone Number is 08034444441

 

[SupportTeam]

Where will I specify the sound file in the script?

Have you looked the properties of the modules which you want to edit? Click on the button on the module that has the module type picture on it to show the proeprties screen, or right click on module and select the Properties option.

 

Please also see:

http://www.voiceguide.com/vghelp/source/html/modplay.htm

http://www.voiceguide.com/vghelp/source/ht...odsaynumber.htm

 

 

The attached version contains the updated script which plays the listings in the new way that you described.

 

Having the caller press # every 5 entries would only confuse the caller and there is no real need to make them press any key to listen to further flights. IVR systems do not usually use this approach to make caller press numbers to hear more data, as it will only irritate the caller. I suspect that the number of actual real flight details retreived for any of the city combinations would be low anyway.

 

As mentioned before the TTS sound files provided are only meant to be used for demonstration purposes and it's intended for you to record your own proper sound files for use with the system.

 

Some information on the sound file format which should be used is here: http://www.voiceguide.com/vghelp/source/html/soundfiles.htm

hospitality_090402.zip