How do I prompt users or deliver information to callers?
Audio output is used to prompt callers for input and to deliver information to them. The audio may be specified as a pre-recorded audio file, or as text that is converted to speech on the fly using the Tellme Voice Application Network’s text-to-speech (TTS) engine. Similar to how image are specified in HTML, the audio file is specified by a URL. The Tellme Platform will retrieve the audio file before it is played to the user. The program can also specify text to be played to the user (using TTS) in the event that the audio file cannot be retrieved. Pre-recorded audio is almost always preferred in production applications, as it provides the most natural sounding interface. Text-to-speech is useful for rapid application prototyping and for generating output from data whose content cannot be guessed in advance. For example, an application that reads a user’s e-mail over the phone.
