[DECtalk] DECtalk on old phone system

Blake Roberts beroberts at hughes.net
Tue Feb 16 09:28:20 EST 2021


Don,

Thank you for the insights into the commercial version of Dectalk for 
interactive voice response using a phone. My purpose in sharing the old 
recording was to demonstrate how Dectalk sounded when the recording was 
made.

Blake


On 2/16/2021 5:20 AM, Don wrote:
> On 2/13/2021 8:16 AM, Blake Roberts wrote:
>> Hello everyone,
>> Someone who is apparently not on this list sent me a recording of 
>> DECtalk on a
>> phone system. The recording was made between 1984-1987. He dialed a 
>> wrong
>> number and heard DECtalk speak a menu. He pressed a button other than 
>> specified
>> options and heard DECtalk sing Edelweiss. This was interesting to 
>> him. He
>> called back and recorded DECtalk speaking and singing.
>
> The "commercial" application of DECtalk was for IVR (Interactive Voice
> Response).  You'll note there are two RJ11 jacks on the back of the
> unit:  one connects to the phone *line* while the other connects to
> a (local) telephone handset.  This allows the DECtalk to answer the phone
> and interact with the caller as driven by a computer connected to the 
> serial
> port.  Alternatively, a human user can use the telephone handset to
> access the phone line.
>
> Note that the DECtalk Express lost the telco interface -- possibly as a
> nod to its lack of actual use?
>
> [I don't think any of my other synthesizers have telco interfaces!]
>
>> The person who made the attached DECtalk recording decades ago 
>> encouraged
>> sharing of his recording. Since his digitized version from an old 
>> tape recorder
>> was at a very low volume, I used an audio editor to raise the volume 
>> somewhat.
>> That should make DECtalk easier to hear. Enjoy this antique!
>
> What's the value of a bandwidth-limited version of DECtalk speech?
> Isn't it better to listen to the normal output from the synthesizer?
>
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