Text to Speech: Find the Perfect Voice for Your Text

Text to Speech: Find the Perfect Voice for Your Welcome Message and Menu Options

These days, we frequently hear about various artificial intelligence platforms: ChatGPT, Microsoft, Google, and Apple are all competing to have the smartest platform. From our telecommunications background, we're particularly interested in how these platforms handle text-to-speech (TTS): in the past, computer-generated speech sounded very robotic and it was obvious it was a computer speaking. This was not ideal for using as a welcome message for a professional company.

With the new text-to-speech technology, you can hardly tell the difference between artificial and real speech: perfect for having your welcome message, voicemail, or phone menu read out loud!

Especially if you frequently change messages or need to provide timely updates, such as during a service outage, this method allows you to quickly deliver an up-to-date message to anyone calling you. (Without needing to ask a colleague with a good phone voice to record a new message.) Imagine this: you type a text and with just one click, it comes to life. Artificial intelligence converts text into natural-sounding speech, enabling you to listen to anything written - from books to news articles.

Behind the Scenes at TTS

Behind the scenes of a text-to-speech service, a complex process takes place where text is analyzed and converted into audio recordings. This magic happens in two steps: first, the text is analyzed to understand its meaning, and then it is read out by a synthesized voice. Thanks to advances in AI, we can now listen to artificial speech that is almost indistinguishable from a real human voice! Text-to-speech is more than just a handy tool; it makes information and entertainment more accessible to everyone. People with visual impairments or reading difficulties, or those learning a new language, benefit greatly from this technology. Everything can now be spoken and therefore listened to! TTS also extends to the entertainment industry, where it is used to create lifelike voices for animations, video games, and even dynamic voice-overs in advertisements. And now at Belfabriek, you can enjoy free text-to-speech for all your welcome messages, menu options, and voicemails! Choosing the Right Text-to-Speech Platform for Belfabriek

We have tested all major platforms and made multiple integrations so we can easily switch between TTS platforms when converting text to speech. For example, Google's TTS has more voices, while Microsoft's TTS is slightly better at the moment of writing (June 2024). We have these platforms read the text, and the generated TTS file is then converted to a format that works best with telephony (uLaw), and we make it a mono recording since phones do not support stereo. As you can see, a lot of programming work goes into our text-to-speech assistant, but by automating it, it saves everyone a lot of effort in converting text to speech!

How to Easily Use Our Text-to-Speech Assistant

Text to Speech Steps Instructions

1. Go to the online text-to-speech assistant.

2. Type in the text you want to be read out loud.

3. Select the voice you want to use.

4. Press play to generate the text.

5. Press play again to hear the generated text read out loud.

You will now see a code of 5 letters. Note this code so you can easily paste it into your portal for voicemail, welcome messages, or menu options. You can see how easy it has become. And the best part is that this text-to-speech service is included for free with your phone number, so you don’t have to pay anything extra. No need to hire a voice-over artist to make audio recordings anymore!

Important Tips for TTS:

1. The adventure begins with your text. Make sure it is carefully written and free of errors, as any typo can affect the TTS output. Unnecessary formatting is also redundant; the TTS engine needs clean, unformatted text to produce the best results.

2. You can insert pauses by adding a space. This is often useful when having phone numbers read out loud; for example, you might want to add a space after the area code.

We wish you lots of fun and success using our text-to-speech assistant to create your menu options, welcome messages, and voicemails!