JUST RELEASED: Visit the Incredible PBX WikiNOTE: For a more current article on setting up an IVR application with Asterisk®, see this Nerd Vittles article.
In its infinite wisdom, Digium® has discontinued its original voice prompt web site and substituted a new (more expensive) site. Obviously, there aren’t a lot of lawyers on the Digium payroll, or they might have mastered why breaching contracts is not a very smart business move. But, who cares? We love all the guys at Digium and all that they’ve done for the Asterisk community. So we’ve decided to forego our litigious instincts and give away the remaining cache of Nerd Vittles voice prompts which were paid for with the hard-earned dollars of Nerd Vittles readers from around the globe. Footnote: Digium has graciously responded to our whining in a comment below. Thanks for the clarification, Jim.
Here’s the deal. We have several dozen free voice prompts which are up for grabs to anyone who requests one. In fairness to everyone, these will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. One per customer, please. Each voice prompt is limited to 20 words or less. Hyphenated words, etc. count as multiple words. If your request exceeds 20 words, you lose your place in line. Decisions of Nerd Uno are final. Email your request together with the text for the voice prompt to NoneLeft at mundy dot org. Before you send the email, look at the comments to this posting to be sure the supply of voice prompts has not been exhausted. Once our supply of voice prompts on the original Digium web site is exhausted, this offer expires whether you’ve sent a request or not. All requests must be processed on or before November 21, 2006. Enjoy!
Sorry, but our supply of voice prompts has been exhausted.
Using Your Digium Voice Prompts. Once you receive your prompt from Digium, be aware that it is not in a format that can be used with Asterisk or TrixBox as delivered. To convert it, you can do one of two things.
First, you can use Digium’s conversion tool to convert the file to a usable GSM or WAV format.
Second, you can convert it yourself by copying it to your Asterisk server and running one of the following commands (substituting the name of your file):
sox yourfile.wav -r 8000 -c 1 yourfile.gsm
If sox is used, it has been recommended that you lower the volume a bit and keep the file in wave format for improved quality. For our samples, 50% sounded just right:
sox inputfile.wav -r 8000 -s -c 1 -v 0.5 -w outputfile.wav resample –ql
Once the file is converted, you again have two options to use it. Either copy the file directly to the /var/lib/asterisk/sounds/custom folder and use it in your dialplan.
Or use freePBX’s built-in sounds file tools by choosing Setup->System Recordings with the remastered .wav file stored on your PC or Mac. Once imported, you then have full access to the sound file in creating Digital Receptionists.
NOTE: After importing with the freePBX tools, if you opted to convert the original file to .gsm format, you can substitute the .gsm converted file for the .wav file in the custom folder once you have converted it using one of the first two methods above. Just remember to remove the original .wav file from the folder, or your prompt won’t play.
Special thanks to Arsene Laurent for the conversion tips.
Some Recent Nerd Vittles Articles of Interest…
I can’t believe they won’t be honoring the credits at the new site, that’s not good, but like Ward said, they make up for it in other ways. This is awfully nice of you Ward – thanks a lot!!!
Great news thank you Nerd Vittles thank you for sharing this.
Well, since it is free, and is limited, I sent in my request. Too bad Digium isn’t giving away their voice prompts free to anyone (whether they bought them or not).
[WM: I think it might have something to do with Allison liking to eat once in a while.]
The voice prompt supply was exhausted while I was sleeping. If you have already sent a request, chances are you’ll be hearing from us when your prompt is ready. Wish there were more. Playing Santa Claus is always fun.
I didn’t catch it in time, but I wanted to congratulate you on a great offer…that is a great thing to do for your readers!
Keep up the great work Ward!
-N
http://www.archatechs.com
Hey Ward, I got a few questions maybe you can help with….
First, I have a few Trixbox’s up and running, the one here I have no issues with, the second, one of the users keeps losing voice mails, I had them on Extension 202 for awhile and everything worked fine, then all the sudden they stopped getting voice mails, i called in and left one and checked and there were none, i recreated the extension, no change, then created a second extension and it worked fine, again for awhile, now they no longer get voice mails… Could this be a security issue on the directory or something? If so, where are the VM’s saved and what would I need to do to fix this issue?
Also, i read awhile back that there were stability issues with upgrading Trixbox, is there now a stable version out (none vm) that works with the TDM cards?
Thanks – and again, great work!
I like your offer for free asterisk prompts. Just my feedback, but I think a condition should have been that the prompts in turn became public property. Would have helped the wider community. I am saving to get all the canadian provinces and main cities recorded and turn them to public domain.
Once you receive your prompt from Digium, be aware that it is not in a format that can be used with Asterisk or TrixBox as delivered. To convert it, you can do one of two things.
First, you can use Digium’s conversion tool to convert the file to a usable GSM or WAV format.
Second, you can convert it yourself by copying it to your Asterisk server and running one of the following commands (substituting the name of your file):
sox yourfile.wav -r 8000 -c 1 yourfile.gsm
If sox is used, it has been recommended that you lower the volume a bit and keep the file in wave format for improved quality. For our samples, 50% sounded just right:
sox inputfile.wav -r 8000 -s -c 1 -v 0.5 -w outputfile.wav resample –ql
Once the file is converted, you again have two options to use it. Either copy the file directly to the /var/lib/asterisk/sounds/custom folder and use it in your dialplan.
Or use freePBX’s built-in sounds file tools by choosing Setup->System Recordings with the remastered .wav file stored on your PC or Mac. Once imported, you then have full access to the sound file in creating Digital Receptionists.
NOTE: After importing with the freePBX tools, if you opted to convert the original file to .gsm format, you can substitute the .gsm converted file for the .wav file in the custom folder once you have converted it using one of the first two methods above. Just remember to remove the original .wav file from the folder, or your prompt won’t play.
Special thanks to Arsene Laurent for the conversion tips.
Hi Ward,
I just got around to reading your post on Nerd Vittles about Digium and our IVR voice prompt policy. We did change our order system and are replacing the old "voice credits" system. As businesses grow, sometimes custom-built systems that work for a small customer base become unmanageable on a larger scale, as I’m sure you can understand.
But we’re not trying to rip anyone off in the process. We gave 6 months’ notice for folks to use their credits from the old system, and will be happy to refund the money for anyone who still has credits after the old system is put to rest at the end of this month – including Nerd Vittles. Please email us at customerservice at digium dot com for a refund.
Thanks for pointing out the issue and for your positive comments about Digium. As much as you love Digium, I can assure you we love our customers even more, and want them to be happy. Feel free to pass this message along.
Cheers,
Jim Webster
Director of Software Technologies, Digium
Hello,
I am trying to findout if there is a more complex IVR out there for Asterisk, Trixbox, or free PBX. I am looking for something that can capture data, and or capture billing information. If you know anything that is free or at a cost please let me know.
Thank you,
Nicolas Basiti
Free prompts….
http://digg.com/linux_unix/FREE_Asterisk_prompt_sets