Text-to-Speech support

Technical Note #2

From COPIAFACTS build 8.062, Text-to-Speech is supported as an optional feature for voice calls. Currently this uses Microsoft Speech Server, which is a free download for Vista, Windows 7, and Server 2008. Microsoft Speech Server supports over two dozen voices in various languages, including several voices for different national versions of English and Spanish. We also support the original ‘Microsoft Anna’ voice used by the Microsoft Speech API (SAPI) although this is not of the same quality as the voices provided with Microsoft Speech Server.

Text to be spoken can be directly included on a new $tts_text infobox command, or can be included in an external file referenced from a $tts_file command. These files can either contain plain text or can use any of the SSML markup supported by Microsoft Speech Server.

The power of the new text-to-speech feature comes from the ability to include CopiaFacts variables in the text to be spoken, making it easy to set up an IVR session which is responsive to earlier entries by the caller, or to variables in a voice-broadcast list. Spoken text can also include conditional text, controlled by $if, $else, $endif commands embedded in the text to be spoken.

We recommend that when a voice application uses text-to-speech, you should replace any of the CopiaFacts Standard Voice Prompts that you need with matching prompts spoken by the same voice. To do this, run the FFTESTTS utility, which can load either individual phrases or a list of text files, and convert them to WAV files spoken by the selected ‘voice’. There is a set of XML files available for installation which contain the texts of all the standard voice prompts, which you can use with this utility.

You can find technical information about using Text-to-Speech in CopiaFacts here. This topic has download links for Microsoft Speech Server and links to the commands you will need in your infobox logic.

To evaluate or add the text-to-speech option to your CopiaFacts license, please contact Copia Sales. For help with implementation, please contact Copia Support.

Scheduling calls by ‘Time at Destination’

Technical Note #1

CopiaFacts now allows automatic scheduling of calls based on the time at the destination. This feature has obvious applications for broadcasts, where a list may have numbers in a variety of different countries and time-zones, but even for single transmissions you may want to have a call made in office hours without having to look up and calculate the times.

The scheduling is controlled by new parameters on the $fax_send_time command, which you can find described here.

As an example, for a voice broadcast which you wish to spread over weekday mornings only, all you need to do is add to your template the command:

$fax_send_time 09:00:00 12:00:00 12345 DEST

Here the 12345 selects days Monday to Friday, and DEST indicates that you want to use the time at destination. Time zones in the USA and in Australia are determined from the area code in the phone or fax number, and for other international destinations from the country code. Daylight saving time is automatically taken into account.

For Job Administration broadcasts, there is a dialog on the Schedule/Priority page which makes it easier to set up these parameters:

Please contact Copia support if you have any questions about using this feature.

October 2011 - Tax Credit

TAX CREDIT - Invest in Copia Software Now 
In order to stimulate business, Congress enacted Section 179 Extension for US customers. The Section 179 Extension gives you the option of not having to wait for your purchased assets (such as computer hardware and software) to depreciate over time, but allows you to deduct the purchase price in full, thus getting a tax break from your assets immediately. "Small businesses can expense up to $500,000 of the first $2 million of certain business property placed in service during the year." 


 A business that acquires Copia software and places it into service before January 1, 2012 can now claim a depreciation allowance of 100% of the cost of the software. This allowance is an additional deduction you can take after any Section 179 deduction. 


 So, Take advantage of these credits, purchase Copia software and/or hardware, and: 
 1. Expand your system before the end of the year; 
 2. Purchase that spare fax and/or voice board;
 or 3. If your business relies on your a CopiaFacts system, build a redundant system. 


 For more information on this tax incentive you can view, www.irs.gov/pub/irspdf/p1693_11.pdf 


Take advantage of this tax credit. We recommend that you speak with your accountant and then call Copia Sales 800.689.8898 to place your order.


Just a Reminder about Goldmine/OmniRush Users 
Copia offers an alternative to FaxRush/Goldmine users with fax and email support for Goldmine SQL versions, including version 9. Copia also offers faxing from just about any contact manager: ACT, SalesLogix, Microsoft CRM and Open SQ, etc. 


Call 800.689.8898 for more information on how we can help you fax from within your contact manager

Copia Rescues OmniRush Users

COPIAFACTS has long supported Goldmine CRM and its related databases. An interface refresh now supports fully automated email and faxing using all Goldmine SQL versions, including Goldmine Premium Version 9.

OmniRush legacy support
With Z-Firm’s OmniRush dropping GoldMine support, COPIAFACTS offers a great transition option for Goldmine customers. Just like OmniRush, a fax or email can be scheduled to selected contacts through the schedule menu or as part of an automated process.

Users are presented the familiar schedule screen and allowed to enter in document(s) and reference notes. The integration allows the user to the assign the activity to a “track”. If your company was using legacy OmniRush track names you may re-use them. Optionally you may create new track names that take advantage of all the other great features of your COPIAFACTS system. This allow you to create a custom solution that meets your business needs.

All your standard scheduling and alert options are still configurable. You can immediately send your message or choose a date and/or time for the fax or email to be sent. After the message is sent a history record is created along with a filed message containing the results and the users notes. If something went wrong and the message failed a history record is created and by default all the result messages are filed by month.'



Open Document Support
Users can create “F2 lookup” lists to provide easy access to your standard documents. Web-based
documents or documents stored on your intranet are also supported via fully-qualified path names.
The system supports searching for documents by name in the Goldmine templates directory, the
existing OmniRush users import path, and the default import path, often referred to as the “outfax
directory”.

When attaching Microsoft Word documents, they will be pre-processed to link to Goldmine macros.
RTF and HTML documents will be pre-processed to evaluate OmniRush merge codes, Goldmine
macros, and COPIAFACTS macros. In fact, most of your OmniRush merge codes are already
supported!

COPIAFACTS has other features in its scripting language and merge operations that provide far
more capability and flexibility than OmniRush users previously had access to.

Expanded Support
COPIAFACTS supports a wide range of both hardware and virtual options for fax and voice
connectivity. This allows for traditional or VoIP/FoIP system to be configured along side your
Goldmine installation.

Software pricing is based on the line capacity of your system not the number of users. This allows
you to configure to your expected capacity. An affordable annual maintenance fee includes all
updates, product enhancements and support.

October 2008 Lately Newsletter

Look what you can do using the Copia Fax Server!

When ALLDATA, the leading provider of manufacturers’ service and repair information, shop management software and customer relations tools for the automotive repair and collision industries, needed a 24x365 application to solve a critical business problem, they interviewed several companies before deciding on Copia.

“Customer service, reliability, turnaround time, cost benefit, and robustness were all factors which influenced our decision to choose Copia”, says George Cusack, VP of Production for ALLDATA. “Copia’s applications provide ALLDATA with the ability to offer improved service to our customers with reduced costs.”

The ALLDATA application has the unique ability to provide information by email or fax and to interact with the customer to choose delivery options or transfer to customer service if a person answers the fax line. All delivery attempts are logged to a database for reference by ALLDATA customer service and customer service is notified of any failures by email. Copia’s intelligent retry feature allows ALLDATA to fine tune the information delivery process without the need for human intervention, freeing people for other tasks and boosting productivity.


FROM THE SUPPORT DESK:
Separate Retry Delay Parameters for E-Mail

You can now specify a separate set of outcome classes and corresponding retry counts and delays for e-mail transmissions, and also set the maximum number of retries separately. The default outcome categories have been revised so that there is no longer a need to place e-mail outcomes into classes with names such as 'no answer' or 'fax error'.

E-Mail retry parameters can be specified at present in the configuration, user or transaction file. Both the fax/phone and e-mail outcome classes can be customized in the SMR file in the usual way.

Tip: SQL support for logging data

With the latest changes to the CopiaFacts Engine, we now support writing log data of your choice to any SQL database. You can also suppress the writing of the current DBF file. Please contact Copia Technical support for exactly how to move the logging data to SQL.