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Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!elroy!cit-vax!tim
From: tim@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu (Timothy L. Kay)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Need touchtone and voice for PC.
Summary: Try PCX/BigmOuth
Message-ID: <10312@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>
Date: 10 Apr 89 18:24:34 GMT
References: <653@soleil.UUCP> <10008@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> <662@icus.islp.ny.us>
Reply-To: tim@cit-vax.UUCP (Timothy L. Kay)
Distribution: na
Organization: California Institute of Technology
Lines: 86

>|>>I need a device or combination of devices controlled by a PC which
>|>>could be used to answer a phone, interpret touchtone keys, and respond
>|>>vocally.  I have heard about DECTALK, but I would prefer to use 
>|>>recorded messages instead of synthesized -- although I would consider using
>|>>a synthesized voice if a recorded voice was impractical.

>Call 1-800-WATSON for a demonstration of a voice messaging/touch tone
>It retails for about $199.00

This is very misleading!  The demo that you hear on 1-800-WATSON is a
product called VIS.  For $199, you don't get VIS.  It costs $399, or
you can upgrade Watson to VIS for $299.

I have tried CAM, Watson, VIS, and PCX (also called BigmOuth).  By
try, I mean I have purchased them all on a 30-day trial.  Here are my
opinions:

CAM is a piece of junk.  It sounds terrible, lacks features, and the
company is into marketing, marketing, marketing.  Their attitude at
COMDEX seemed to be, "Oh, you already bought one?  Then we don't want
to talk to you."  I sent CAM back.

Watson is a piece of junk.  It sounds great but lacks features.  I
wanted to be able to do "telemarketing" (which means that the caller
can interact using his Touch Tone(R) pad).  I called NMS and told that
that they are engaging in false advertising (in that the 800 number
claims that Watson can do what it can do), and they upgraded me to VIS
for the $199 difference rather than the $299.

VIS is an OK product.  It has the features and it sounds great.
However, it is a little weird.  The menu structures are a little
bizarre, and it generally takes several passes over a confusing and
LARGE manual to figure it out.  It is much too expensive though at
$400.  I would have sent it back to, except that a business associate
liked it.  I sold it to him.

All the previous reviewing was done over a year ago, but I believe
that nothing much has changed with these products, except maybe that
CAM no longer sounds terrible.  However, I couldn't tell at COMDEX
because there was a band playing in the next booth!  Even after I
told them to reduce their volume, I couldn't hear CAM too well.

Then recently I saw that PC/Works was selling a product called PCX.  I
ordered it (after trying their 800 demo).  They were selling it for
$269.  I installed it, tried it, and I am of the opinion that

		It is great!

This baby is reasonably priced, and for the money, you get a full
answering machine, telemarketing machine, plus many other features.
It comes with a speaker so that you don't have to pick up your phone
to listen to you messages.  There is a connector on the back to which
you can hook your burglar alarm, etc., and have it call up to three
numbers if it goes off.  It comes with two programs (rpad and ppad)
which allow you to record and then play messages.  This way, you can
add your own voice to a program trivially (in C:

	system("ppad filename");

).  It sounds good (though not as good as Watson).

It is easy to use (much more so than Watson).  If you call my office
at 818-356-6633, you'll here what I put together.  I did this in about
an hour.  Please leave a message with your impressions.

I called PC/Works (805-654-0721) to ask some questions.  They explained
that they only market the thing.  The company that built it is called
Talking Technology (415-652-9600).

There are a few things I missed that Watson did.  I called Talking
Technology and told them those things that Watson does that I missed,
and they said they would put them into the new release of the
software.  I also made a few other suggestions, to which they were
receptive.

The list price is $299 from Talking Technology, but PC/Works is
selling it for $269 (for a limited time).  The upgrade to the new
version of the software will cost $30 from Talking Technology.

One problem: They recommend in their manual that you can use PCX with
DoubleDOS.  I tried it and found the configuration unacceptable.  It
degrades the voice quality and adds complexity.

I have no connection with PC/Works nor Talking Technology.

Tim