AT&T Text-to-Speech Engine

While searching for a nice attendant voice generator software for making some good IVR prompts for my voice mail, I came across the test to speech engine from AT&T. Its named AT&T Natural Voices. And I found its capabilities are quite good to some of the other Text to Speech APIs I came across. And I made the required voice sample using their demo interface too. A very nice site if you like to use the same for your IVR prompts etc. Make sure that those voice clips are used for personal purposes only as they have explicitly prohibited the use of any sample made from that site in any commercial applications.

Labels: computers, grandcentral, telephone

Grandcentral closes user invites

Not sure if this is old news, But when I checked today, my Grandcentral account had the entire user invitation area removed. To any of you who don't have an account yet, use this link to get an account. I had it tested by a couple of friends in USA and it worked fine. So go ahead and give yourself some Grandcentral love :) Btw, if you are in USA / Canada, click on the Call me link at the bottom of this page to call me for free.

Labels: cell phone, computers, free number, google, grandcentral, telephone, usa number

Grandcentral open for Blogger users!!

Two days ago Grandcentral opened up its doors for Blogger users. All you need to do in order to get a Grandcentral account is to click on the Blogger invite link here and signup at Grandcentral. Please note that this offer is still available only to the US users, so, you know how to do ;) hint: proxy!! And you must also have a US based phone number to make use of the services. One trick is to have a free SIP forwarding number in USA if you are a VOIP user, or use a number like Skype-in, also there are many other providers in USA who provided free incoming numbers with their plan. With this method, you can make free calls within US and Canada too..

Enjoy!!

Labels: computers, free number, google, grandcentral, internet, telephone, usa number, voip

Cheap ADSL Filter dissected.

There are many CHEAPASS ADSL filters available in most of the electronics shops in india. Costs around Rs. 40/- each. The function of this filter is, to make sure that the ADSL Signals don't interfere with the Voice signals and vice versa. Here is a circuit That shows a standard ADSL filter.


And the one Which I bought, Has just 2 inductor coils, value unknown, Wish i had an inductance meter.

Here is how it is wired internally.


Wall o--- IND COIL ---o Phone
Wall o--- IND COIL ---o Phone

There are no capacitors used in this circuit at all. And this method will not give an ideal low pass filter. L2 and L4 are needed since we're dealing with the 'Tip' and 'Ring' of a phone line. So, while it is cheap, be carefull when you buy these filters.

Will add actual photos here soon.

Labels: ADSL, electronics, internet, lowpass filter, telephone

Phones I have used

Here is my brief review of the phones I have used till date.

My first phone is a Nokia 3310. Bought in 2003 and still working without any issues.Didn't even have to change the key pad till date. Battery was OK, but last year I changed the battery to a fake one as the new ones cost more than what the phone itself costs these days.

Second Phone: Reliance LG phone, yes the one with 500 rupee plan :). I sold it for 600 rupees, LOL.It used to overheat like mad. but yes, it worked till i sold it off.

Third one is a Nokia 3315 and it is still working, one of the small latches that holds the battery got broken off. The battery itself is quite old and doesn't hold charge anymore. But the funny thing is that it still works if i connect a charger to it.

Next, Nokia 3125 CDMA phone. Was a great phone, nice and cute. But very fragile. One day it fell down from my had and it broke off the switch behind the power switch rubber!!! I was unable to get it repaired and i gave it away to some one.

Now, I didnt use phones for a long time, and then I got a SE 810i. It was , still is, a great phone, lots of features. Nice photos. Great music, Cute. but I couldn't use it because I wanted to run python in it.

I wanted an application that would log NMEA signals from my Bluetooth GPS correctly. So, I discarded it and went for a Nokia 6260 flip phone. First problem I had was the issue of getting a new case for the battered old phone I bought. I kept on using it for almost 1.5 years. In the meanwhile I got the software updated. but still no casing available. The battery was also going weak day by day. And one fine day I decided to chuck it and get a new one.

My current phone is a Nokia N70. It has great features, but it also shows a bad battery problem. Firmware is up to date and I cant get more than 1 hour of continuous talk time these days. The phone is just 6 months old and as soon as the battery warranty is over, it started strike. sick eh? Yes, I have a spare battery for it and I am yet to use that.

I am searching for a pure business phone these days. But from all the reviews, I feel the old 6310i from Nokia is still the best phone available. New goal is to get it :)

Labels: cell phone, LG, nokia, reliance, sony ericsson, telephone

I hate reliance!!

I used to be very supportive of a telecom company called Reliance Communications Limited (A CDMA Telecom Provider in India) always asking my friends to prefer it than going to Tata Indicom (CDMA), or Other GSM providers.. Well, Things are going to change!!!

I received my last month's phone bill yesterday!, To my shock, I found that they have been charging me 400 Rupees (around $10) a month for something I had cancelled long back. This is happening from the last 2 months. Here is the long story..

Series of events..

The connection plan I was using from Reliance was a "Freedom@Night" plan that gives me unlimited access at night. And once I found my Cable internet connection from Asianet Data Line is quite stable, I wanted to cancel the Internet based plan and then move to a voice plan called "1India". After being on hold for around 15 minutes, I got connected to a customer care executive and later he connected me to some Supervisor. I had explained them clearly that I no longer needed to have my Data plan and requested to be moved to a voice based plan. After 2 days I received a confirmation that my connection had been transfered to the OneIndia Plan. So far... I am happy!

Received the first bill after the transfer. I was charged for both the existing plan, and the One India plan, I thought Its because I changed the plan in the middle of my billing period. No action was taken because of this assumption. I paid the bill in full.

Received the second bill.. I was shocked / felt cheated the moment I saw this additional charges still continuing..

As most of you guys know, I dont have my phone these days, so had to call from the home phone.

Call #1
The number 3033333 does not work from my home phone so I called the customer care through their cochin number.. The voice quality was horrible and full of static. Somehow after around 10 minutes of waiting I got connected to a lady.. Who asked me the details, put me on hold for some time, apologised, asked some more details, put me on hold again, and after some time she asked me to call back later as her system is not working.. What an easy way to ask a customer to Buzz off, eh?

Call #2
Same static / crackling / interference.. Was on hold for a long time before I got connected.. This time to a guy, The name was not clear, so couldnt note it. I could tell him the issue, was on hold, he came back and said something, but the static was so horrible i could not hear anything.. I asked them to call me back which never happend.

Call #3
Called them from a reliance phone, atleast i wont waste money while being on hold and the voice quality was better. Talked to an entry level customer care jockey, and he connected me to his Supervisor, Prakash or whatever he calls himself.. I explained him the issue, I told him that last time when I requested for a plan change I had specifically asked for the data plan to be removed and that I would no longer need a dedicated plan for internet connectivity. He put me on hold again, I hate being put on hold.., After a while he said that I had only changed the voice plan that is given free with the data plan I was using and the data plan is still active and that I would need to give seperate instructions for them to remove that. (Please check my previous note that I had specifically asked about the removal of my data services..)

He told me that there is nothing to be done from their end. And that I should visit their WebWorld (crap), No Idea why they would call it a webworld.. and give a request there.. So even after their extortion for something I have never used, I should waste my money and travel 50 Kilometers to visit their place to hear that nothing could be done?? Why would i be paying for a mistake or failure to do duty of some support jockey sitting there?

I am going to cancel the connection as soon as I get some free time, mostly tomorrow. The only thing I cant stand is being treated like crap.

So long.. Suckers!!

Take a note of the following before you get a connection from them,

RELIANCE SUCKS!!! THEY WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY!!! RELIANCE SUCKS!!! THEY WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY!!! RELIANCE SUCKS!!! THEY WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY!!! RELIANCE SUCKS!!! THEY WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY!!! RELIANCE SUCKS!!! THEY WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY!!! RELIANCE SUCKS!!! THEY WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY!!! RELIANCE SUCKS!!! THEY WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY!!!

Labels: billing, cell phone, dispute, reliance, telephone