CommPower Awarded Text-to-Speech Contract

February 26, 2003 

General Dynamics Decision Systems has chosen CommPower’s Text Broadcast System as the text-to-speech (TTS) application for the U.S. Coast Guard Natural Distress and Response System Modernization Project (NDRSMP), called “Rescue 21.”

“Rescue 21” greatly improves the Coast Guard’s ability to detect mayday calls from boaters, pinpoint the location of the source and coordinate rescue operations along the 95,000-mile U.S. coastline and interior waterways.

This critical communication and situational awareness system will have an immediate and far-reaching impact on the Coast Guard’s ability to carry out maritime safety and security along with automated broadcast of up-to-date weather information, weather warnings, weather forecasts, and general maritime information.

CommPower’s TTS application was chosen over other TTS applications based on superior voice quality and a fully developed interactive graphical user interface (GUI). Some of the key features are:

• Use of AT&T Labs Natural VoicesÔ TTS Engine
• English, Spanish, French  - Male and Female voices (8 or 16 Khz)
• Supports customization of the default pronunciation of words to local pronunciation and creation of site-specific dictionaries
• Supports polling of an “incoming” directory and automatic conversion of text files to .wav for immediate broadcast (i.e., “output polling”) or transfer to IVR
• Allows the user to modify the volume and speaking rate of each voice prior to converting the text file to .wav
• Allows e-mail messages to be spoken via user-defined settings. A simple interface allows the user to control and modify a multitude of application parameters
• Provides a fully interactive message database handler to create, schedule, and broadcast messages (.wav files)
• Allows different broadcast sessions on 3 to 4 channels (audio ports) simultaneously

For more information on CommPower's Text Broadcast System, please refer to the Computerized Speech Broadcast Software Products section of the CommPower Web Site.