Re: Feeding audio signals into phone lines

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

I think he was using a bigger one made by Logitech. Both MS and Logitech
have discontinued these but there are (or were) some similar devices
available from some of the assisted living companies but most are USB/PS2
and need Windows or a Mac.

     http://store.ergoguys.com/bigtrack.html


"BruceR" <razrbruce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>The big trackball was a Microsoft EasyBall.
>
> Dave Houston wrote:
>> Way back in Windows 3.1 days I wrote some software that used the
>> text-to-speech software that came bundled with the 16-bit SoundBlaster
>> soundcards as well as another low cost ($25 per licensee) commercial
>> text-to-speech package which had excellent voice quality. The
>> software was intended for people like you with speech problems. The
>> users were a mix of those with CP, ALS and other maladies that caused
>> speech problems.
>>
>> Initially, I wrote it to use a direct connection to an internal
>> speakerphone modem because the sound was very clean that way but I
>> got feedback from several users that they preferred to use it with an
>> external speakerphone modem in front of a PC speaker because that
>> sounded more natural with the normal background sounds. Creative
>> stopped bundling their TTS software and the other company got gobbled
>> up by Lernout & Hausbie and disappeared along with them.
>>
>>     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lernout_&_Hauspie
>>
>> My software included home automation functions and sold for $180,
>> including the TTS license, but is no longer available.
>>
>> There are numerous speakerphone modems available but I don't know how
>> many of them have DOS drivers. These days most of the external ones
>> have USB connections and expect Windows.
>>
>> If you can find a speakerphone modem with a serial interface and DOS
>> drivers, it is, by far, the easiest way to accomplish what you need.
>>
>> You probably already know that the commercial companies selling this
>> type of equipment have exhorbitant prices (despite being subsidized
>> by the government).
>>
>> I won't do the searching for you but, if you find some speakerphone
>> modems, I'll look at them to see whether they will work for you.
>>
>> BTW, I'm not sure anything like it is still available but one young
>> man with CP who used my software had a very large (baseball sized)
>> trackball that he used for a mouse in Windows.
>>
>> Bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Bill Geluso) wrote:
>>
>>> I don't know if this is the proper newsgroup in which to post this
>>> question.  If it isn't, would you please advise me of a more
>>> appropriate newsgroup.
>>>
>>> Anyway, my question is:  What is the simplest (and least expensive)
>>> way to feed an audio signal into a telephone line?
>>>
>>> My specific application is as follows:  My speech is next to
>>> impossible to understand due to cerebral palsy.  Therefore, I often
>>> use a speech synthesizer to communicate with people, including
>>> people over the phone.  Currently, to "speak" over the phone, I
>>> depend on the microphone in a conference phone to pick-up the sound
>>> waves coming from the speaker in my speech synthesizer.  While this
>>> configuration works, the quality of the sound that gets transmitted
>>> over the phone line is less than satisfactory.  This is why I am
>>> seeking a direct way to input an audio signal into a phone line.
>>>
>>> When making suggestions on how to accomplish what I want, please
>>> keep in mind that I don't use a Windows computer with a sound card.
>>> I still use a DOS computer, mostly because I can't/don't like using
>>> a mouse.
>>>
>>> I have a question about one possible solution to my problem:  My DOS
>>> computer has an internal modem that has an on-board speaker, which I
>>> can use to hear the audio output from the phone line very clearly.
>>> Is there an internal modem that has some sort of input jacks?
>>>
>>> I look forward to your answers and suggestions.
>>>
>>> Bill Geluso
>