VR really bad

[RAM]

I got a way2call (got lucky and got one of the ebay UK deal ones) and have it connected. All of the W2C hardware tests passed with flying colors. I have one standard (not cordless) phone connected to the W2C's phone jack. I got it set up in HS. I have my Windows audio for record and playback set to my default sound card. When I try to use W2C to issue voice commands (in this case "Turn den light on") here's what I get in the log:
6/4/2007 4:55:06 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Off Hook
6/4/2007 4:55:06 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Waiting for Command Key (#) ...
6/4/2007 4:55:08 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~DTMF: #
6/4/2007 4:55:08 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Connected line: Default Line
6/4/2007 4:55:08 PM ~!~Info~!~Read 403 lines from IVR file C:\Program Files\HomeSeer 2\ivr\internal.txt
6/4/2007 4:55:09 PM ~!~Info~!~Loading internal VR
6/4/2007 4:55:09 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Building HomeSeer voice commands: 60909.203125
6/4/2007 4:55:09 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Finished build HomeSeer voice commands: 60909.359375
6/4/2007 4:55:09 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Adding voice command: +yes ?please
6/4/2007 4:55:09 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Adding voice command: +no ?thank ?you
6/4/2007 4:55:09 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Adding voice command: good bye
6/4/2007 4:55:09 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Adding voice command: messages
6/4/2007 4:55:09 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Adding voice command: +help
6/4/2007 4:55:09 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Adding voice command: leave a message
6/4/2007 4:55:09 PM ~!~Info~!~Finished loading internal VR
6/4/2007 4:55:09 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~StartListening
6/4/2007 4:55:10 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Line: Default Line Speak: hello sire
6/4/2007 4:55:10 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Disable Listen
6/4/2007 4:55:16 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Heard: dial four eight one
6/4/2007 4:55:16 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Heard (parsed): dial 4 8 1
6/4/2007 4:55:17 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Disable Listen
6/4/2007 4:55:17 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Line: Default Line Speak: Shall I dial four eight one
6/4/2007 4:55:23 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Heard: no
6/4/2007 4:55:23 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Heard (parsed): no

I say "Turn den light on" and it hears it as "dial 4 8 1". Looks like VR doesn't work very well. Also I do not hear the "yes sire" in response to my pressing #, only a beep.
Any ideas what might be wrong?

[Skibum]

How good is the VR using a regular microphone?

[RAM]

How good is the VR using a regular microphone?

Don't know. I do not normally use VR. I just got the Way2Call and wanted to try using my phone to control stuff. My HS server is tucked away in the basement and doesn't have anything connected to the sound card, in or out.

[Skibum]

You can do remote VR from the speaker app. I suggest trying that and make sure that your voice is "vr friendly".

I have a friend that cannot get VR to work properly, yet I can call him and have him put my voice on speakerphone and have it work just fine.

[stipus]

Also never got any luck with english VR ... maybe my bad french accent

[anogee]

Its a bit VooDo. Usually from the phone its pretty good. From a single mic close, its pretty good. From my room mics further away, its not so good, especially for room with tile.

Under the Windows Control Panel, under speech, there are some tweaks. You can adjust how picky it is. Yours doesn't sound too picky, so try moving the slider up. If its too picky, it won't understand anything. If its not picky enough, it misunderstands things.

I'd leave the processing slider in the middle. Moving that won't bring desirable results.

[Rupp]

RAM,
Did you do ANY VR training using the speech control panel?

[RAM]

RAM,
Did you do ANY VR training using the speech control panel?

No..... Maybe I'll give it a try. Is there a way to do it without stringing a mic down to the computer in the basement? The keyboard/mouse/video is all on main floor.

Edit..... OK, I just tried some training through the Speech Control Panel. It seemed to go well, but HS/Way2Call still doesn't recognize any better.

Also from my first post "I do not hear the 'yes sire' in response to my pressing #, only a beep." any ideas why that happens?
If I have an unrecognized command I do get the vrerror.wav file plays clearly through the phone.

[RAM]

OK, I got the computer to talk to me through the phone. Hip Hip Hooray!! With some adjustments, it's decent.

VR still is really bad, even after 2 training sessions.
Is there a way to make sure it is using the profile I did the training under? Or does that happen automatically? The only command it seems to consistently recognize is 'goodbye'.

[RAM]

Some Success

I found that I had to have 'Voice Command' checked under a device's configuration for a command for it to be recognized. Once I did that it works "Sorta". First it says requested device could not be found, then does what I asked. Here's an excerpt from my log:

6/4/2007 9:55:28 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Line: Default Line Speak: may I help you?
6/4/2007 9:55:28 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Disable Listen
6/4/2007 9:55:32 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Heard: turn Den lights off
6/4/2007 9:55:32 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Heard (parsed): turn Den lights off
6/4/2007 9:55:33 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Disable Listen
6/4/2007 9:55:33 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Line: Default Line Speak: The requested device could not be found.
6/4/2007 9:55:36 PM ~!~HSPhone~!~Line: Default Line Speak: turn Den lights off
6/4/2007 9:55:38 PM ~!~Info~!~Device: Den Ceiling Light/Fan (P4) OFF

Any idea why it says it couldn't find the device requested, but then does and executes my command?

[neiltimms]

Dick,

i believe you get that message because what you ask for is not "exactly" what the device is called, but it works because it is apparently "close enough"!

e.g. i see this also if i ask my system to turn off the "living room lights" - they are actually called the "Living room ceiling lights" so i see the same device not found error but they get turned off anyway.

Neil

[RAM]

Dick,

i believe you get that message because what you ask for is not "exactly" what the device is called, but it works because it is apparently "close enough"!

e.g. i see this also if i ask my system to turn off the "living room lights" - they are actually called the "Living room ceiling lights" so i see the same device not found error but they get turned off anyway.

Neil

Yep, that's what I finally figured out late last night. I guess I would have to say after some slight frustration, "This is going to be fun." I got the way2call reasonably cheap and it is working pretty good now. Thanks for everybody's help and pointers.

Now I have to get a better sounding voice. 'Microsoft Mary' just doesn't cut it. From a few posts I have seen Neospeech 'Kate' and 'Paul' are pretty decent and I have listened to the samples from the HS Store. Anybody have any opinions about voices? Any place to get them cheaper?

[anogee]

This site has lots of speech engines to listen to:
http://www.nextup.com/

I use the AT&T voices, and like them, but there are a few new ones. (Note that each requires the correct "engine" which usually requires purchasing the cheapest version of their program that supports that engine.