question

eyecare-leaders-21733 avatar image
eyecare-leaders-21733 asked Tyler Liu commented

Send voice message (text to speech)

Our system has reminder function. Currently, we send SMS message for reminder. I wonder if we can send the voice message for reminder (like text to speech) from RingCentral API?

rest api
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benjamin-dean avatar image
benjamin-dean answered
RingCentral does not support this feature currently in the way I think you're hoping to achieve.

We do offer this from within the product as custom announcements/greeting. But it is precofigured (so not dynamic).

This is not configurable from the API at this time.

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John Wang avatar image
John Wang Deactivated answered benjamin-dean commented
Per Benjamin, we do not have a text to speech API today but you can use a text to speech API such as the Google Speech Synthesis API or the IBM Watson Text to Speech API to create an audio file. From there, two options include:

  • SMS: A link to the hosted audio file can be sent allow users to playback via the browser. We can support this today with SMS messages up to 1000 characters in length, but a URL shortener may be useful for aesthetics.
  • MMS: The audio file can be directly set in the message allowing direct playback. We do not support this today, but it is on our roadmap.
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eyecare-leaders-21733 avatar image eyecare-leaders-21733 commented ·
So, there are only two options at this time.
There is no any other option to call (ringout) a phone number with an automated voice message (can be static or dynamic - text to speech), isn't it?
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benjamin-dean avatar image benjamin-dean commented ·
That is correct.
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Tyler Liu avatar image
Tyler Liu answered Tyler Liu commented
You can send fax which contains an audio file. RingCentral API supports fax sending. 

Not an ideal solution but good to know.
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extension-one5799 avatar image extension-one5799 commented ·
I tried sending a fax with audio file, but all I get is "The information could not be saved.  Please try again later."  Have you actually tried this before?
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Tyler Liu avatar image Tyler Liu ♦ commented ·
My bad. I didn't try it. I just realized that audio is not a valid fax format.

But there is cumbersome workaround. You can convert the audio file to base64 and send the base64 as plain text.  In the receiver side, you can convert base64 back to audio.
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Developer sandbox tools

Using the RingCentral Phone for Desktop, you can dial or receive test calls, send and receive test SMS or Fax messages in your sandbox environment.

Download RingCentral Phone for Desktop:

Tip: switch to the "sandbox mode" before logging in the app:

  • On MacOS: press "fn + command + f2" keys
  • On Windows: press "Ctrl + F2" keys