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FAQ


About

What is Vocalware?

Vocalware is a cloud based API for integrating real time Text-To-Speech into online web sites and mobile applications.

What is special about the Vocalware solution?

We deliver our voices from the cloud, and they work within any online application without requiring any installation. The system is self service, and pay-as-you go. No contracts or agreements needed. And you can get started for free!


Who is Vocalware for?

Vocalware can be used by any developer building online applications (including mobile apps). It is compatible with all programming languages & frameworks.

 

What human languages does Vocalware Text-To-Speech support?

Over 20 languages are supported with over 100 voices available. For a complete list please see our Demo page, and try out our voices.

 

I’m concerned about performance. How fast will it work in my application?

Check it out for yourself in our Demo page. You can expect the same performance in your application.

 

I am concerned about load. What level of traffic can you support?

Vocalware scales its service over the cloud. We have long experience in serving massive traffic needs.

 

How do I get started?

Sign up for Vocalware with a FREE 15 day trial. There is no contract, commitment or obligation. Once you sign up, use our API to incorporate Text-To-Speech audio into your applications.

 

I need more answers - who can I ask?

Go to our Support page to access additional resources & contact our sales or support staff.

 

Pricing and Billing

How does pricing & billing work?

When you sign up for a Free Trial you get 1,000 Audio Streams to get started. You can cancel anytime during the trial. You will be automatically charged for 40k streams when the trial is over, unless you cancel before then We automatically notify you when your Streams run low. Find out more on our Pricing page.

 

How is usage computed?

Vocalware counts the delivery of individual audios, called “Audio Streams”. Each Audio Stream is up to 60 sec long*.

* Note: The 60 sec length is an approximation. We actually allow up to 600 characters (150 in Chinese & Japanese) which is roughly equivalent to 60 seconds.

 

What if I run out of streams during my Free Trial?

You will receive email notification and be prompted to purchase additional streams.

 

What are Audio Streams?

An Audio Stream is an individual audio, created per your API call, and delivered (streamed) from the Vocalware servers. An Audio Stream can also be thought of as a single audio playback. The number of Audio Streams you use is equivalent to the number of Vocalware API calls you make that play an audio.

 

Do you charge more for longer Text-To-Speech audios?

No. All Streams are equivalent, regardless of their length.

 

When I buy a package of streams, do I have to declare the site or app where they will be used? Are Streams “locked” to one site or app?

No - you do not need to declare where the streams will be used. The streams are yours to use within any domain or app. We do require you to specify domains (for the JS or AS apis) - this functionality is for security purposes, to protect your account from Stream theft, and it is not license driven. You may add as many domains as you need.

 

What is Auto-Refill?

When you turn ON Auto-Refill, we will automatically charge your credit card or PayPal account when your Stream balance is “too low”. Your Stream balance is deemed to be “too low” when your usage pattern indicates that you have less than a week’s worth of Audio Streams remaining. So the “low balance” threshold is not an absolute number, but computed according to your usage. This allows the account to be automatically replenished and avoid possible interruptions in service.

 

How many streams are purchased by Auto-Refill each time?

When your Stream balance is automatically replenished, We will purchase a package of streams for you sufficient to satisfy your needs for 21 days. This is not an specific number of streams, but computed according to your recent usage.

 

What if I don’t want to use Auto-Refill?

You prefer to be in firm control of spending? We understand. Auto-Refill is not mandatory, merely convenient. If Auto-Refill is OFF – we will send you email alerts when your account Stream balance is several days away from being depleted. We will send repeat warnings on subsequent days until your balance is replenished. Please note that such advance notice may not always be possible. We estimate your account’s Stream depletion based on current and recent usage pattern. If your usage drastically changes, due to a spike in traffic for example, we may not be able to offer any advance notice. Using Auto-Refill would be more reliable.

 

How does Vocalware pricing compare with other similar services?

That’s a great question. It is not always easy to compare, because different services use different pricing models.
For example, a competing service might price usage by the word or by the letter, whereas Vocalware charges users per “stream” (which is an audio of up to 60 sec long). Our experience shows that an average online TTS request generates a an audio stream that is about 20 sec long, which is equivalent to about 40 words.

Let’s do the math. Vocalware’s most expensive price point is $2.49 per 1000 streams. Each stream is up to 60 seconds long, but let’s assume only 20 seconds (on average) are used. That would be equivalent (again, on average) to about 40 words per stream. This means that in Vocalware $2.49 buys you 40,000 words. Or, in other words, that in Vocalware the cost per word is $0.0000623 (or 6.23 cents per 1000 words)*.

Go ahead and compare to the price of other services that use the “per word” model. You will find that Vocalware is significantly more affordable, in some cases by a factor of 10 or more.

* Please remember that the calculation above refers to Vocalware’s most expensive price point. Buying streams in bulk can reduce cost further by more than 50%. Furthermore – if your application uses the 60 seconds of audio per stream efficiently, you can gain a cost saving per word of a further 300%.

 

What Billing methods are accepted?

We accept all major credit cards, as well as PayPal. We also accepts checks (in US$) – but checks cannot be used for automatic replenishment.

 

I need more answers - who can I ask?

Go to our Support page to access additional resources & contact our sales or support staff.


My APIs

Can the Vocalware API be used with Java / Python / ASP / PHP / Other back end language?

Yes, Vocalware APIs are flexible and allow any application to integrate TTS.

Are Vocalware APIs Client side or Server side?

We offer both.

 

How does Vocalware work?

Basically, we put together an insanely large battery of wicked fast servers that run state of the art Text-To-Speech software, and we created several different APIs to allow you to access the service to generate audios as needed for your application. To view the illustrated version of this response, see our How It Works page.

Can I use Vocalware audios in my online game/application/web page/Facebook app/mobile app?

Yes. Vocalware APIs can be used in any online application, on any platform.

Can I use Vocalware audios offline? Can I download the audios as MP3 files & use them in my videos?

We provide a different product for this purpose. Contact us to find out about 'Vocalware Export'.

 

I need a longer audio than 60 sec. Can I manage it via your API?

Yes – but… you will need to chop up your text to segments no longer than 600 characters (150 for Chinese and Japanese). You can initiate multiple calls and concatenate audio playback. Successive 'sayText' function calls can be queued for consecutive playback.

 

I need a large number of audios created all at once – and I prefer to minimize the number of API calls – what can I do?

Contact us to find out about our “batch API”.

 

I need more answers - who can I ask?

Go to our Support page to access additional resources & contact our sales or support staff.

 

About Analytics

How current is the information displayed in the Analytics reports? Is it real-time?

Analytics data is collected and harvested in 10 minute intervals. So the data that you see may be outdated by as much as 10 min.

 

I use Vocalware in multiple web pages / mobile apps. Can I view the data per each specific application / web page / mobile app?

Yes – but you must use a separate Vocalware API for each such application / web page / mobile app. By using a distinct API ID, you make it possible for us to break down the usage in our reports.

 

I need more answers - who can I ask?

Go to our Support page to access additional resources & contact our sales or support staff.