How to talk to phones from linux

[nmeyers at javalinux.net (nmeyers at javalinux.net)]

On Tue, Dec 30, 2003 at 04:45:53PM +0000, John Chambers wrote:
> The folks I'm working for have just come up with a  request
> that  seems  to  be  difficult to find any real info about.
> What they want to do is have their linux boxes (mostly  RH,
> various  releases)  initiate  phone  calls,  and send voice
> messages.  One example is:

John,

I think you just need a voice-capable modem - preferably an external
one to avoid grappling with the WinModem issue. If I recall correctly,
the commands to manipulate voice functions are "AT"-type commands
extending the time-honored Hayes modem command set, and include support
for recognizing touch-tone responses.

Nathan

> 
> <RING> Hello, Mr.  ___.  Your surgery is scheduled for this
> Tuesday at 10:45 am.  If this is a good time for you, press
> 1; if you'd like to reschedule press 2.
> 
> The people involved would really  like  a  completely  open
> source  package  to  do this, because they have some fairly
> serious security issues (Can you say "HIPPA"?;-)  and  they
> need good control over exactly what the software does.  Any
> proprietary code would be a last resort.
> 
> I've found a cool voice-generating project at  sourceforge,
> freetts, and generating the voice from the usual text looks
> like it's solved.  (Would you like that in an English or an
> Irish accent? Or maybe kevin16 the computer voice?) But how
> to get the sound to come out of a remote  telephone  is  so
> far  an unsolved problem, as is recognizing when the person
> at the other end presses a button.
> 
> The only way I've found so far to have  the  computer  send
> voice  rather  than  data  is to go through some commercial
> services.  We all know that it's possible for computers  to
> make phone calls (;-), but the code for doing this seems to
> be hidden behind thick layers of secrecy.  Or maybe I  just
> haven't guessed the right terms to type to google.
> 
> Anyone know anything about this?
> 
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