Visitor Bot v1.0 BETA


Quick Start
===========


1. Extract the VisitorBot software files onto your computer and start the executable 'genspeech.exe'.

2. In the first step, choose an existing bot or create a new one.

3. Then define how the interface of your bot should look like. You can set the background image 
and background music. You can also change the displayed text for the interface.

4. On the next tab, you define the phrases for your bot. The phrases you define are later triggered
by keywords your website user enter into your bot interface.

Examples:

---------------------------------
Keyword: hello
Phrase:  Hello, nice to meet you! Did you already try out this new software?

The bot will answer this phrase if the user enters a sentence that contains the keyword 'hello'.

---------------------------------
Keyword: bye goodbye
Phrase:  Have a nice day, bye!

The bot will answer this phrase if the user enters a sentence that contains the keyword 'bye' or
a sentence that contains the keyword 'goodbye'.

---------------------------------

Two keywords have special meanings. The blank keyword is used for answers if the user input 
matches to no of your keywords. And the keyword 'intro' is used for the first sentence your
bot will say directly after starting.


5. On the next tab, select a voice for your bot and click on 'Generate Speech'.

6. Finally, under the 'Publish' tab, click on 'Test' to test out your new bot on your computer. 
Improve the phrases until you decide to publish your bot. 

NOTE: Some browsers like Internet Explorer restrict the playing on the local computer - 
click on the yellow box at the top to allow playing your bot.

7. To publish your bot, click on 'Publish' and copy the complete folders and files to your web server.
Finally, to integrate the bot to your website, add the html code shown in the software to an
HTML page that is in the same folder as the copied bot files. Or, if you copied the files to another 
folder adjust the path in the code like described below.


In this example, the bot files are stored one level outside the HTML page in the folder 'flash'. 

Therefore the path has to be adjusted at two locations:

excerpt from full code:

==>  <embed src="../flash/tts.swf" 
==>  <param name="movie" value="../flash/tts.swf"


full code:

<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" width="400" height="400" id="tts" align="middle">
  <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" />
  <param name="movie" value="../flash/tts.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff" />
  <param name="FlashVars" value="bot=sample_en">
  <embed src="../flash/tts.swf" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="400" height="400" name="tts" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" 
    type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"
    FlashVars="bot=sample_en" />
</object>



Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
================================

http://grauonline.de/cmsimple2_6/en/?Solutions:VisitorBot


Where can I purchase the software?
This software is currently under development, however you can already download a BETA version at above download link. Use the beta version at your own risk, we guarantee for nothing!

Are there any other characters available?
Currently, there's only one character available. Additional characters will be added as soon as there is a demand for it.

Where can I get a good quality voice for my bot?
Windows XP already comes with one (English) voice installed. Windows Vista comes with a high quality (English) voice installed. If you need a good quality voice or a voice for other languages than English (Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish), the following companies have additional voices for your computer:

    * Cepstral Voices
    * AT&T Natural Voices™
    * Acapela Voices
    * Nuance RealSpeak™ Solo Voices TTS

One company we know that sells these voices is NextUp.com.

What is a BETA software?
The nature of beta software is that it is not production quality, so not everything may work perfectly. Please note, that because it's a beta software, the software and generated bots expire at a certain date in future. We welcome any requests or suggestions regarding this software! 



