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How to set up audible notifications for PRTG and IPCheck using speech synthesis software

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Using text-to-speech software in CUSTOM EXE notifications in IPCheck and PRTG you can listen to messages from both programs.

This article shows how to use the software 2nd speech in conjunction with PRTG and IPCheck.

The product 2nd speech is a text-to-speech software with command line support. It is, as such, possible to set up notifications for Paessler products supporting command line-based notifications (PRTG Traffic Grapher and IPCheck Server Monitor) using the "Execute Program" functionality in order to start a voice prompt. One merely needs to type in what the program is supposed to say in the "Parameters" of each notification in order to have the program speak said message with the exact particular variables defined for the notification.

Furthermore, the spoken text can be saved as a MP3 file with date and time stamps included. This tool is particularly useful in conjunction with PRTG if audible notification signals are required (IPCheck includes its own audio speech alerting system in the IPCheck Windows GUI).

A customer who recommended 2nd speech went so far as to add "I tried about 15 different text-to-speech softwares and this one seems the best and the cheapest that fully support command lines."

The program includes various advanced functions and switches, some of which are listed below:

Command Line:

ttscmd <command> <infile/text> [outfile] [switches]

For example the following command simply reads "hello world":

ttscmd /tts "Hello World"

External files are easily loaded for the text to speech processing using a simple command:

ttscmd /tts input.txt

The following command converts a text file to a wave audio file (the first voice is used and the speed is adjusted to reading at 150):

ttscmd /ttw input.txt output.wav -e 0 -s 150

It is also possible to convert the text file to a MP3 audio file (resample frequency = 22.05 kHz, bitrate = 128 kHz):

ttscmd /ttm input.txt output.mp3 -r 22.05 -b 128

Further command options and switches include:

/? - Help
/e - List all speech engines (voices)
/tts - Read txt/doc/pdf/eml/html file directly
/ttw - Convert txt/doc/pdf/eml/html file into WAVE file (text to wav) 

-e <v> - Read/convert text/file with a special speech engine
-s <v> - Adjust the speed of speech
-p <v> - Adjust the pitch of speech
-noic - Disable Ignore Characters
-nopc - Disable Pronunciation Corrections

Implementation under PRTG

In order to use the Text to Speech engine under PRTG you need to add (or edit) a notification for a particular sensor, select the "Execute Program/Batch File" notification option, select the Text to Speech program's exe, and add the desired parameters (including placeholders) in the respective field.

A sample command line in PRTG could look like this:

ttscmd /tts /noic #info #sensor #group

Implementation under IPCheck

In order to use the Text to Speech engine under IPCheck you need to go to "My Account", add (or edit) a notification, select the "Execute Program", set the notification status to "Active", add the Text to Speech program path (including filename and extension), and add the desired parameters (including placeholders) in the respective field. The notification can be assigned to multiple sensors.

A sample command line in IPCheck could look like this:

ttscmd /tts /noic %server %name %status %down %msg

In both instances, when the notification is triggered, our software will first replace the placeholders with the relevant data and then trigger the text to speech program, guaranteeing that the spoken information includes the properly relayed parameter information.

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