Voice recording in Seremban I

I told my Boss that when it comes to installing those Automated Attendants and/or Voicemail systems, things are not what they seem to be. This is because unlike a normal PABX system, where once you install it, it stays installed and works the moment you switch it on. But for an AA system, this is not the case as there are many areas that needs to be covered:

1) Installation
You have to install the system first. This means connecting it to the existing PABX which we know nuts about as the system was installed by a previous installer. This means you have to look for about four 'free' single line ports for the AA. Luckily its a NEC system which we have experience (but also, which I hate programming it)

2) The script
This is the most important part of the whole setup even though its just a piece of paper. The script is going to tell the voice talent what to say and also tells the AA what needs to be done.

3) The negotiation
At this stage, after looking at the script and the AA system's capabilities, I would have to tell the customer what can and cannot be done. This is called Consultation but because we need the money fast and solve the problem as soon as possible, we tactfully negotiate for the optimum result yet keeping the customer's expectation intact.

4) The voice talent
No one, and I mean, no one will pay thousands of ringgit for some nice voice and book studio time and appointments for them to record it. This is not the 90's anymore. So, I have the fun of conducting an 'Idol' series with the customer's staff. And this process is the most time consuming of all. You have to choose a few girls and then let the customer 'hear' the voices before making up their minds. This is also the most crucial stage as the voice is the first thing the customer hears when their calls gets answered. So, although I could pretend to be Patrick Teoh on a sore throat, my voice could get incoming calls disconnected.

5) Final testing
So, you finalised the script, you got the voice recording and the system is programmed. Now, this is where the customer will start to call in and 'test' the system and you'd have to be there for minor/major changes from voice re-recording to AA call flow.

And so, today, we record the voice from
Ms. Talent #1, #2 and #5. Unfortunately,
the background noise is very noticeable
and the customer is not pleased.

After voice test #43, we all decided
to take a break and I went to the
nearest restaurant for my lunch.
Not bad for RM4.00. (burp)

However, after that, the customer is still not happy with the voice quality and so, before I could do anything else, he stated it was time to close the office. And being the nature of their business, I reluctantly agreed since it involves compromising some security issues if I were to continue. This means coming back here in a few days time. My Boss is not happy about it because he was hoping for a one day trip. Today's was already the second trip which has already eaten into the profit. Ha ha h... oops.

That LED strip II

The progress so far. Can't continue until my paycheck's through by this Saturday. Need to buy another microcontroller chip to replace the burnt out one. (Hey, it was my last chip)

OK, so I got this small LED to glow on and off
first. Pres the black button, it will glow on and
off very fast. Press the yellow, it will do it very
slowly. Press both and I made sure it will not
light up anymore. Leave it alone and it will
glow on and off moderately.

Now, the main problem is to make the LED strip glow
with a high current. Its not easy because when I used
my normal transistor, it was not powerful enough and
I had to go all the way to Pasar Road to get a MOSFET
transistor. All for naught because it blew the controller
chip. Haih. I still don't believe I wasted the weekend
and risked my Wife's temper for this.