Message Banking

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kellykago

Active member
Joined
Feb 11, 2012
Messages
63
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
12/2016
Country
US
State
CA
City
Fairfield
My speech therapist gave me information on Message Banking at messagebanking.com so that I can preserve phrases of my speech to use later, since my speech is changing. The website doesn't seem to be working. Has anyone else tried to use this website? Any ideas on how to access this so I can get started?
 
I have never heard of messagebanking.com. I find other references to the site, but all the link I follow lead to a dead page.

I used ModelTalker (https: //www dot modeltalker dot org/) and it worked well for me.

Note that in the link, replace "dot" with ".".

Steve
 
I don’t think the website “MessageBanking dot com” is what you want. That company provides services to businesses doing corporate conferencing.

Instead, I think you want to contact the Augmentative Communication Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, which says they also work with ALS.

They say they call it “Message Banking” instead of “Voice Banking” because voice banking uses a computer generated voice that sounds like yours to say anything you want. But Message Banking uses your own voice to give the messages that you have pre-recorded.

Google this phrase and you’ll see a half dozen stories about their Message Banking: “Message banking: Giving a voice to adults with ALS.”

Call Lynne Moran at 781-216-2209 to ask about the program.
 
Yes, the link keeps sending me to a dead link also. My therapist also shared ModelTalker with me, but she felt my voice quality may be too deteriorated for their standards, so she wanted me to start with the message banking. I will try the model talker, as soon as my headset arrives
 
if you google message banking, it does pop up a website called messagebanking.com, however once you click the link it is a dead end. I emailed my therapist to see if she know if the company is out of business, but havene't heard yet. I will look into your lead. Thanks.
 
There are three methods of getting your computer or other device to speak for you. The first is to record yourself saying words, phrases, or sentences you want to have available. There is no special software needed for this, just the recorder that came with your computer and a microphone. You can record as many as you want and add more at any time. You will want to organize the individual recordings in a folder with subfolders for different topics such as "position". Just record a single message such as "Move my legs please", name it "Move legs" and save it in the topic folder. Now you can play the recordings on any media player on any computer or device.

The second method is to create your own computer voice using an internet site such as Model Talker. To do this you have to record yourself reading the paragraphs they send you. This has to be done early on while your voice is still good. It takes a lot of time, a quiet room, and a good quality microphone on your computer. Your recordings will then be computer analyzed and turned into a program that can read anything on your computer in your voice. It won't be perfect but it will be you speaking! To use your voice, you will need to be able to type the words you want spoken. For an ALS patient this who can't use the keyboard, it will require typing with an onscreen keyboard or a program such as Dasher (free and terrific!) or eye gaze type of equipment such as Tobii.

The third method is to use a text to speech program. Again you have to give the program something to read so typing in somehow is necessary. Some programs can speak what you have typed as soon as you stop typing, others you click to have it read. Most programs give you a choice of voices to use -- Male, female, and a few choices of each. The voices that come with the programs are not top of the line but are understandable. If you want a better quality voice, smoother, less computer sounding , most text to speach programs let you add other voices that you purchase. You get to hear short clips of voices before you buy.
 
I was finally able to get in touch with my speech therapist, who contacted the developer of Message Banking. Apparently, the website was having issues with security, so they created a Windows 10 app that can be downloaded from the store and the message banking done from there. I successfully downloaded the app and will be giving it a try.

I also am currently using Model Talker. I finished 120 sentences today. Not sure if they are going to be good enough, but I gave it my best shot.
 
Glad it worked out! I, also, used this site in anticipation of more problems to come. The whole process required about an hour of my time. The recordings can be used by anyone else in our situation, but will also be available for us. There is a fee for users, but given the processing time involved, it seems reasonable.

Good Luck!
 
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