May product updates: expanded coverage, expanded voices

Summer’s just around the corner (here in our Raleigh headquarters, it certainly feels like it’s already arrived!) and we’ve got a few cool releases to share with you this month.

More on-net coverage = higher quality calls

We’ve added 1,000 new rate centers to our already extensive on-net coverage matrix. How does this equate to higher quality? It’s simple – when we’re able to keep more calls on our own network (on-net), there’s less chance for bad-quality culprits like packet loss, jitter, and latency to step in. In addition, we’re keeping more calls on our own network vs. outsourcing to our network partners, so we’re able to deliver outstanding quality at a more cost-efficient rate.  It’s a win-win!

New text-to-speech voices

We’ve added a new cast of characters to our text-to-speech voices that you’ve come to know in the Voice and Messaging API Dashboard. Click the links below for a quick soundbyte for each updated voice.

Language	Voice Name	TTS 1.0	TTS 2.0
English (US) Female	Susan	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
English (US) Female	Julie	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
English (US) Female	Kate	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
English (US) Male	Paul	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
English (US) Male	Dave	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
English (UK) Female	Bridget	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
English (UK) Male	Simon	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
German Female	Katrin	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
German Male	Stefan	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
Spanish Female	Esparanza	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
Spanish Female	Violeta	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
Spanish Male	Jorge	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
French Female	Jolie	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
French Male	Bernard	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
Italian Female	Paola	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example
Italian Male	Luca	Play 1.0 Example	Play 2.0 Example

Quick Tip for Developers: If you repeat the same message in your call flow, it may be most effective to record an audio file and use /audio using the fileUrl or <PlayAudio> rather than text to speech.

Which new voice is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!