The program has an input area on the screen for entering a text or audio phrase which is to be spoken or played. With the touch of the "Enter" key or a mouse click, the text is converted to speech and sent to a voice synthesizer which conveys the message in mellifluous tones. Audio phrases are played as recorded.

Pronouncements of lasting value can be saved by the program. In this way a library of prose and of audio can be developed and called upon when the appropriate occasion arises. The material can be organized by categories, such as greetings, bad jokes, political pronouncements, and requests of a caregiver. Further organization into sub-categories and sub-sub-categories is possible. The basic E-triloquist screen displays the categories and sub-categories. Using the mouse or the cursor movement keys (the arrow keys) will bring a text phrase to the speaking window, or will play an audio phrase. You can communicate a lot with just a few key strokes or mouse clicks.

E-triloquist has facilities for adding, deleting, and renaming categories and phrases. Also, text phrases can be changed, and new audio phrases can be added

A text containing many sentences can be spoken one sentence at a time if desired. Speech can be stopped at the end of each sentence to await a response from the listener. Also, a sentence can be skipped, and the sentences can be spoken in any order.

The program function keys (keyboard keys F1 thru F12) are set up as "hot" keys. Commonly used phrases such as "thank you", or "please hold for a moment while I key a response" can be "spoken" with the single depression of a program function key. The hot key phrases can be audio as well -- for example, a trumpet fanfare. Version 5.0 expanded the number of hot-keys available to 48 phrases.

Text can be brought to E-triloquist from other applications by using Windows "cut and paste" or "drag-and-drop" (better known to some as "drag-and-lose") techniques, or by importing entire text files. Thus, text prepared on a word processor or received by electronic mail can be spoken. This is useful for jokes people send you by electronic mail, or ones you find on the Internet.

With a speakerphone and a patient person on the other end of the line, telephone calls are possible. Simply place the speakerphone near your computer's speakers and you're all set. You can watch a video example of this which someone posted on YouTube to see how it works.

E-triloquist is written for IBM or IBM compatible personal computers. It runs with Windows-XP or "higher", including Windows 2003, Vista and Windows-7. If you are running Vista or Windows 7, be sure to download the version of E-triloquist for Vista and Windows 7.

A notebook computer is a good choice. It can easily be carried around the house, off to visit friends, or to meetings. An external speaker is a good idea for extra volume. Any multimedia notebook should work with E-triloquist. The new NetBooks are even lighter and also should work well with E-triloquist.

Please note that E-triloquist does not run on handheld devices running Windows CE or Pocket PC operating systems. You'll need a tablet, netbook or laptop operating system such as Windows-XP or Vista. We would like to add a Pocket PC version in the future, but that is still a while off.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 include with a free Female voice named Anna. For Windows XP users, there is a version of E-triloquist available with Microsoft's SAPI 5 Mary and Mike U.S. English voices (these do not work with Vista or Windows 7). If you would like a voice for a different language, or want a male voice with Vista or Windows 7, then check out some of the links below. In theory, all should work with E-triloquist. However, we have not tested all of them, and can not provide any guarantee that they will work. Be sure to take advantage of free trials where available so you can try them before you buy. If you have questions, please feel free to Contact Us for help.