<s>
DECtalk	B-Application
was	O
a	O
speech	B-Application
synthesizer	I-Application
and	O
text-to-speech	B-Application
technology	O
developed	O
by	O
Digital	O
Equipment	O
Corporation	O
in	O
1983	O
,	O
based	O
largely	O
on	O
the	O
work	O
of	O
Dennis	O
Klatt	O
at	O
MIT	O
,	O
whose	O
source-filter	O
algorithm	O
was	O
variously	O
known	O
as	O
KlattTalk	O
or	O
MITalk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Announced	O
December	O
1983	O
,	O
a	O
trickle	O
came	O
February	O
1984	O
;	O
larger	O
DECtalk	B-Application
quantities	O
were	O
delivered	O
in	O
March	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
were	O
standalone	O
units	O
that	O
connected	O
to	O
any	O
device	O
with	O
an	O
asynchronous	O
serial	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DECtalk	B-Application
units	O
could	O
recognize	O
and	O
generate	O
any	O
telephone	O
touch	O
tone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
units	O
were	O
produced	O
for	O
PCs	O
with	O
ISA	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
slots	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
various	O
software	O
implementations	O
were	O
produced	O
,	O
most	O
notably	O
the	O
DECtalk	B-Application
Access32	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
final	O
years	O
,	O
early/mid	O
-2000	O
,	O
the	O
DECtalk	B-Application
IP	O
was	O
sold	O
to	O
Force	O
Computers	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2001	O
,	O
the	O
IP	O
was	O
sold	O
from	O
Force	O
Computers	O
,	O
Inc	O
,	O
to	O
Fonix	O
Speech	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
(	O
now	O
SpeechFX	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
offers	O
DECtalk	B-Application
as	O
a	O
small-footprint	O
TTS	B-Application
system	O
and	O
in	O
a	O
computer	O
program	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DECtalk	B-Application
had	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
built-in	O
voices	O
which	O
were	O
identified	O
by	O
the	O
following	O
names	O
:	O
Perfect	B-Application
Paul	I-Application
(	O
the	O
default	O
voice	O
)	O
,	O
Beautiful	O
Betty	O
,	O
Huge	O
Harry	O
,	O
Frail	O
Frank	O
,	O
Kit	O
the	O
Kid	O
,	O
Rough	O
Rita	O
,	O
Uppity	O
Ursula	O
,	O
Doctor	O
Dennis	O
and	O
Whispering	O
Wendy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DECtalk	B-Application
understood	O
phonetic	O
spellings	O
of	O
words	O
,	O
allowing	O
customized	O
pronunciation	O
of	O
unusual	O
words	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
phonetic	O
spellings	O
could	O
also	O
include	O
a	O
pitch	O
and	O
duration	O
notation	O
which	O
DECtalk	B-Application
would	O
use	O
when	O
enunciating	O
the	O
phonetic	O
components	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allowed	O
DECtalk	B-Application
to	O
sing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DECtalk	B-Application
engine	O
was	O
notably	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
US	O
National	O
Weather	O
Service	O
's	O
first	O
"	O
Console	O
Replacement	O
System	O
"	O
(	O
CRS	O
)	O
installations	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
for	O
NOAA	O
Weather	O
Radio	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
it	O
had	O
all	O
but	O
been	O
replaced	O
by	O
a	O
far	O
more	O
modern	O
engine	O
called	O
Speechify	B-Application
from	O
SpeechWorks	B-General_Concept
(	O
not	O
to	O
be	O
confused	O
with	O
the	O
iOS	B-Application
app	I-Application
of	I-Application
the	I-Application
same	I-Application
name	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DECtalk	B-Application
's	O
Perfect	B-Application
Paul	I-Application
preset	O
voiced	O
station	O
identifications	O
on	O
many	O
NWR	O
stations	O
until	O
the	O
CRS	O
was	O
replaced	O
by	O
a	O
new	O
system	O
,	O
called	O
the	O
"	O
Broadcast	O
Message	O
Handler	O
"	O
(	O
BMH	O
)	O
,	O
in	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
early	O
uses	O
was	O
a	O
"	O
text	B-Application
to	I-Application
voice	I-Application
"	O
system	O
that	O
read	O
an	O
individual	O
's	O
emergency	O
medical	O
information	O
(	O
medications	O
,	O
allergies	O
,	O
doctor	O
,	O
insurance	O
and	O
contact	O
info	O
stored	O
in	O
a	O
database	O
)	O
to	O
hospitals	O
telephoning	O
in	O
about	O
patients	O
presenting	O
at	O
emergency	O
rooms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
,	O
Med-Fax	O
,	O
created	O
by	O
David	O
Grober	O
in	O
1986	O
,	O
used	O
the	O
DECtalk	B-Application
on	O
an	O
IBM	O
platform	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
early	O
cross	O
platform	O
applications	O
(	O
DEC	O
to	O
IBM	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DECtalk	B-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
speech	B-Application
generating	I-Application
device	I-Application
for	O
those	O
unable	O
to	O
speak	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hawking	O
used	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
DECtalk	B-Application
voice	B-Application
synthesizer	I-Application
for	O
several	O
years	O
and	O
came	O
to	O
be	O
associated	O
with	O
the	O
unique	O
voice	O
of	O
the	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2011	O
,	O
Hawking	O
's	O
research	O
assistant	O
Sam	O
Blackburn	O
said	O
Hawking	O
still	O
used	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
DECtalk	B-Application
identified	O
on	O
its	O
board	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
Calltext	O
5010	O
"	O
manufactured	O
in	O
1988	O
by	O
SpeechPlus	O
,	O
Inc.	O
,	O
because	O
he	O
identified	O
with	O
it	O
and	O
had	O
not	O
heard	O
a	O
voice	O
he	O
liked	O
better	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
team	O
from	O
Cambridge	O
(	O
UK	O
)	O
and	O
Palo	O
Alto	O
eventually	O
emulated	O
the	O
workings	O
of	O
the	O
CallText	O
5010	O
on	O
a	O
Raspberry	B-Operating_System
Pi	I-Operating_System
,	O
which	O
Hawking	O
used	O
from	O
January	O
2018	O
to	O
his	O
death	O
in	O
March	O
of	O
that	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
character	O
"	O
Dee	O
Klatt	O
"	O
from	O
Chipspeech	B-Application
was	O
based	O
on	O
data	O
from	O
this	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
sixth	O
episode	O
of	O
Tales	O
from	O
the	O
Darkside	O
,	O
Mookie	O
and	O
Pookie	O
,	O
the	O
voice	O
of	O
Kevin	O
"	O
Mookie	O
"	O
Anderson	O
is	O
created	O
with	O
a	O
DECtalk	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
video	O
game	O
Moonbase	B-Protocol
Alpha	I-Protocol
uses	O
a	O
software	O
version	O
of	O
DECTalk	B-Application
for	O
chat	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
experimental	O
rock	O
band	O
The	O
Space	O
Negros	O
uses	O
DECTalk	B-Application
in	O
their	O
1986	O
song	O
"	O
Robot.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
DECTalk	B-Application
was	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
song	O
"	O
Music	O
Non	O
Stop	O
"	O
by	O
the	O
band	O
Kraftwerk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DECTalk	B-Application
's	O
built	O
in	O
"	O
Perfect	B-Application
Paul	I-Application
"	O
voice	O
has	O
been	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
freeware	O
singing	O
voice	B-Application
synthesizer	I-Application
UTAU	B-Application
by	O
the	O
user	O
UtaUtaUtau	O
.	O
</s>
