Voice Guidance That Lets Your Diebold ATMs Do the Talking

By March 2012, organizations in the US must comply with ADA regulations from the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design, including those requiring voice guidance and voice feedback (for example, text-to-speech [TTS] audio feedback). This article describes what voice guidance is and illustrates options for adding audio to screens-and-states-based Diebold ATMs.

What is Voice Guidance?

Voice guidance is one term for the "spoken" audio feedback (whether provided using WAV files or speech engines) provided at the ATM. It is important to note that "speech-enabled" ATMs are only one aspect of the requirements for compliance with ADA regulations aimed at improving accessibility to ATM controls, which include other items, such as specifications regarding the physical structure that houses the ATM, the tactile symbols on the ATM keypad, and more. Audio is required for a number of types of information, including ATM operating instructions and an orientation to the available controls, transaction prompts, input verification, account balances, error messages and so forth. Audio can be made available either through a telephone-type handset or, more typically, an industry- standard headphone jack that accepts the customer's own headphones.

Are Your ATMs Equipped for Voice Guidance?

Organizations must begin by evaluating their ATM networks and ensuring that ATMs are equipped with the hardware and software required for voice guidance. Terminal vendors can assist in determining the required changes for ATMs. In addition, organizations must verify that their host system software is capable of processing the message data related to voice guidance, for example, that the host system can send account information in command responses to the ATM. (Receipt information must be spoken to the customer.)

Voice engines and voices for the desired languages must be installed and tested on the ATM. Additionally, if ATM configurations containing voice guidance for speech-enabled ATMs will be built or tested using a simulator, a voice engine and voices must be installed on test PCs. The procedure for installing and configuring voice engines and voices will vary. Refer to the installation and configuration instructions provided for the voice engine and voices that your organization has chosen.

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