Background
SitePal, run by Oddcast Inc., has been operating since 2003 and is used by over 10,000 clients in 95 countries. SitePal (www.sitepal.com) is a web-service enabling businesses to deploy virtual employees on their sites. Clients use the avatar services for sales, marketing, customer service and training.
SitePal avatars can speak pre-recorded audio in any language. SitePal avatars can also speak audio based on typed-in or dynamic database driven text, using Text To Speech engines in 15 languages.
As a speaking Avatar technology provider, Oddcast has had keen interest to enable its business users with multi lingual speech capabilities. 20% of Oddcast clients are from non English speaking countries and many other clients can take advantage of multi-lingual solutions.
The challenge
Oddcast was searching for a quality, cost effective, scalable automated translation solution that could be integrated simply within the SitePal system. Previous attempts had failed due to concerns over cost, timescales, and quality.
WorldLingo's Solution
As SitePal is a web service (ASP), it was critical to find an online translation service that would provide a scalable web based API.
Oddcast were initially drawn to WorldLingo's Translation API, as it allows SitePal users to enter text in one of 15 languages and provides instant translation - spoken by the SitePal avatars.
Oddcast found the WorldLingo Translation API to be extremely quick and simple to implement and the documentation and support provided allowed them the freedom to create a sophisticated translation demo. During a limited test phase users were enthusiastic about the experience of the TTS (Text To Speech) system, with an accurate machine translation service that translates any typed text to and from any of the languages pairs supported by SitePal and WorldLingo.
Results
Within days of deploying the Translation API, it has become one of the most popular tools on the SitePal site. With results indicating clear demand for the functionality, Oddcast is working on further integration of the WorldLingo Translation API into other SitePal elements and products.
Mr. Adi Sideman, Founder and CEO of Oddcast, adds "We’ve been really impressed with WorldLingo and their Machine Translation tools and look forward to working closely with them as we bring more translation inspired products and services to our users."