August 2008
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Xhtml+voice Part 2

I’ve tried uploading a version (not very much different to yesterday’s) to Voxeo and testing through Skype but I keep getting “an internal error has occurred”. The voicexml appears to be valid. The xhtml is valid, I’m still not 100% sure about the JavaScript. You can’t check the whole thing on the regular w3 validators. I am too tired to process any more code tonight.

In terms of saving something as a favourite, via a cookie downloaded to the device, it appears to depend on different devices and manufacturers, session cookies appear to work across all, but persistent cookies may disappear once phone is switched off.

In theory, it should be possible to create a series of voicexml forms referenced in an xhtml+voice page which allow someone to choose what type of web coding template they would like to receive and then when the final form is submitted, a mouseclick or spoken event should send a message to the server to deliver back the output of those choices.

Its similar in principle to any type of online shopping. Once you have completed payment an invoice is generated - either on the final ‘thank you’ page or a ‘confirmation that it has been emailed to you’ page. As with a milkshake order, it should be possible to return a receipt of your order as a text file after you have completed the order, so sending a text file back to the user with an xhtml, RSS, php or whatever type of coding template inside it, which can be then saved to the phone or device should be no different.

A guess of how to do it would be to put templates in a mysql database then add php to the original xhtml+voice page to tell the server to fetch the template and include it in an email/SMS back to the customer. I know php has code for email options and for attaching files, I just don’t know exactly how to do it myself…yet - anyone else out there using or developing an ecommerce site tried ?

If this is all possible, it also means that someone who wanted a template might not have to actually go online at all, they could just make a phone call, make their choice and receive the template back - i.e. they would be calling (just like telebanking). Hopefully….

Will return to this later - am SO not on track to complete everything by September (maybe end of) but its still been very useful exercise, uncovering increasingly complex layers of coding, media and to some extent - architecture, now starting to make some connections between some of these too.

There is definitely potential to create pages of code against the 5 original strands (sms,multimodal,standalone vs mobile web/widget, pc vs web, mobile opensource vs mobile proprietary) it is possible to create both stand alone and web applications to do this, will compare and review their efficiency against the other strands in terms of device independence in the final stages of this project. Will also compare and review as to what this could mean for any mobile learning development and if it is worthwhile being deployed.

Anyway, my online persona is going to have a break for a few days, not sure what the offline one is going to be doing yet :-)

2 Responses to “Xhtml+voice Part 2”

  1. Dan York says:

    Hi there… what you are doing with our (Voxeo) platform sounds like quite an interesting application. I, too, like the ability to call in via Skype to test out applications.

    As far as the issues you are having with your code not working, I don’t know if you have already raised a support ticket, but please know that our support staff are there to help if you can’t figure the issue out. When you go inside your http://evolution.voxeo.com/ developer account, there should be a “Open New Account Ticket” link on the right side or you can click on the “Support Tickets” link to create a ticket there. Our goal is to assist developers in building apps on our platform and so we are there to help.

    And I’ll look forward to reading more about your application as you continue to build it.

    Best wishes,
    Dan York (Voxeo)

  2. nicola says:

    Hi Dan,
    Thanks for your help, it is so easy being able to test through Skype - its a brilliant idea !

    I will return to this soon and will do as you suggest,

    Much appreciated
    Nicola

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