Where to find intelligent American female voices?

May 20, 2008 8:15 PM

Some colleagues want to set up a voicemail system in the US for a small tech company in Australia and we need some intelligent, welcoming American female voices that sound at ease with technical jargon to do our answering messages. Any adult age. Slight accents ok. I haven't really been impressed with the sound of professional voice models - they're a bit too slick for our image. Any other suggestions?

I've read one of the cheapest options (not my idea, I promise!) is to call phone sex lines and ask them to record un-sexy professional messages. I'm really not into that idea though. You can sort of tell the way a person talks whether they have some confidence in technical matters. ... and whether they have umm other things on their mind.

posted by zaebiz to computers & internet (13 comments total)

Maybe try posting this to Jobs?
posted by misozaki at 8:24 PM on May 20, 2008

Try an interpretation company, sometimes they do voice work...err outside of interpretation, bonus...you have your pick of accents...
posted by iamabot at 8:36 PM on May 20, 2008

Check voices.com for audio samples from hundreds of professionals. Some are slicker than others.
posted by HotPatatta at 8:41 PM on May 20, 2008

misozaki: "Maybe try posting this to Jobs?"

Good idea. Thanks. Done.
posted by zaebiz at 8:58 PM on May 20, 2008

I have some friends who are professional voiceover artists, and they seem pretty receptive to suggestions and direction. Have you worked with anyone specific, or just assumed that they're "too slick"? The people I know can do dozens of slightly different voices/styles, and it is pretty common for them to get instructions like "please read this so it sounds like someone who is at ease, technically proficient, but not too polished." It's not common for the customer to be there live listening to the output, but that's only because most customers don't care and just get the recordings sent to them and have a re-recording done if it's really needed. I'm sure you can listen and approve/reject recordings realtime if you want.

On the other hand, you really may be over-thinking this. Have you actually used a professional voiceover artist agency, or just assumed that they won't be any good?
posted by iknowizbirfmark at 9:18 PM on May 20, 2008

iknowizbirfmark: "On the other hand, you really may be over-thinking this. Have you actually used a professional voiceover artist agency, or just assumed that they won't be any good?"

We have never tried this before. We do have people answering the phones - they are Indian males with American accents. As for impressions, I have heard/seen other sites' voice models. They are highly articulate, professional and well-presented. They just seem a little too overpowering and oh-so-amazing and are too obviously voice models to appear technically credible. I am sure they would work great for certain types of company - but they're just not us. Tech people just seem to know what's real and what's presentation when it comes to credibility.
posted by zaebiz at 10:27 PM on May 20, 2008

Many voice-over artists are actors by trade. I'm sure you'd be able to find a voice-over artist who can tone down the "slick professional" vibe with the right direction. If that's the brief you give the agency when making the call, you'll probably get it.
posted by mooza at 4:56 AM on May 21, 2008

The professional VO people are, for the most part, awesome about reading things in just about whatever style you like.
posted by Netzapper at 5:21 AM on May 21, 2008

Easy!

Hire GLaDOS.
posted by SlyBevel at 6:56 AM on May 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

I've had work done by Allison Smith in the past. She's a pro, with a studio and production gear, and will give you the words you want, in the style that you ask for. Whether she knows technology or not, her voice can sound like it does.

I used her because about half of the words that we needed were already freely available (she's the voice of Asterisk... and quite a few people donate money to have her record certain phrases and add them to the free collection), so just getting her to fill in the blanks was significantly cheaper than having someone start from scratch.
posted by toxic at 9:24 AM on May 21, 2008

There are a number of alternatives to professional voice over artists. Many companies use in-house employees (from Communications or Marketing departments) to voice corporate videos and voicemail systems. You might try asking around locally.

Check your mefi email.
posted by peacecorn at 10:43 AM on May 21, 2008

toxic: "I've had work done by Allison Smith in the past. She's a pro, with a studio and production gear, and will give you the words you want, in the style that you ask for. Whether she knows technology or not, her voice can sound like it does."

Amazingly fantastic voice. But we are just a bunch of Aussie nerds who help mostly American nerds build cool websites. I don't want them to think we offer them a free trip to some gorgeous tropical island as well ;)
posted by zaebiz at 10:43 PM on May 21, 2008

Amazingly fantastic voice. But [it's far too professional-sounding for us,] we are just a bunch of Aussie nerds who help mostly American nerds build cool websites.

There's a big part of me that wants to overstrike nerds, and replace it with amateurs... but I'm really not trying to insult, just show the opposing forces at work. So, just take me at my word that I'm not being snarky... ok?

If your company's image is "Aussie nerd" and you want to keep it that way... then get an Aussie nerd (or someone who can sound like one) to be the voice of your company. It's cliched to talk about the importance of first impressions, but these voice messages will play a not insignificant role in establishing/supporting the image of your company -- and they should be consistent with the image that you want to promote.

There's nothing wrong with the image of the group of nerds who offer the sort of personalized service that only a small, non-slick, down to Earth company can provide... if that's a consistent image that you want to maintain/promote, and if it draws enough customers for you.

But perhaps you'd rather be saying "because we use experts when we outsource things (and know when to do it), this group of Aussie nerds can produce output that's far slicker and more professionally polished than you'd expect at first glance, while still providing the sort of service you'd expect from a small shop. I'll bet you didn't expect to hear such an amazing voice when you picked up the phone to call us... we can make your customers react with similar amazement..."

Which one of those messages is better for your company, clearly depends on your company and your clients (and intended clients).


FWIW, when I hear Allison, it tends to make me think "nerds work here", because of her connection to Asterisk and OpenPBX... and the huge amount of BSD-licensed sound files with her voice in them. You don't even have to pay to hear her say "The technical support department is unavailable. They have been carried away by monkeys".
posted by toxic at 9:50 AM on May 22, 2008