Message Banking
Message banking is the process of recording a person's voice speaking set phrases while the person still has the ability to speak. These recordings can then be used as part of an augmentative communication system later on so the expressions are in the person's own voice.
CoughDrop has built-in tools to make message banking simple and convenient.
Recordings
On your CoughDrop account page, you will see a button for "recordings." This button will open a new page which will allow you to make, adjust, upload, and download speech recordings.
When you first open the page you will see a list of all recordings saved on your account.
From here you can preview the recording by hitting the play button, download the audio file using the cloud icon, edit the recording using the pencil icon, or delete the recording by hitting the trash can icon.
To add a new recording, scroll to the bottom of the user recordings summary and hit the "record message" button.
This will open a pop-up recording window which will allow you to record any audio file. CoughDrop will also attempt to transcribe the recording, but you can adjust the transcription using the edit button as shown above. These files can be kept within CoughDrop and used to populate speech buttons.
Bank My Messages
CoughDrop has also created a message banking tool within the program to aid communicators in creating a library of common phrases and popular terms.
Boston Children's Hospital has shared a list of possible phrases that may be useful or widely used which you may want to add to your banked messages. If you hit the "message bank phrases" button at he bottom of your "recordings" page you will open the message banking tool.
Here you can record common phrases one by one. Select a phrase category and then select a phrase within that category to begin.
When you select a phrase to record, the recording tool will open and you can record the selected phrase. If the phrase is already recorded in an audio file on your device you can also choose to upload that file to be saved within CoughDrop.
When you have recorded this phrase, you can hit "next phrase" to move on to the next phrase in the set automatically. You can then choose to record that phrase or hit "next phrase" again to move on to subsequent suggestions.
These banked messages can help you to create a wide array of commonly spoken phrases to be utilized later when speaking with your natural voice may not be possible.
Uploading Audio Files
If you have previously banked messages or saved audio files you would like to load into CoughDrop you can do that by utilizing the upload tool. Simply hit "upload recordings" to upload one or more saved files. If you have added recordings to a site like blah blah blah you can download your saved files from that site and then upload them as a set directly into CoughDrop.
You can also choose to download your saved recordings onto your device using the "download all recordings" button or by hitting the cloud icon next to a single recording.
Quickly Link Recording to Speech Button With 'Idea' Tool
When you are ready to create a speech board that utilizes the banked messages or recordings you have collected, first hit "create a board" or open the board you would like to edit into edit mode. Now, look for the "ideas" button in the menu at the top of the page.
The ideas page will allow you to quickly add core words, fringe words, or requested words to your speech board but it will also allow you to quickly add recordings. Hit the "recordings" button and a list of the recordings for your account will be displayed.
Simply hit the "add" button next to the recording you have selected and that recording will be added to the next available speech button. You can quickly add multiple recordings to speech buttons using the "add" key. You can rearrange the buttons on your board any way you like.
To add a recording to a speech button you have already created, hit the desired button to open the button settings window and then select "sound." Look for the "browse stored audio" option under the speak box. Hit that to browse your stored recordings.
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