A soundboard is a computer program, Web application, or device, formerly created in
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...
, that catalogues and plays many audio clips. Soundboards are self-contained, requiring no outside media player. In recent years soundboards have been made available in the form of
mobile apps
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on de ...
available on
iPhone App Store and
Google Play
Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...
. Since Adobe and web browser developers deprecated support for Flash,
HTML5
HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...
-based soundboards have gained popularity in recent years.
Traditional use
Traditionally, builders take sound clips said by celebrities and combine them into one software program. They are most often used in
prank calls
A prank call (also known as a crank call) is a telephone call intended by the caller as a practical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type of nuisance call. It can be illegal under certain circumstances.
Recordings of prank pho ...
, when the caller uses the soundboard to imitate a celebrity or other well-known person. The individual on the other end of the call is usually deceived into thinking that they are actually talking to a real person. In some cases, the victim associated with the prank call has no idea who the person from the soundboard is, with one famous example being
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...
pranking
his father by pretending to be
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
using a sound board. Some users even record the calls and post them on the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. Soundboard prank-calling is often done with
caller ID
Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call is ...
spoofing or masking, to provide a high level of anonymity or impersonation. The goal is often to create confusion or test how long the victim(s) will remain on the phone.
Other uses
The soundboard is also used to facilitate humor, highlighting some of celebrities' more unusual utterances, or allowing for juxtaposition or even "composition" of quotes and sounds that would otherwise not go together.
The soundboard has also been used as a promotional tool for films, television shows, radio, products and more.
Call Centers are adopting soundboard technology. Though more limited in its scope and applications, soundboards are one type of
agent-assisted automation
Agent-assisted automation is a type of call center technology that automates elements of what the call center agent 1) does with his/her desktop tools and/or 2) says to customers during the call using pre-recorded audio. It is a relatively new ca ...
, a specialized
call center
A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center (American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone. ...
technology which improve productivity. For example, soundboards seem to be primarily used for outbound
telemarketing
Telemarketing (sometimes known as inside sales, or telesales in the UK and Ireland) is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent f ...
. Because the technology effectively eliminates agent accents, the telemarketing work can be done by lower cost agents in offshore locations.
Soundboard software for online games
Thanks to the popularization of online videogames and communication tools through the Internet, different soundboard software has appeared. Note the following developments: EXP Soundboard (open source and compatible with
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE, or WAV due to its filename extension; pronounced "wave") is an audio file format standard, developed by IBM and Microsoft, for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It is the main format used on Microsoft Wind ...
and
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
audio files), Resanance (dedicated only to be used with
Discord
Discord is a VoIP and instant messaging social platform. Users have the ability to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities called "servers".The developer documenta ...
) or Voicemod (combining a voice changer, a voice generator and a soundboard in the same app.)
See also
*
Cyberstalking
Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk or harass an individual, group, or organization. It may include false accusations, defamation, slander and libel. It may also include monitoring, identity theft, threa ...
*
*
Internet troll
In slang, a troll is a person who posts or makes inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a forum, a chat room, a online video game), or in real life, with the int ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soundboard (Computer Program)
Prank calling