Can't play audio via SSML - There was a problem with the requested skill's response

[SteveJCCC]

Hi, I've been trying to get Alexa Skills .Net to play an audio file references in the SSML. I have done this both via the Developer Console and also directly on my physical device (Echo Dot).

I've have tried using the following code, and various variations of it (different characters for the quotes, moving the tag to behind Hello etc): var speech = new SsmlOutputSpeech(); speech.Ssml = "Hello"; response = ResponseBuilder.Tell(speech); return response;

I have also tried using: speech.Ssml = new Speech(new Audio("https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/afinadorcromaticosounds/piano/A_piano.mp3")).ToXml();

But that's doesn't work either.

Using this does play the sound, but that's not how I want to do it: return ResponseBuilder.AudioPlayerPlay(PlayBehavior.ReplaceAll, "https://matthiasshapiro.com/alexasamples/First.mp3", "testToken");

Can you please help so I can get the sound file playing through SSML please? I am using .Net 7.

Many thanks, Steve

[SteveJCCC]

Hi Tim, Can you please assist with the above? Kind regards, Steve

[stoiveyp]

Hi @SteveJCCC

The ToXml method should be the correct way to set the SSML response as it needs to be a valid SSML document.

Couple of questions (re-read your message and realised I was asking the wrong questions originally)

• Is the MP3 file you're using in the audio tag in a public S3 bucket?
• Does the MP3 definitely match the criteria for Alexa mp3 files? https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/custom-skills/speech-synthesis-markup-language-ssml-reference.html#audio

Cheers

[stoiveyp]

Just downloaded the mp3 you referenced in your audio tag and looked at the file info and it appears to not be a sample rate that's considered valid.

[timheuer]

@SteveJCCC hopefully you can convert the audio to a supported sample rate (link above in @stoiveyp reply) and be good.

[SteveJCCC]

Thank guys, I'll have a look at this, although I was also linking to a file specifically created for audio playback. I'll have a look this month and keep you posted. Many thanks, Steve