diff --git a/lib/tasks/make_task.js b/lib/tasks/make_task.js
index 13c3670e..a9913c1d 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/make_task.js
+++ b/lib/tasks/make_task.js
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ function makeTask(logger, obj, parent) {
       const TaskHangup = require('./hangup');
       return new TaskHangup(logger, data, parent);
     case TaskName.Say:
-      if (data.vendor === 'google' && !data.language) {
+      if (data.synthesizer.vendor === 'google' && !data.synthesizer.language) {
+        logger.debug('creating legacy say task');
         const TaskSayLegacy = require('./say-legacy');
         return new TaskSayLegacy(logger, data, parent);
       }
diff --git a/lib/tasks/say.js b/lib/tasks/say.js
index 82dc3756..cc6bc7d0 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/say.js
+++ b/lib/tasks/say.js
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ class TaskSay extends Task {
       }, this.synthesizer);
 
       while (!this.killed && this.loop--) {
-        this.logger.debug(`TaskSay: remaining loops ${this.loop}`);
         if (!filepath) {
+          this.logger.debug('TaskSay:exec - retrieving synthesized audio');
           filepath = await synthAudio(opts);
           cs.trackTmpFile(filepath);
         }
diff --git a/lib/tasks/specs.json b/lib/tasks/specs.json
index 4783c642..a0924591 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/specs.json
+++ b/lib/tasks/specs.json
@@ -190,11 +190,14 @@
         "enum": ["google", "aws", "polly"]
       },
       "language": "string",
-      "voice": "string"
+      "voice": "string",
+      "gender": {
+        "type": "string",
+        "enum": ["MALE", "FEMALE", "NEUTRAL"]
+      }
     },
     "required": [
-      "vendor",
-      "language"
+      "vendor"
     ]
   },
   "recognizer": {
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 385e6951..b9af8740 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -393,9 +393,9 @@
       "dev": true
     },
     "aws-sdk": {
-      "version": "2.633.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/aws-sdk/-/aws-sdk-2.633.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-C28/GefIQ+Dk1hjPQrpG1Yt9RdvqeFMP4nb6iActanoGq5JTSJU9103ukpBzrHz96fvjhIRogrvfOhDKubbcjw==",
+      "version": "2.637.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/aws-sdk/-/aws-sdk-2.637.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-e7EYX5rNtQyEaleQylUtLSNKXOmvOwfifQ4bYkfF80mFsVI3DSydczLHXrqPzXoEJaS/GI/9HqVnlQcPs6Q3ew==",
       "requires": {
         "buffer": "4.9.1",
         "events": "1.1.1",
@@ -1545,9 +1545,9 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-Utm6CdzT+6xsDk2m8S6uL8VHxNwI6Jub+e9NYTcAms28T84pTa25GJQV9j0CY0N1rM8hK4x6grpF2BQf+2qwVA=="
     },
     "fast-text-encoding": {
-      "version": "1.0.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fast-text-encoding/-/fast-text-encoding-1.0.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-R9bHCvweUxxwkDwhjav5vxpFvdPGlVngtqmx4pIZfSUhM/Q4NiIUHB456BAf+Q1Nwu3HEZYONtu+Rya+af4jiQ=="
+      "version": "1.0.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fast-text-encoding/-/fast-text-encoding-1.0.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-x4FEgaz3zNRtJfLFqJmHWxkMDDvXVtaznj2V9jiP8ACUJrUgist4bP9FmDL2Vew2Y9mEQI/tG4GqabaitYp9CQ=="
     },
     "figures": {
       "version": "3.2.0",
@@ -2545,9 +2545,9 @@
       }
     },
     "jambonz-realtimedb-helpers": {
-      "version": "0.2.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/jambonz-realtimedb-helpers/-/jambonz-realtimedb-helpers-0.2.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-dpRoAfFQKNthiYZdzv9vTAM0NT/sjqGkYKClA+8HArsnRVQwbfrP0HERKOB6/mlIigNCm8GTD3BsUNAfYebnrw==",
+      "version": "0.2.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/jambonz-realtimedb-helpers/-/jambonz-realtimedb-helpers-0.2.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-aOBQBB/RVilXXCXWZRyJcgAZh1mYk9YsinOVdPXax+QKDVoKGY43mngYQ/7SRfCagcsHrc+cpzwGSox7Aixiew==",
       "requires": {
         "@google-cloud/text-to-speech": "^2.2.0",
         "aws-sdk": "^2.631.0",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6d27c27b..e957bbeb 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
     "ip": "^1.1.5",
     "jambonz-db-helpers": "^0.3.2",
     "jambonz-mw-registrar": "^0.1.3",
-    "jambonz-realtimedb-helpers": "^0.2.1",
+    "jambonz-realtimedb-helpers": "^0.2.2",
     "jambonz-stats-collector": "^0.0.3",
     "moment": "^2.24.0",
     "parse-url": "^5.0.1",