Tips and tricks on how to get your concierge to pronounce your business name correctly.
When it comes to your brand, Slang knows how important it is to be consistent. We also know that getting text to be read exactly how you want it can sometimes be a frustrating task. This guide will help with tips on how to finesse the pronunciations within your Slang concierge.
Location Name
Proper nouns and names can be difficult for digital voices to get right, as there is so much nuance depending on locale. If your greeting sounds off, click on your location name in the greeting preview to open an editor.
In the editor, you can preview how your location name sounds in the chosen voice. Don't be shy - experiment with the phonetics and see what it sounds like!
Sometimes, breaking words out into multiple pieces is the best way to achieve the desired audio result. Other times, we need to exaggerate some sounds phonetically. Here are a few examples and how we might get Slang to provide the proper pronunciations:
Examples:
-
- Arancini House → Aran cheeny House
- Philippe Cafe → Filleep Cafe
- Quebec Bagels → Kay-bec Bagels
- Saoirse's Sweets → Surshuh's Sweets
Other Topics
Don't forget to preview any custom text responses you add to the platform. This is, first and foremost, the best defense against typos being read out to your guests! Something not sounding quite right? There are some small adjustments you can make for the speech to sound natural.
Dollar amounts
Generally and by default, dollar amounts will be read aloud as plural. So if you write into the concierge:
“Our Happy Hour specials include $10 cocktails and $5 beers.”
Callers will hear:
“Our Happy Hour specials includes ten dollars cocktails and five dollars beers.”
Inverting the order solves the issue:
“Our Happy Hour specials include cocktails for $10 and beers for $5.”
Alternatively, you can spell out "dollar" in the copy:
“Our Happy Hour specials includes ten dollar cocktails and five dollar beers.”
Address details
Longer addresses might be read out with mathematical language rather than conversational. So if you write:
“Our address is 5684 State Street.”
Callers may hear:
“Our address is five-thousand six-hundred eighty-four State Street.”
Adding quotes or dashes between numbers solves the issue. Writing:
“Our address is "56"84 State Street.”
will read aloud as
"Our address is fifty-six eighty-four State Street."
Heteronyms
Read and read, lead and lead, live and live - English is a fickle language and sometimes, even with context, our concierges still get the pronunciation wrong.
Some fixes are easy:
-
- to read → reed
have read → red - lead somewhere → leed
lead metal → led
- to read → reed
Some fixes require a little bit more ingenuity:
-
- live music → lyve
live somewhere → livh - minute of time → minute (note: the system will default to this pronunciation)
minute small → mynoote
- live music → lyve
Other notes and considerations
Each voice has a slightly different pronunciation profile based on the region (such as US English versus UK English). If you change the voice of your concierge, make sure to double check the pronunciation of your copy so that callers are hearing exactly what you want them to!
Have Questions?
Need more assistance or have a question? Shoot us an email at support@slang.ai. Our dedicated support team is available to help with any questions you might have, so don't hesitate to reach out!