Pronouncing number and letter field

[lpinelis@ibigroup.com]

I am pulling from a database a field that contains both a number and a letter (e.g. "26 A", "26 E", etc.). I need the IVR system to pronounce this field as a distinct number and latter (e.g. "twenty six A", "twenty six E", etc.). Unformatted, the number is pronounced fine but then the letter (especially if it is a vowel) is pronounced in a very abbreviated manner that is basically impossible to make out. It seems as if it is pronoucning the letter as it would sound as part of a word, instead of as a distinct letter. How can I make the system say a more distinct sounding "A" or "E"?

Thank you in advance,

LIP

[support]

Hello,

The best option is to prerecord either the entire bus numbers or at least the letters, this gives you absolute control over what the user will hear. A slightly worse sounding option would be to modify your IVR application server code to have a lookup where each letter has a phonetic spelling associated with it (ie: A=ay, B=bee, C=cee, etc). This will allow you to control how each letter is spoken.

Regards,
Plum Support

[lpinelis@ibigroup.com]

Ok, I think I'd like to try the second ("slightly worse sounding") option first to see if it will be adequate. Can you provide any more guidance on how to do that?

[support]

Hello,

This question is entirely dependant on your IVR application server and the language used. At Plum we primarily use PHP:

Code: Select all

<?php
$a = Array("A", "B", "C");
$b = Array("ay", "bee", "cee");

echo("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>\n");
?>
<vxml version="2.0">
  <form>
    <block>The bus eye dee is <?php ehco(str_ireplace($a, $b, get_bus_id($somevar)))?></block>
  </form>
</vxml>

Regards,
Plum Support