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The AI agents that speak, such as your AI receptionist on the phone or an agent in a huddle, read words the way they’re spelled. Names from other languages, made-up brand names and unusual spellings can come out wrong. Tell them once how a word should sound, and every speaking agent says it that way. This guide teaches Northwind’s agents to say Yirgacheffe, one of its coffees, the way a barista would.

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Open Voice and pronunciation

Click CRM in the left rail, then Setup at the top, then Settings. In the list on the left, under AI, click Voice and pronunciation.

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Add a word

1

Type the word and how it sounds

Under Pronunciations, click Add word. Type the word under Word, and under Say it like, spell it the way you’d say it out loud, in lower case, with hyphens between the parts.
Voice and pronunciation: Speaking speed set to Normal, between Slower and Faster; under Pronunciations, Word Yirgacheffe and Say it like yur-ga-chef-ay, outlined; Add word; and Save, outlined, with Changes apply on the next call

Yirgacheffe, said right

2

Save

Click Save. The next call or huddle uses it.

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Spell it so it sounds right

  • Use lower case. Capitals are read letter by letter, so “CHEF” comes out as C, H, E, F. The page warns you when a row has capitals and won’t save until it’s fixed.
  • Want a word spelled out? Write it with hyphens between the letters, like S-Q-L.
  • One word per row, in plain letters: no spaces, numbers or accents. For a two-word name, add each word that needs help.

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Change how fast they talk

Drag Speaking speed toward Slower or Faster, then click Save. It applies to every speaking agent.

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Good to know

  • One list for the whole account. The receptionist, phone agents and huddle agents all share it.
  • Hear it on a practice call with your receptionist: see Set Up Your AI Receptionist.