Text-to-speech (TTS)
Also called speech synthesis. What it is, and what it changes on a business phone line.
The short answer
What is text-to-speech?
Text-to-speech (TTS), also called speech synthesis, is technology that turns written text into spoken audio. Modern TTS uses neural models trained on recorded speech, so voices sound natural, with realistic pacing and intonation. It is used in screen readers, audiobooks, navigation apps and AI phone agents, which write each reply as text and then speak it to the caller. The voice, speed, language and pronunciation can usually be adjusted.
How it works on a call
On a live call, text-to-speech is the last step of every turn: the agent decides what to say, writes it, and the TTS model speaks it. Two things matter more on the phone than anywhere else. Speed, because a long silence before each reply makes callers talk over the agent. Pronunciation, because names, addresses, prices and dates have to sound right to be understood.
Example
A restaurant changes its holiday hours the day before. With a recorded greeting, someone has to record a new message. With an AI agent, the owner updates one line of text, and from the next call the agent says the new hours in the same voice as before.
What it means for a small business
You no longer need to record prompts or hire a voice actor to change what your phone line says: you change the text. Listen before you decide, because voices differ between vendors and between languages. On the Daber AI site you can hear a sample agent in your browser before you sign up.
Questions
Does text-to-speech still sound robotic?
Much less than it used to. Neural voices have natural rhythm and intonation, though callers can often still tell. It is better to say in the greeting that they are talking to an AI than to let them find out.
What's the difference between TTS and a recorded greeting?
A recorded greeting is fixed audio a person recorded once; changing it means recording again. TTS creates speech from text on the fly, so an AI agent can say anything, including a caller's name or a time slot it just found.
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