> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.verbu.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Pronunciation

> Teach your agent how to say tricky names, product terms, and place names the way you do.

Some words are tough for any voice — your company name, a doctor's surname, a Danish town, a brand that's spelled one way and said another. Pronunciation rules let you fix them one by one.

You'll find this under **Phone** on your agent, alongside the voice settings.

## How it works

You give the agent two things:

* **The word** as it appears in writing
* **A replacement** that sounds the way you want it to

When the agent is about to say the word, it uses the replacement instead. Callers hear the right thing.

A few examples:

| Word          | Replacement        | What it does                                     |
| ------------- | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Hørsholm      | Heursholm          | Helps the agent say a Danish town name correctly |
| ApS           | A P S              | Spells out the abbreviation letter by letter     |
| Drs. Müller   | Doctor Muller      | Reads the title in full and skips the umlaut     |
| iPhone 15 Pro | iPhone fifteen Pro | Reads the number as a word                       |

<Tip>
  If a word sounds wrong, the fastest fix is to write what you'd type into Google Translate's "type to hear" box — that's usually close enough.
</Tip>

## Tips for getting good results

* **Spell it phonetically.** Don't worry about looking silly. "Heursholm" and "Yensen" are perfectly valid replacements.
* **Use a space between letters when you want them spelled out.** "A P S" reads as the three letters; "APS" reads as one mumbled syllable.
* **Capitalise proper nouns.** This is a small hint to the voice engine and helps with pacing.
* **Test it.** Use the **Test** button to call your agent and ask a question that triggers the word. If it still sounds off, tweak the replacement.

## A related setting: emphasis words

Just below pronunciation rules you'll see **Emphasis words**. These are different — they help the agent *hear* tricky words when a caller says them, not how the agent says them back. Add medical terms, product codes, or anything specific to your industry here so the agent doesn't mishear them.

A good rule of thumb:

* **Pronunciation rules** = how the agent *speaks*
* **Emphasis words** = what the agent *listens for*

## Common scenarios

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Our company name keeps coming out wrong">
    Add your company name to the pronunciation rules with a phonetic spelling. Test it three or four times — the agent says the company name in the greeting and often again later in the call, so it's worth getting right.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The agent mangles staff names when forwarding calls">
    Add each staff member's name as a separate rule. Names like "Søren" or "Mette-Marie" are common offenders.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="It reads numbers like a robot">
    Spell out numbers you want said as words. "1990" can be "nineteen ninety" or "nineteen hundred and ninety", whichever you prefer.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="It says English words with a strong accent">
    For a Danish-speaking agent, English product names sometimes come out heavily accented. Try writing them the way a Dane would actually pronounce them — "WiFi" might become "Wi Fi" or "vee fee" depending on the voice.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next steps

* Make sure your agent has the right knowledge to answer questions: [Agent knowledge and training](/en/agent-behaviour/knowledge-and-training)
* Going live? Step back to the [Building your first agent](/en/getting-started/building-your-first-agent) checklist.