How can I improve the German pronunciation of an AI telephone agent? Numbers, telephone numbers, an | ElevenLabs | Page 1

AI-generated Answer for immaculate_dragon_11787

Here are the supported ways to make German TTS clearer for an AI telephone agent, specifically for digits, phone numbers and names:

Use a German voice
- Default “designed” voices are English; for native German pronunciation use a German-trained clone or a Professional Voice Clone from the library. (help.elevenlabs.io)
Lock the language to German in API calls
- Set language_code to de (ISO‑639‑1) so short/ambiguous prompts (e.g., digit-only) are normalized with German rules. Avoid mixing languages in one prompt. (help.elevenlabs.io)
Normalize numbers instead of sending raw digits
- Best: pre-convert numbers, dates, amounts and acronyms to fully written German words before passing text to TTS (you can instruct your LLM agent to always do this). (help.elevenlabs.io)
- API-side normalization: apply_text_normalization controls automatic spelling-out. It supports auto|on|off; for v2.5 models (Turbo/Flash) enabling normalization is limited (Enterprise). For real-time WebSocket, the same parameter exists. (elevenlabs.io)
Insert short pauses for readability (e.g., in phone numbers)
- Use SSML <break time="..."/> (up to 3s) between digit groups on all models except Eleven v3. If you use Eleven v3, use the bracketed [pause]/[short pause]/[long pause] tags instead. (help.elevenlabs.io)
Handle names and tricky words with a Pronunciation Dictionary (Agents/Studio)
- Add alias (word-substitution) rules for specific names or terms so they’re spoken consistently. In Agents/Studio, attach the dictionary to your project/agent. (help.elevenlabs.io)
- Phoneme tags in dictionaries or SSML only work on English models (Flash v2, Turbo v2, English v1). They do not affect non‑English (e.g., German) synthesis. Prefer aliases for German names. (elevenlabs.io)
Model choice for agents
- ElevenLabs Agents use the same language set as Flash v2.5/Turbo v2.5 (includes German). For real-time phone agents, use these low‑latency models and apply the techniques above. (help.elevenlabs.io)

Quick implementation checklist

language_code: "de" in your TTS requests. (help.elevenlabs.io)
apply_text_normalization: "auto" (and pre-spell numbers in German via your LLM). (elevenlabs.io)
Insert <break> between number groups. (help.elevenlabs.io)
Attach a Pronunciation Dictionary with alias rules for names. (help.elevenlabs.io)
Use a German-trained voice (clone or pro). (help.elevenlabs.io)

If issues

#How can I improve the German pronunciation of an AI telephone agent? Numbers, telephone numbers, an