# Text-to-Speech (TTS)

> Text-to-speech (TTS) is technology that converts written text into spoken audio. Modern neural TTS produces natural-sounding voices with adjustable speed, tone and language, and can stream audio while the text is still being generated. It is the output side of voice AI agents, and it is also used for phone menus, audio versions of content, accessibility features and training materials.

## Why it matters for your business

In a voice agent, TTS is what callers actually hear, so voice quality, pronunciation and pacing shape their impression of your business. Streaming TTS keeps conversations responsive by starting playback before the full reply is written. Pronunciation of names, addresses, product codes and numbers often needs tuning. Many providers offer voice cloning, which raises consent and impersonation concerns; use only voices you have clear rights to, and be open with callers that they are speaking with an automated system.

## Example

A property management company's after-hours maintenance line uses TTS to speak the voice agent's replies. During testing, the voice mispronounced several apartment community names and read unit numbers like 2B as words. The team adds a pronunciation dictionary and formats unit numbers for speech before sending text to the TTS engine.

Related terms: https://www.lumeor.studio/glossary/speech-to-text/, https://www.lumeor.studio/glossary/voice-ai-agent/, https://www.lumeor.studio/glossary/latency/

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Source: https://www.lumeor.studio/glossary/text-to-speech/