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WorldDAB has produced new guidelines for broadcasters and manufacturers on the use of phonemes and aliases. These guidelines allow listeners to find their favorite stations more easily using voice commands. The new, easy-to-follow, 18-page “how-to” guide is aimed at broadcasters and those who work in radio stations to help them check their phonemes are correct. The guidelines are particularly helpful given the quirks of station naming and audience-smart speaker interaction.
Listeners are increasingly using voice commands to navigate radio stations, particularly as the list of stations is becoming much longer. Smart speakers and virtual assistants use voice recognition to understand what is said to them and voice reproduction to confirm choices and results in natural language.
Known by a different name
Many typical words and phrases can be represented by plain text. However, two situations are not handled well in interactions with smart speakers. Firstly, listeners often call a radio station by something other than its official name; secondly, a radio station’s spoken name can differ from how it is written. Aliases and phonemes can help listeners find radio stations in these cases.
The publication of the new guide comes with just weeks to go until WorldDAB Automotive 2024, which takes place in Prague and online on 13 June. The annual event unites auto manufacturers and broadcasters to explore the future of DAB+ broadcast radio in automobiles and is free to attend. Alongside expert speakers from around the world, Nick Piggott, vice president of WorldDAB, will lead a session on the importance of metadata and phonemes in providing the best possible in-vehicle experience for listeners.
Alongside the new guidelines, WorldDAB’s website also contains other helpful information and expert advice, including user experience and driver distraction guidelines and a set of country factsheets for automotive manufacturers.
You can find the WorldDAB phonemes and aliases guidelines available for free on the WorldDAB website here.
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