Finnish Voice Issues
# supportd
DenisNMetodiev
04/22/2026, 10:07 AMI am having issues with the way the bot speaks back numerical data in Finnish, specifically phone numbers and dates.
Is there a specific package I could add or any model that performs best specifically with Finnish.
Thank you in advance!
r
Rita Heritage
04/22/2026, 11:22 AMHi this is usually not a model issue but how the text is formatted before it hits TTS. Finnish struggles with raw numbers, so the fix is to normalize the output by converting numbers, dates, and phone numbers into fully written Finnish before playback.
You can also improve it by switching TTS providers, since Finnish quality varies a lot between them.
If you want, I can help you set up a clean formatting layer so everything sounds natural.
@DenisNMetodiev
d
DenisNMetodiev
04/22/2026, 12:17 PMI suppose I could go with the normalization of the output, so I should just configure it to get the information, before saying it back, save it in its immediate memory, then play back to the customer, correct? @User
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Shaunak
04/22/2026, 2:50 PMHi! Improving Finnish numerical speech mostly comes down to how the text is prepared before it reaches the voice engine. Here is the shortest way to fix it:
Shaunak
04/22/2026, 2:50 PM1. Prompting (Most Effective)
Since automatic formatting is language-agnostic, explicitly instruct your LLM in the System Prompt to format numbers for Finnish speech.
Example: "Always write out phone numbers digit-by-digit (e.g., 'nolla nolla...') and dates in full Finnish spoken format (e.g., 'kymmenes toukokuuta')."
Shaunak
04/22/2026, 2:50 PM2. Adjust the Voice Formatting Plan
You can disable the default formatting so it doesn't interfere with your prompt instructions:
Copy code
json
"voice": {
"chunkPlan": {
"formatPlan": { "enabled": false }
}
}Shaunak
04/22/2026, 2:50 PM3. Recommended Transcriber
For the best accuracy in Finnish, we recommend using Speechmatics. It generally handles Finnish accents and vocabulary better than other providers.
Shaunak
04/22/2026, 2:50 PM4. Endpointing
If the bot interrupts or pauses awkwardly, ensure you are using Transcription-based endpointing, as our "Smart Endpointing" is currently optimized for English.