Lucent Technologies SYSTEM 85, System 75 manual How the System Interprets Text/Email

How the System Interprets Text/Email

Your system changes text messages and email into speech so you can listen to it. The system follows certain rules to make these changes. Therefore, some parts of a text message or email message may sound odd because of the way the system interprets it. The following list explains what things might sound odd.

Acronyms and abbreviations	The system normally pronounces words exactly as
that use capital letters	they are spelled. The system also pronounces
	acronyms as words. For example, for unicef, the
	system says "UNICEF."
	The system also pronounces many all-capital
	abbreviations letter by letter. For example, for IBM,
	the system says "I B M."
	However, the system may inappropriately pronounce
	some all-capital abbreviations as words. For
	example, the abbreviation VAT stands for the value-
	added tax typical of European countries. The system
	reads this abbreviation as "vat," not "V A T."
	If a period (.) appears before a space in an all-caps
	abbreviation, the system ignores it. Thus, for V. A. T.,
	the system says "V A T". If a period is followed by a
	letter or number, the system says "period."
Other common abbreviations	The system pronounces many common abbreviations
	in their full form. For example, the system
	pronounces Wed. as "Wednesday," Mr. as "Mister",
	and Oct. as "October." It also pronounces re: as
	"regarding."
	However, some abbreviations may have more than
	one interpretation. In these cases, the system may
	pronounce the wrong interpretation. For example, Dr
	could be "drive," "doctor," or "Denver." But the system
	is sensitive to the context of the abbreviation. So if
	the context is clear, the system usually uses the
	correct interpretation.
Dates	The system pronounces numbers written with two
	single slashes (/) as dates. For example, the system
	says "April tenth, 1996," if written as 04/10/96.
	However, the system pronounces 04/10 (without the
	year) as "four tenths." Also, the system doesn't
	pronounce numbers with single dashes (-) as dates.
	For example, the system says "4 dash 10 dash 96" if
	written as 4-10-96.
Times	The system pronounces numbers written with colons
	as hours and minutes, including times that use the 24-
	hour clock. For example, the system pronounces
	10:23 as "ten twenty-three." The system also
	recognizes and pronounces 24-hour-clock time.

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