Topic

This article explains how voicemail and on-device transcriptions are generated for Everbridge voice notifications, and clarifies what is controlled by Everbridge versus what is controlled by recipient phones, carriers, and third-party applications.

Description

Everbridge provides text-to-speech (TTS) audio for notifications. When a voice notification is delivered to a recipient, the audio that is played or recorded is based on this Everbridge-generated audio. In Everbridge Suite (Mass Notification), there is no configuration option to have TTS read the notification subject line during voice calls; the subject line is not included in the TTS output.

Distortion or unclear audio on Everbridge voice notifications is typically caused by factors outside the Everbridge platform. Examples include poor cellular reception, high network traffic in the area, carrier-related issues, or background noise at the recipient's end, which can make the audio harder to hear or understand.

Voicemail transcription and how messages are transcribed or read aloud on a recipient's phone are handled by the recipient's phone or carrier voicemail system. Recipient devices or their voicemail/transcription applications can automatically transcribe the audio voicemail into text. These third-party applications and carrier systems may misinterpret parts of the audio and produce incorrect text, even when the original voicemail audio contains the correct content.

Because carriers' voicemail transcription and readback systems vary, they can produce incorrect text or mispronunciations that Everbridge does not control. The formatting of transcribed content, including callback numbers, is managed by the recipient's phone provider. Everbridge does not control how carrier voicemail systems transcribe or format numbers in transcripts, and variations or incorrect formatting can occur depending on the carrier's transcription system.

In some cases, the specific Everbridge solution that is sending notifications (for example, Mass Notification vs. Crisis Management) can affect where and how voice and text notification preferences are managed. If recipients need to change how they receive voice calls or texts, identify which Everbridge solution is sending the alerts so that Everbridge Technical Support or your administrator can provide the correct steps.

For additional guidance on configuring phone call and voicemail behavior for Everbridge notifications, and for recipient best practices, see the documentation on voice notification recipient best practices in Everbridge Suite: EBS: Voice Notification Recipient Best Practices in Everbridge Suite.