Azure Speech TTS

Enterprise-grade text-to-speech with 500+ neural voices, 100+ languages, and Microsoft ecosystem integration

☁️ Azure Speech: Enterprise Scale

Microsoft’s neural TTS service with 500+ voices across 100+ languages. Seamless integration with Azure ecosystem, SSML support, and enterprise-grade reliability. Perfect for organizations already using Microsoft services.

Quick Setup

1. Create Azure Speech Resource

   1. Go to Azure Portal
   2. Create a new Speech resource
   3. Select your subscription, resource group, and region
   4. Note your Key and Region from the resource’s Keys and Endpoint page
2. Configure in Burki

   1. Go to AI Configuration → TTS tab
   2. Select Azure Speech as provider
   3. Enter your API Key and Region (e.g., eastus, westus2)
3. Choose Voice & Model

   Select your preferred neural voice from the dropdown

Free Tier: Azure offers 500,000 characters per month free. Neural voices are available on all tiers.

Available Models

🧠 Neural

High-Quality Neural Voices

Natural intonation and human-like speech

Quality: Premium Best for: All production applications

📢 Standard

Standard TTS Voices

Basic text-to-speech synthesis

Quality: Good Best for: Legacy compatibility

Recommendation: Always use Neural voices for the best quality. Standard voices are legacy and should only be used for specific compatibility needs.

Available Voices

English Voices

American English (en-US)

Jenny

Clear & Professional

Perfect for business applications

Voice ID: en-US-JennyNeural

Aria

Warm & Natural

Great for friendly interactions

Voice ID: en-US-AriaNeural

Guy

Natural & Confident

Strong, authoritative voice

Voice ID: en-US-GuyNeural

Davis

Friendly & Approachable

Ideal for customer service

Voice ID: en-US-DavisNeural

Jane

Professional

Clear business voice

Voice ID: en-US-JaneNeural

Jason

Clear

Reliable male voice

Voice ID: en-US-JasonNeural

British English (en-GB)

Sonia

Clear & Professional

British female voice

Voice ID: en-GB-SoniaNeural

Ryan

Warm

British male voice

Voice ID: en-GB-RyanNeural

Other Languages

Spanish (es-ES)

Elvira

Natural

Spanish female voice

Voice ID: es-ES-ElviraNeural

Alvaro

Clear

Spanish male voice

Voice ID: es-ES-AlvaroNeural

French (fr-FR)

Denise

Natural

French female voice

Voice ID: fr-FR-DeniseNeural

Henri

Clear

French male voice

Voice ID: fr-FR-HenriNeural

Arabic (ar-SA)

Salma

Natural

Arabic female voice

Voice ID: ar-SA-SalmaNeural

Hamed

Clear

Arabic male voice

Voice ID: ar-SA-HamedNeural

All Configured Voices

Voice	Language	Gender	Voice ID	Description
Jenny	en-US	Female	en-US-JennyNeural	Clear and professional
Aria	en-US	Female	en-US-AriaNeural	Warm and natural
Guy	en-US	Male	en-US-GuyNeural	Natural and confident
Davis	en-US	Male	en-US-DavisNeural	Friendly and approachable
Jane	en-US	Female	en-US-JaneNeural	Professional
Jason	en-US	Male	en-US-JasonNeural	Clear
Sonia	en-GB	Female	en-GB-SoniaNeural	Clear and professional
Ryan	en-GB	Male	en-GB-RyanNeural	Warm
Elvira	es-ES	Female	es-ES-ElviraNeural	Natural
Alvaro	es-ES	Male	es-ES-AlvaroNeural	Clear
Denise	fr-FR	Female	fr-FR-DeniseNeural	Natural
Henri	fr-FR	Male	fr-FR-HenriNeural	Clear
Salma	ar-SA	Female	ar-SA-SalmaNeural	Natural
Hamed	ar-SA	Male	ar-SA-HamedNeural	Clear

500+ More Voices: Azure offers hundreds of additional voices. Visit the Azure Voice Gallery for the complete list.

Voice Controls

Azure Speech provides advanced voice customization through SSML:

Speaking Rate

Controls speech speed (Range: 0.5 - 2.0)

• 0.5: Half speed (very slow)
• 1.0: ✅ Normal speed (Recommended)
• 2.0: Double speed (very fast)

<prosody rate="+20%">
  Speaking slightly faster than normal.
</prosody>

Pitch

Controls voice pitch (Range: 0.5 - 2.0)

• 0.5: Very low pitch
• 1.0: ✅ Normal pitch (Recommended)
• 2.0: Very high pitch

<prosody pitch="+10%">
  Speaking with slightly higher pitch.
</prosody>

SSML Support

Full SSML markup for advanced control

<speak version="1.0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/10/synthesis" xml:lang="en-US">
  <voice name="en-US-JennyNeural">
    <prosody rate="+10%" pitch="+5%">
      Hello! How can I help you today?
    </prosody>
  </voice>
</speak>

Configuration Options

Audio Format

Azure Speech automatically outputs the appropriate format for your telephony provider:

• Twilio/Telnyx: PCM μ-law @ 8kHz (Raw8Khz8BitMonoMULaw)
• Vonage: PCM 16-bit @ 16kHz (Raw16Khz16BitMonoPcm)

Configuration in Burki

To use Azure Speech TTS in your assistant:

1. Get Azure Credentials

   Create a Speech resource in Azure Portal and copy your Subscription Key and Region.

2. Add to Burki

   Go to Settings → Provider Keys → TTS and add your Azure Speech credentials.

3. Configure Assistant

   Edit your assistant, select Azure Speech as the TTS provider, and choose a voice.

SSML Support

Azure Speech supports SSML for advanced voice control:

<speak version="1.0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/10/synthesis" xml:lang="en-US">
    <voice name="en-US-JennyNeural">
        <prosody rate="+10%" pitch="+5%">
            Welcome to our service!
        </prosody>
        <break time="500ms"/>
        How can I assist you today?
    </voice>
</speak>

Use SSML tags in your assistant’s responses for fine-grained control over pronunciation, emphasis, and pacing.

Regional Selection

Latency Optimization: Choose the Azure region closest to your deployment for optimal latency.

Region	Location	Best For
eastus	East US	North America (East)
westus2	West US 2	North America (West)
westeurope	Netherlands	Europe
southeastasia	Singapore	Asia-Pacific
australiaeast	Australia East	Australia/Oceania

Pricing Overview

Tier	Characters/Month	Neural Voices	Price
Free	500,000	Yes	$0
Standard	Pay-as-you-go	Yes	$16 per 1M chars

Enterprise: Contact Azure for custom pricing on high-volume usage and reserved capacity.

Common Issues & Solutions

Authentication Failed

Problem: API returns 401 Unauthorized

Solutions:

• Verify your Azure Speech Key is correct in Settings → Provider Keys
• Ensure the key is from your Speech resource (not another Azure service)
• Check that the region matches your Speech resource’s region

Voice Not Available

Problem: Selected voice doesn’t work

Solutions:

• Verify the voice ID format (e.g., en-US-JennyNeural)
• Check that the voice is available in your region
• Ensure your subscription tier supports the selected voice

High Latency

Problem: TTS response is slow

Solutions:

• Select an Azure region closer to your users
• Burki uses streaming synthesis for optimal performance
• Consider caching common phrases

Best Practices

See Also

🎯 Multilingual?

Cartesia Sonic 3 - 42 languages with voice cloning

⚡ Need Speed?

Deepgram Aura - Ultra-low ~75ms latency

🔗 Additional Resources

Azure Portal: portal.azure.com

Voice Gallery: Azure Voice Gallery

Documentation: Azure Speech Service Docs

Pricing: Azure Speech Pricing

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🚀 Ready to Use Azure Speech?

Head back to your assistant configuration and set up Azure Speech for enterprise-grade TTS!