I have a rare Indian name that even fellow Indians struggle to pronounce. I’ve witnessed countless awkward moments as strangers and acquaintances butcher and strangle my name, not knowing any better. Try saying “Puranjay” (hint: it’s Poo-Run-Jay) out loud and you’ll understand where I’m coming from.
That’s why AudioName, a little Portland based startup caught my attention. It basically works as a small web app that lets you record your name and share it with contacts on email, social networks, websites or blogs.
Here’s how it works: after you’ve signed up with the website (you’ll need to use Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn), you’ll be directed to a page where you can record your name and/or brief introduction. If you are in the US, you can even call a toll-free number and record your name. Once done, you can add a little widget to your blog, social networking site or email. Clicking on the widget will let the contact hear your name, in your own voice.
From the outset, it might not sound like a major problem, particularly if you happen to be named something along the lines of John Smith. But try communicating with people from different countries/cultures, and you’ll soon encounter a problem with names: how the heck do you pronounce that? It may not cause global warming or worldwide stock market collapse, but it does lead to a few awkward moments and makes inter-cultural communication – difficult as it already is – even more cumbersome.
It’s an especially big problem for people from non-English speaking countries. While a Mike Smith might be easily pronounced the world over, a “Kvetosalva Mazancova” or “Onwuka Obiwama” won’t fare so well. And as inter-cultural communication increases in our increasingly globalizing world, problems with pronouncing names are only going to increase. Hearing the speaker’s name in his own voice can be a big help in this respect – which AudioName does rather quite well.
AudioName was founded by Sheetal Dube and is based out of Portland and has just raised $25k in seed funding from the Portland Seed Fund.
