Using Slang and Jargon in Names

Users often speak slang or jargon for group names and address book entries, and you should accommodate these existing speech patterns, rather than requiring users to learn other names.

Because slang and jargon often originate as either acronyms or the clipped form of words, they are often pronounced very differently than they are spelled, and you typically need to enter alternate spoken names to support them.

An acronym is an abbreviation that is pronounced as a word. For example, in a hospital, the Medical Intensive Care Unit is often abbreviated as "MICU" and pronounced as "Mick You". To accommodate this usage, Vocera supports several healthcare acronyms as part of the static grammar. See Healthcare Acronyms and Abbreviations.

Similarly, longer words such as "Pediatrics" are often spelled with the clipped form "Peds", but pronounced as "Peeds" (not "Peds", as the spelling implies). To accommodate this usage, enter "Pediatrics" in the Group Name field, and enter "Peeds" in the Alternate Spoken Group Name field.

The best practice in this situation is to enter the name as users spell it in the Group Name field and to enter phonetic variations in the Alternate Spoken Group Name field. This practice allows the expected and more readable name to appear in the user interface of the consoles, but still supports the spoken name preferred by users.