B737-300 FLC COMPLAINT REGARDING THE COMPUTER GENERATED VOICE ON ATIS AT STL. CANNOT UNDERSTAND WITHOUT LISTENING FOR ABOUT 5 MINS.

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THE CURRENT AUTOMATED COMPUTER GENERATED VOICE FOR ATIS BROADCAST IS VERY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND. THIS REQUIRES 1 CREW MEMBER TO BE OFF FREQ FOR SEVERAL MINS TO GET THE ATIS BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE ATIS SEVERAL TIMES IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS BEING SAID. IT IS A PROB WITH SPEECH DIALECT OR IMPEDIMENTS. WORDS ARE NOT ENUNCIATED CLRLY. IN SOME CASES APCH CTL MUST TAKE THE TIME TO GIVE THE ATIS BECAUSE AIR CREWS CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE AUTOMATED VERSION. IT MAY HAVE REDUCED TWR PERSONNEL'S WORKLOAD BUT IT SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED THE PLT AND APCH CTL WORKLOAD. PLEASE GET A NEW VOICE OR TURN THIS PROGRAM OFF. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THAT HE HAS SPOKEN TO BOTH CHIEF PLTS OF HIS COMPANY AND THEY IN TURN HAVE SPOKEN WITH THE FAA PERSONNEL WHO MONITORS THE COMPANY. RPTR SAYS THERE ARE JUST CERTAIN PHRASES THAT ARE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND. SOME OF THE OTHER WORDS ARE DISCERNIBLE WITH REPEATED LISTENING. IT REALLY BECOMES A SAFETY OF FLT ISSUE WHEN THE PERSON GETTING THE ATIS IS OFF LINE; OUT OF THE LOOP FOR 5 MINS OR MORE AS SEEMS TO OFTEN BE THE CASE. ANALYST RECOMMENDED THE HOT LINE.