Phrase is a FreeSWITCH configuration XML construct that allows you to build complex voice prompts from basic sound files. The individual sound files are read one after another, interspersed with the chosen amount of silence.

Phrase macros definitions are found in files included by /usr/local/freeswitch/conf/lang/en/en.xml ("en" is for English. Substitute "en" with another international language code, for example, "fr" for French).

Let's have a look at the first lines of the most popular phrase macro from the demo configuration, located at /usr/local/freeswitch/conf/lang/en/demo/demo-ivr.xml:

 
  <macro name="demo_ivr_main_menu" pause="100">  
    <input pattern="(.*)">   
      <match>   
        <action function="play-file" data="ivr/ivr-welcome_to_freeswitch.wav"/>   
        <action function="play-file" data="ivr/ivr-this_ivr_will_let_you_test_features.wav"/>   
        <action function="play-file" data="ivr/ivr-you_may_exit_by_hanging_up.wav"/> 
   ... 
   ...   
      </match>   
    </input>   
  </macro>