Siri, the Apple iPhone voice, finally reveals herself to America

Susan is a voiceover actor from Atlanta ,Georgia, who laid down recordings for a client eight years ago. She had no idea she'd someday be speaking to more than 100 million people through a not-yet-invented phone. But finally CNN has told her story.

Apple won't confirm it. But Bennett says she is Siri although she won't divulge her age, she can be heard worldwide. She speaks up in commercials and on countless phone systems. She spells out directions from GPS devices and addresses travelers in Delta airport terminals, CNN reported.

Until now, she has been anonymous. Many friends , including her son and husband, urged her to come forward. Her Siri counterparts in the UK and Australia had revealed their identities, after all.

So why not her? "I really had to weigh the importance of it for me personally. I wasn't sure that I wanted that notoriety, and I also wasn't sure where I stood legally. And so, consequently, I was very conservative about it for a long time," she said.

Than a video came out naming someone else, not her. "And it seemed like everyone was clamoring to find out who the real voice behind Siri is, and so I thought, well, you know, what the heck? This is the time,"said Susan.

For four hours a day, every day, in July 2005, Bennett worked in her home recording booth. Hour after hour, she read nonsensical phrases and sentences so that the "ubergeeks" -- as she affectionately calls them; they leave her awestruck -- could work their magic by pulling out vowels, consonants, syllables and diphthongs, and playing with her pitch and speed.

These snippets were then synthesized in a process called concatenation that builds words, sentences, paragraphs. And that is how voices like hers find their way into GPS and telephone systems.

"There are some people that just can read hour upon hour upon hour, and it's not a problem. For me, I get extremely bored ... So I just take breaks. That's one of the reasons why Siri might sometimes sound like she has a bit of an attitude," Bennett told CNN interviewers with a laugh.

"Those sounds might have been recorded the last 15 minutes of those four hours."

Bennett never knew exactly how her voice would be used. She assumed it would be employed in company phone systems, but beyond that didn't think much about it. She was paid by the hour -- she won't say how much -- and moved on to the next gig.

The surprise came in October 2011 after Apple released its iPhone 4S, the first to feature Siri. Bennett didn't have the phone herself, but people who knew her voice did.

"A colleague e-mailed me [about Siri] and said, 'Hey, we've been playing around with this new Apple phone. Isn't this you?'"

Bennett went to her computer, pulled up Apple's site and listened to video clips announcing Siri. The voice was unmistakably hers.

"Oh, I knew," she said. "It's obviously me. It's my voice."

A CNN reporter in Atlanta guessed the truth some time ago recording another story but kept it quiet until now.

Marcus Graham, CEO of GM Voices. who has built a career around providing voiceover talent for interactive voice technologies.

" Rest assured: It's 100% Susan," he said.

Graham has recorded "literally millions of words with Susan" and has installed her voice with clients across the globe. He knows her voice as well as anyone, and he doesn't hesitate when asked if she and Siri are the same.

"Most female voices are kind of thin, but she's got a rich, full voice," he said. "Yes, she's the voice of Siri. ... She's definitely the voice."