You’ve surely heard it countless times before: the curt staccato that blares from the signals and greets pedestrians when they press the arrow-etched crosswalk buttons near many of the Boston area’s busiest streets.

But some people have noticed that a selection of prompts emanating from the safety mechanisms in Cambridge have become friendlier in recent years — maybe a bit more familiar, even.

At a growing number of intersections in the area, passersby are now being greeted not only by robotic entreaties to be patient before proceeding from sidewalk to sidewalk, but also with homemade voice recordings, an accessibility improvement that’s adding a dash of local flair to the daily commute-by-foot.

At one section of Massachusetts Avenue, a gentle voice lets pedestrians know that the “Walk sign is on to cross Main Street.” Further up the road, however, where the thoroughfare meets Everett Street, the voice is deeper and the delivery is speedier.

And at Vassar Street, the message comes out louder, with a bouncier intonation punctuated by a Boston-accented “Vassah.” (Because it plays several times in a row, it sounds a bit like a construction worker reciting a nursery rhyme.)

“It definitely personalizes your crosswalk, that’s for sure,” said Ned Yonkers, 28, a data analyst who lives in Belmont and shared his curiosity about the origins of the recordings on Reddit earlier this month. “It makes me wish they did all of them that way.”

The upgrades have made an impression on those who cross Cambridge’s streets. But where do these distinctive voices come from, exactly?

The audio enhancements aren’t unique to the Boston area, and have been embraced across the country as urban planners work to make roads safer and easier for people with disabilities to navigate — particularly in areas where call buttons are placed near each other, and where pedestrians might hit the wrong button or use the wrong crosswalk by mistake.

It’s an evolving art. The American Council for the Blind now recommends that cities phase out the “cuckoo-chirp type” signals used to alert pedestrians about where to cross. Instead, they suggest voice signals for when road conditions require clear instructions to aid people who are visually impaired.

Cities with automated verbal crossing instructions have come to appreciate the regional dialect the messages provide, like the strong Texan lilt you’ll hear at crosswalks in Austin, or the “hint of a southern accent” you can catch in Louisville.

For the most part, the crosswalk machinery around Boston comes pre-programmed with the “wait” prompt and familiar clicking sounds.

But when a crosswalk calls for more explicit directions — often in response to a request from a resident — officials in Cambridge have stepped in.

Sorry, Siri — this is, apparently, no job for a robot.

Listen closely in Cambridge and you’ll notice the messages ushering thousands of pedestrians across the sidewalks aren’t computer-generated clips — they’re prerecorded directions voiced by employees from the transportation department, where staffers like Dana Benjamin, a traffic engineer, can be heard hundreds of times per day at two intersections on Mass. Ave.

Benjamin is “not super into my voice,” but volunteered to record instructions on when to cross Inman and Main streets.

Having grown up in Cambridge, Benjamin is proud to be part of the auditory streetscape, even if it can be a little strange to hear the messages wafting through intersections.

“It can be a little embarrassing sometimes,” Benjamin said.

The recording process is no frills: Staff simply recite the messages into a pair of Apple headphones before they’re edited on a laptop and uploaded into the walk signal, where it’s played through a small speaker.

No one is sure, exactly, who was responsible for the heavily-accented — and especially emotive — voice message at Mass. Ave. and Vassar Street, which has attracted attention online. Benjamin said it may have been a contractor called in to repair the unit somewhere along the line.

Otherwise, transportation employees take turns recording them, and most are excited for a chance at achieving almost-famous status in town.

“It’s fun for them,” Benjamin said.

Pedestrians can expect to hear more of them pouring from street corners in the near future: The city’s planning to add several more around Harvard Square later this month.

Benjamin hasn’t quite reached the legendary status of the “Voice of the T,” Frank Oglesby Jr., who is routinely identified by fans in public — at least, not yet.

Still, transportation staff who work overnight shifts near crosswalk signals often hear the messages Benjamin recorded playing on a loop, and are sure to bring it up.

“All that [roadwork] happens at night when people are off the roads, so literally all they hear is me for hours at a time,” Benjamin said. “They’ll say, ‘Hey, I heard you over at Mass Ave. and Inman for hours while we were putting in the new bike lane.’”

Spencer Buell can be reached at spencer.buell@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerBuell.

Work at Boston Globe Media