How to check SOUNDEX in php when php SOUNDEX outputs only 3 digits

Question

I am trying to do a comparison between company names using SOUNDEX, but the php call for soundex only outputs 3 digits so the comparisons aren't quite accurate. Is there a way to get a better soundex output so that the results are more accurate?

Answer 1

try using metaphone instead

Answer 2

Depending on what you are SOUNDEXing against, it might be cheaper to do run SOUNDEX() at the database level:

$result = $db->query("
    SELECT
        company.id,
        company.name,
        SOUNDEX(company.name) AS soundex
    FROM
        company
    WHERE
        company.name SOUNDS LIKE '$companyName'
");