diff --git a/ovos_dinkum_listener/_util.py b/ovos_dinkum_listener/_util.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7982de7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ovos_dinkum_listener/_util.py
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+import uuid
+import string
+from ovos_utils.time import now_local, now_utc
+
+
+class _TemplateFilenameFormatter:
+    """
+    Helper to dynamically filename parts based on a user-specified template.
+
+    Each instance of this builder can be customized to support different keys,
+    but some common ones are builtin like "uuid4", "now", and "utcnow"
+
+    Example:
+        >>> # Simple now and uuid4 keys are available by default.
+        >>> template = 'my_filename_{now}_{uuid4}'
+        >>> self = _TemplateFilenameFormatter()
+        >>> name = self.format(template)
+        >>> # xdoctest: +IGNORE_WANT
+        >>> print(f'name={name}')
+        name=my_filename_2024-09-14 18:53:22.619838-05:00_7fe91270-3266-42c1-89d9-0809b9facb9e
+
+    Example:
+        >>> # The now can use standard python format-string semantics
+        >>> template = 'my_filename_{now:%Y-%m-%dT%H%M%S%z}_{uuid4}'
+        >>> self = _TemplateFilenameFormatter()
+        >>> name = self.format(template)
+        >>> # xdoctest: +IGNORE_WANT
+        >>> print(f'name={name}')
+        name=my_filename_2024-09-14T185354-0500_6f0f6daf-cd81-4c5b-bf38-76a4466161c6
+
+    Example:
+        >>> # You can define how to handle custom keys
+        >>> template = '{mykey}.bar.{now:%Y-%z}-{uuid4}'
+        >>> self = _TemplateFilenameFormatter()
+        >>> @self.register('mykey')
+        >>> def custom_func():
+        ...     return 'myval'
+        >>> name = self.format(template)
+        >>> # xdoctest: +IGNORE_WANT
+        >>> print(f'name={name}')
+        name=myval.bar.2024--765176fa-7c80-431c-b43d-2ad14a58a249
+
+    Example:
+        >>> # should raise an error if template contains an unknown field
+        >>> template = '{doesnotexist}.bar.{now:%Y-%z}-{uuid4}'
+        >>> self = _TemplateFilenameFormatter()
+        >>> import pytest
+        >>> with pytest.raises(KeyError) as ex:
+        ...     name = self.format(template)
+        >>> # xdoctest: +IGNORE_WANT
+        >>> print(str(ex.value))
+        "Template string contained unsupported keys ['doesnotexist']. Supported keys are: ['uuid4', 'now', 'utcnow']"
+
+    """
+    def __init__(self):
+        # import datetime as datetime_mod
+        # mapping of key to functions that build content for those keys
+        self.builders = {
+            'uuid4': uuid.uuid4,
+            'now': now_local,
+            'utcnow': now_utc,
+        }
+
+    def register(self, key):
+        """
+        Decorator which will register a function called when the template
+        string contains ``key``.
+        """
+        def _decor(func):
+            self.builders[key] = func
+            return func
+        return _decor
+
+    def _build_fmtkw(self, template, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Builds the dictionary that can be passed to :func:`str.format`.
+        """
+        builders = self.builders | kwargs
+
+        # Build the information requested for the file string.
+        formatter = string.Formatter()
+        fmtiter = formatter.parse(template)
+        fmtkw = {}
+        missing = []
+        for fmttup in fmtiter:
+            key = fmttup[1]
+
+            if key in builders:
+                builder = builders[key]
+                if callable(builder):
+                    fmtkw[key] = builder()
+                else:
+                    fmtkw[key] = builder
+            else:
+                missing.append(key)
+        if missing:
+            raise KeyError(
+                f'Template string contained unsupported keys {missing}. '
+                f'Supported keys are: {list(builders.keys())}'
+            )
+        return fmtkw
+
+    def format(self, template, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Substitutes known keys with dynamically constructed values
+        """
+        fmtkw = self._build_fmtkw(template, **kwargs)
+        text = template.format(**fmtkw)
+        return text
diff --git a/ovos_dinkum_listener/service.py b/ovos_dinkum_listener/service.py
index a382b18..ae5d05a 100644
--- a/ovos_dinkum_listener/service.py
+++ b/ovos_dinkum_listener/service.py
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 from ovos_dinkum_listener.transformers import AudioTransformersService
 from ovos_dinkum_listener.voice_loop import DinkumVoiceLoop, ListeningMode, ListeningState
 from ovos_dinkum_listener.voice_loop.hotwords import HotwordContainer
+from ovos_dinkum_listener._util import _TemplateFilenameFormatter
 try:
     from ovos_backend_client.api import DatasetApi
 except ImportError:
@@ -681,7 +682,30 @@ def _save_stt(self, audio_bytes, stt_meta, save_path=None):
             stt_audio_dir = Path(f"{self.default_save_path}/utterances")
         stt_audio_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
-        filename = hash_sentence(stt_meta["transcription"])
+        listener = self.config.get("listener", {})
+
+        # Documented in ovos_config/mycroft.conf
+        default_template = "{md5}-{uuid4}"
+        utterance_filename = listener.get("utterance_filename", default_template)
+        formatter = _TemplateFilenameFormatter()
+
+        @formatter.register('md5')
+        def transcription_md5():
+            # Build a hash of the transcription
+            try:
+                # handles legacy API
+                text = stt_meta.get('transcription')
+            except KeyError:
+                # handles new API
+                # transcriptions should be : List[Tuple[str, int]]
+                try:
+                    text = stt_meta.get('transcriptions')[0][0]
+                except IndexError:
+                    return 'null'
+            return hash_sentence(text)
+
+        filename = formatter.format(utterance_filename)
+
         mic = self.voice_loop.mic
         wav_path = stt_audio_dir / f"{filename}.wav"
         meta_path = stt_audio_dir / f"{filename}.json"