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A good phone conversation depends on timing. These settings decide when the agent starts talking, when it stops for the contact, and how expressive it sounds. Tune them to make the agent feel quick in casual exchanges and patient when the contact needs time to think. Agent-wide settings live in the agent editor under Agent (header button); see Agent settings. Step-level overrides live in each step’s settings (the sliders icon on the step).

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Settings reference

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Patience level

Patience Level is how long the agent waits after the contact stops speaking before it replies. The slider runs from Fast (about 0.1 s) through Balanced (about 1.0 s) to Slow (about 2.0 s).
  • Faster settings make small talk and quick yes/no exchanges feel snappy, but the agent may jump in while the contact is still thinking.
  • Slower settings suit questions where the contact needs time: spelling an email address, reading an account number, or checking a calendar.

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Set patience for one step

The agent-wide value is the default for every step. To override it:
1

Open the step settings

In the script editor, click the sliders icon on the step.
2

Adjust Patience Level

Expand Patience Level and move the slider. Use Reset to default to return to the agent-wide value.
Keep the agent-wide level near Balanced, and slow it down only on steps that ask for details, such as “What’s the best email to reach you?” This keeps most of the call fast without cutting people off when they need to think.

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Auto-adjust patience

With Auto-Adjust Patience on Interruptions on, the agent notices when the contact keeps talking over it and waits longer before replying. Leave it on unless you need fixed, predictable timing.

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When the contact doesn’t respond

Initiate Conversation After No Response sets how many seconds the agent waits for the contact before speaking again, for example to repeat the question or check that the contact is still there. The default is 8 seconds.
  • Shorten it (4–6 seconds) for quick confirmation calls.
  • Lengthen it (10–15 seconds) when the contact may need to look something up.
If the line stays silent for longer, the agent ends the call. See Call recording and limits.

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Interruptions

By default contacts can interrupt the agent at any time, just like a person. When the contact starts speaking, the agent stops and listens.

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Uninterruptible steps

Some lines must be heard in full, for example a legal disclosure, a recording notice, or a price confirmation. Turn on Speak with no interruptions for those steps:
1

Open the step settings

Click the sliders icon on the step.
2

Turn on Speak with no interruptions

The agent will always speak the step fully, even if the contact talks.
3

Optional: allow interruptions on repeats

Turn on Only on first play to block interruptions only the first time the step plays. If the agent returns to the step later, the contact can interrupt.
For action steps the toggle is called Speak action response with no interruptions, and applies to what the agent says with the action’s result.
By default, anything the contact says while an uninterruptible step plays is discarded, so the agent doesn’t reply to speech it talked over. Contact support if you need to change this.
Use uninterruptible steps sparingly. Long blocks the contact can’t interrupt feel robotic and raise hang-up rates. Keep these steps short.

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Emotions and emotion tags

Emotion-ready voices can change their delivery line by line: warm for a greeting, apologetic when something went wrong, excited about an offer. In the voice list and the voice library, these voices are marked Emotions. When you select an emotion-ready voice, Voice Emotions turns on automatically. Turn it off to keep the voice neutral.

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Add emotion tags to your script

Add an emotion tag in square brackets before the text it should affect:
In the script editor, open the tag options under the step text and choose the Emotions tab to pick from the list, or type the tag directly. Emotions are grouped by mood, for example Positive (happy, warm, encouraging), Engaged (curious, sympathetic, concerned), Uneasy (hesitant, apologetic), and Low energy (calm). The exact list depends on the voice. Tags are not spoken; they only change the delivery.

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Smooth out emotional speech

Use one or two emotions per step. Tagging every sentence with a different emotion sounds theatrical. Neutral delivery with a single warm or empathetic tag at the right moment is usually more convincing.

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Tips for natural conversations

  • Write short turns. One idea and at most one question per step. Long monologues invite interruptions and make the agent sound scripted.
  • Ask one question at a time. If you need several details, use separate steps so each has its own patience setting.
  • Match patience to the question. Fast for yes/no, slow for numbers, spelling, and anything the contact has to look up.
  • Front-load the important part. Put the key information at the start of a sentence, so it’s heard even if the contact interrupts.
  • Keep uninterruptible steps short. Reserve them for disclosures that must be heard in full.
  • Reduce delays from actions. Run slow in-call actions in the background, or say a short phrase while waiting, so the line isn’t silent. See Actions.
  • Test on a real phone. Timing feels different on a phone call than in a browser. Make several test calls and use Insights mode to find steps with high interruption rates.

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Troubleshooting

Increase Patience Level on the step where it happens, or agent-wide. Check that Auto-Adjust Patience on Interruptions is on.
Lower Patience Level. If the pause happens after the agent calls an action, the delay may come from the action’s response time; run it in the background or add a waiting phrase.
Turn on or raise Noise Cancelation. For a short critical line, use Speak with no interruptions.
Increase Initiate Conversation After No Response so the agent waits longer before re-engaging.
Check that the agent’s voice is marked Emotions and that Voice Emotions is on. Tags must use a supported emotion name in square brackets.

Voices and sounds

Choose and tune the agent’s voice.

Steps

Build the steps these settings apply to.

Keypad input

Let contacts answer with the phone keypad.

Call recording and limits

Max duration and hang-up on silence.

Latency and conversation quality

Tune patience and handle slow actions without dead air.