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Overview

Call behavior settings control the timing and flow of your agent’s conversations. They are found in the Call Settings section of your agent’s configuration.

Response Delay

How long the agent waits after detecting the user has stopped speaking before generating a response. Range: 100–1500ms Default: 400ms Increment: 100ms A shorter delay feels more responsive; a longer delay gives users more time to finish their thoughts without being interrupted.

Interruption Handling

Controls whether users can speak while the agent is talking, cutting off the agent’s response. Toggle: Interrupt (on/off) Default: Enabled When enabled, the agent stops speaking as soon as the user starts talking. When disabled, the agent completes its full response before listening again.
Whether prompt instructions can override this toggle is currently unverified — see the open questions tracker.

User Inactivity Timeout

How many seconds of silence trigger the agent to check if the user is still on the line. Range: 5–60 seconds Default: 15 seconds After the timeout, the agent proactively prompts the user. You can define what the agent says in your prompt.

Max Call Duration

The maximum length a call can run before being automatically terminated. Range: 30 seconds – 1 hour Default: 300 seconds (5 minutes) Most calls should end naturally via Smart Call End. Max Call Duration is a safety net for runaway calls.

Background Noise (Ambient Sound)

Adds subtle ambient sound to the agent’s audio. Toggle: Background Noise (on/off) Default: Disabled
Do not enable both Background Noise and Noise Cancellation — they conflict and create audio artifacts.

Thinking Voice

Adds natural pauses and filler words (e.g., “Hmm…”, “Let me check…”) to make the agent sound more human. Toggle: Thinking Voice (on/off) Default: Disabled Adds 1–3 seconds per response. Useful for conversational agents; less appropriate for time-sensitive or information-delivery scenarios.

Minimum Interruption Duration

The minimum duration of speech required to register as an interruption. Range: 0.2–1.5 seconds Default: 0.5 seconds Increasing this reduces false interruptions from background noise or brief sounds.

VAD Activation Threshold

Voice activity detection sensitivity — how loud a sound needs to be before the system considers it speech. Range: 0.2–0.9 Default: 0.5 Higher values make the system less sensitive (ignores quieter sounds); lower values pick up more input.

Response Delay and Wait for User to Speak First

Wait for User to Speak First controls whether the agent speaks first or waits for the caller to initiate. Options:
  • Never — Agent always speaks first
  • Always — Agent always waits
  • Outbound calls only — Agent waits only on outbound calls

Next Steps

Intelligence Features

Enable smart features like gender detection and smart call end

Write Effective Prompts

Optimize your agent’s instructions for better behavior

Voice Settings

Choose the right voice and language settings

Testing Agents

Test your agent before going live