Voice and pacing
Pick a voice, and fix the one thing everybody gets wrong when it talks over people.
How it sounds matters as much as what it says. Four things to adjust, and the one people get wrong.
Pick a voice
Choose one that fits your business. A roofing company and a law firm should not sound the same.
Listen to a sample, then call your own number and listen again. A voice that sounds fine in a sample sometimes sounds wrong reading your actual script.
Speed
Slightly faster than you think. Slow reads as robotic; a natural clip reads as competent.
Adjust in small steps and call again each time.
Interruption sensitivity
This is the one people get wrong.
When someone says "it talks over me" or "it does not let me finish," the instinct is to slow it down. That is not the fix. Slowing it down makes a talkative assistant that is also slow.
The setting you want is interruption sensitivity: how readily the assistant stops when the caller starts speaking. Raise it and it yields quickly, which is what a good listener does.
Symptom to setting:
| What you hear | What to change |
|---|---|
| Talks over the caller | Raise interruption sensitivity |
| Sounds robotic | Raise speed slightly |
| Cuts itself off constantly | Lower interruption sensitivity |
| Long pauses before replying | Usually the script, not the voice |
Ambient sound
Background office noise is available and it is off by default. Leave it off.
It is meant to sound natural and mostly sounds like a call center, which is the opposite of what you want. A clean line sounds like a real business.
Testing changes
Change one thing, then call. Not three.
Read a full conversation, not one sentence. Voice settings that are fine on a greeting fall apart over two minutes.
Have someone else call too. You know what it is going to say, which makes you a bad judge of whether it is easy to follow.
When it is not the voice
Some things sound like a voice problem and are not:
- It says something wrong: that is your script
- It has nothing to offer: that is Availability
- It does not know an obvious answer: script again
- Callers hang up immediately: usually your business name or who you are calling. See Calls and outcomes
Voice settings make a good call sound better. They do not fix a bad one.