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AurionAI

Turn detection (when the agent answers)

3 min readBy Emmanuel Yazbeck

Turn detection decides when the caller has finished speaking and the agent may answer. On the Turn Detection page you set how long the agent waits.

Availability: AI Voice and AI Voice + Helpdesk profiles. Administrators only.

Prerequisites

  • You have the Owner or Admin role.
  • Your organization uses the AI Voice or the AI Voice + Helpdesk profile. In the Helpdesk profile, the page is not available.

What the settings change

With Enable Turn Detection on, an AI model listens to what the caller says and decides when the sentence is complete. With it off, the agent answers after a silence only.

  • Minimum Delay is the shortest time the agent waits before it answers. A low value makes the agent fast, but it can interrupt a caller who pauses.
  • Maximum Delay is the longest time the agent waits. After this time, the agent answers even if the model is not sure that the caller is done.

On phone calls, the agent always waits at least 1.2 seconds. A lower minimum delay only applies to the web widget and the mobile app.

Change the delays

  1. In the sidebar, select Configuration.
  2. Open the AI Voice category.
  3. Select Turn Detection.
  4. Check that Enable Turn Detection is on.
  5. Move the Minimum Delay slider. The range is 0.1 to 2.0 seconds.
  6. Move the Maximum Delay slider. The range is 1.0 to 10.0 seconds.
  7. Select Save Changes.

The Turn Detection page with the minimum and maximum delay sliders.

Safe values

The default values are 0.8 seconds for the minimum delay and 3.0 seconds for the maximum delay. Start with these values. Change them in small steps, then test with a call.

  • The agent interrupts callers: raise the minimum delay.
  • Callers wait too long for an answer: lower the maximum delay.
  • Callers often speak slowly or in a second language: raise both values a little.

The About Turn Detection card on the page repeats these tips.

Result

The message Settings saved successfully appears. The new delays apply to calls that start after you save. A call that is already in progress keeps the settings it started with. In rare cases a new call can still use the old settings for up to one minute after you save.

If something goes wrong

  • Minimum delay must be less than maximum delay The minimum delay must be lower than the maximum delay. Change one of the two values.
  • Failed to save settings Reload the page and try again.
  • Phone callers still wait more than the minimum delay. This is expected below 1.2 seconds. Phone calls never use a shorter minimum delay.
  • The agent still interrupts callers. Also check Silence Threshold on the Voice page. Read Voice and languages.

Still stuck? Submit a request or .