Conversation flow

Overview

Conversation flow settings determine how your assistant handles periods of user silence and interruptions during speech. These settings help create more natural conversations and can be customized based on your use case.

Timeouts

Timeout handling determines how long your assistant will wait during periods of user silence before prompting for a response.

Configuration

Timeout settings can be configured in the agent’s Advanced tab under Turn Timeout.

The timeout duration is specified in seconds and determines how long the assistant will wait in silence before prompting the user. Turn timeouts must be between 1 and 30 seconds.

Example Timeout Settings

Best practices for timeouts

• Set shorter timeouts (5-10 seconds) for casual conversations where quick back-and-forth is expected
• Use longer timeouts (10-30 seconds) when users may need more time to think or formulate complex responses
• Consider your user context - customer service may benefit from shorter timeouts while technical support may need longer ones

Interruptions

Interruption handling determines whether users can interrupt your assistant while it’s speaking.

Configuration

Interruption settings can be configured in the agent’s Advanced tab under Client Events.

To enable interruptions, make sure interruption is a selected client event.

Interruptions Enabled

Interruptions Disabled

Best practices for interruptions

• Enable interruptions for natural conversational flows where back-and-forth dialogue is expected
• Disable interruptions when message completion is critical (e.g., terms and conditions, safety information)
• Consider your use case context - customer service may benefit from interruptions while information delivery may not

Recommended configurations