Call Configuration
The Call tab controls how your agent behaves during a live call: when it's available, how it handles silence and timeouts, ambient audio, voicemail, keypad input, IVR navigation, and how it detects when a caller starts and stops speaking.
This tab is disabled until you write an Agent Prompt (the instructions that tell your agent what to say) in the Agent Behaviour tab.
Availability
Control when your agent can take inbound or place outbound calls.
- Timezone: used for availability windows and time-related variables. The list is searchable.
- Inbound hours: restrict when inbound calls are accepted. When enabled, use the per-day toggles and start/end times. Disabled days are treated as unavailable.
- Unavailable message: when inbound hours are enabled, this message is spoken (in the agent's voice) when a caller reaches you outside the window.
- Outbound hours: restrict when automated outbound calls can start.
When a direction's schedule is off, that direction stays always available.
Final Call Message
A message played after the call ends or when the timeout triggers. Its language matches the Audio & Voice tab.
Timeout Settings
- Hang up on user silence:
5-30seconds (default10). Ends the call if the user does not speak for this long. - Total call timeout:
0.5-40minutes (default4). The call ends automatically once this limit is reached.
Timeouts keep calls responsive and end sessions that stall.
Ambient Sound
Adds subtle ambient audio during calls so moments of silence feel more natural for callers. Toggle it on and configure:
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Sound type | Light Rain, Coffee Shop, Keyboard Typing, White Noise, Static Noise, Call Center, Office, Mountain Outdoor, Summer Outdoor, Convention Hall, Nature, Cafe Chatter, HVAC |
| Volume | 10-100% |
Noise Cancellation
Removes background noise from inbound audio before it reaches speech detection and transcription. Toggle it on and choose a Noise Cancellation Filter (currently RNN).
Voice Mail Detection
Detects when the call reaches voicemail so the agent can handle it appropriately:
- Toggle Voice Mail Detection on.
- Optionally enable a Custom Voicemail Message and write your own. Leave it off to use ScaleAI's built-in default.
Keyboard Input Detection
Captures keypad (DTMF) tones entered by the caller. Useful for menu selections, PINs, or numeric input.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Input Timeout | 1-15 seconds. Maximum time to wait for each keypad input. |
| Termination Key | A key (e.g. #) that ends the input sequence when pressed. |
| Digit Limit | Limits the number of digits a caller can input. If disabled, up to 50 digits are allowed; when enabled, set a max of 1-20. |
IVR Navigation
Guides the agent through interactive voice response (IVR) menus, the phone menus callers hear like "press 1 for sales", to reach a desired destination. Toggle it on and write a Goal, e.g.:
Navigate the IVR menu to reach a human billing support agent.Call Strategy
Controls how the AI detects when a caller starts and stops speaking. Different strategies balance responsiveness against accuracy.
Strategy Type
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Standard | Default behaviour for detecting user turns. |
| Filter Incomplete | Additionally filters out incomplete turns using AI-based turn-completion rules. |
Start Strategy
Determines when the user's turn begins (e.g. voice activity detection).
Stop Strategy
Determines when the user's turn ends (e.g. speech timeout).
Turn Completion Config (Filter Incomplete only)
AI-based turn-completion instructions, timeouts, and re-prompts:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Incomplete Short Timeout | 0.5-30 seconds. Time to wait after a short incomplete turn before re-prompting the AI. |
| Incomplete Long Timeout | 1-60 seconds. Time to wait after a long incomplete turn before re-prompting. |
| Incomplete Short Prompt | System prompt sent when the short timeout expires. It must instruct the AI to respond with ✓ plus a brief re-engagement line. |
| Incomplete Long Prompt | System prompt sent when the long timeout expires. It must instruct the AI to respond with ✓ plus a friendly check-in. |
| Completion Instructions | Full turn-completion instructions appended to the AI's system prompt. They govern how the AI decides ✓ (complete) / ○ (incomplete short) / ◐ (incomplete long). |
Leave prompts unset to use the built-in defaults. Turning the Call Strategy off entirely resets your changes back to ScaleAI's defaults.
Call Strategy defaults can be managed at the workspace level through ScaleAI's strategy configuration. The agent-level settings here let you customise turn detection for a specific agent.
Next Steps
- Agent Configuration: the full configuration matrix.
- Audio & Voice: the language the final message is spoken in.
- Phone Numbers: connect a number for real calls.
- Test the Agent: practise timeouts, voicemail, and keypad input on a live call.