> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.talking-avatar.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Conversation settings

> Turn-taking, interruptions, noise reduction, reasoning and call length.

Set these on the editor's **Conversation** tab. The defaults suit most agents.

## Turn-taking

How the agent decides the caller has finished speaking.

**Semantic (recommended)**

Understands when the caller has finished their thought, not just when they pause. Set its **Eagerness**:

| Eagerness | Behaviour | Good for |
| - | - | - |
| **Auto** (default) | Adapts to the conversation | Most agents |
| **Patient** | Lets callers take their time | Interviews, tutoring |
| **Balanced** | Replies at a natural pace | General conversation |
| **Eager** | Replies as soon as it can | Quick questions and answers |

**Voice activity**

Replies after a set silence. Predictable, but it can cut people off mid-thought.

| Setting | Range | Default | What it does |
| - | - | - | - |
| **Silence** | 100–3,000 ms | 500 ms | How long a pause ends the caller's turn |
| **Sensitivity threshold** | 0–1 | 0.5 | Higher needs louder speech. Raise it for noisy places. |
| **Prefix padding** | 0–2,000 ms | 300 ms | Audio kept from just before speech is detected |

## Interruptions

**Callers can interrupt** (on by default): the agent stops talking as soon as the caller speaks. It remembers only the part of its reply the caller actually heard, and the transcript shows that part.

Turn it off to have the agent finish every reply, even when the caller talks over it.

## Noise reduction

Filters the caller's audio before the agent hears it.

| Option | For |
| - | - |
| **Near field** (default) | Callers on headsets, laptops and phones |
| **Far field** | Speakerphones, kiosks and meeting rooms |
| **Off** | No filtering |

## Reasoning

How much the agent thinks before it answers.

| Option | Behaviour |
| - | - |
| **Minimal** | Fastest replies, for simple conversations |
| **Low** (default) | Quick and capable. Recommended for most agents. |
| **Medium** | More thoughtful answers, a little slower |
| **High** | Most thoughtful and slowest, for complex reasoning |

## Maximum call length

Every call ends after this, from **1 to 60 minutes**. The default is **10 minutes**. The caller sees a countdown, and when time is up the call ends with *Time's up*.

## Defaults

A new agent starts with these settings (some [templates](https://docs.talking-avatar.dev/voice-agents/templates.md) change them):

| Setting | Default |
| - | - |
| Turn-taking | Semantic, eagerness Auto |
| Voice activity settings | Silence 500 ms, threshold 0.5, prefix padding 300 ms |
| Callers can interrupt | On |
| Noise reduction | Near field |
| Reasoning | Low |
| Speaking speed | 1.00× |
| Maximum call length | 10 minutes |
| End call tool | On |


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.