02 / Voice systems
Voice agent latency & reliability
Find the friction between a question and a useful response.
When this is useful
A voice agent can work in a scripted test and still feel slow or brittle in conversation. Speech recognition, endpointing, model responses, tools and audio playback all contribute. This check follows the full turn and identifies where behaviour diverges from your agreed expectations.
- Long or inconsistent pauses make callers repeat themselves.
- Interruptions, silence or noisy audio derail the conversation.
- Tool failures leave the agent waiting or inventing a result.
What you receive
- Measured response baseline
- Reliability findings + measurement gaps
- Bounded improvement proposal
What’s included
- Review one agent, one flow and one language/configuration.
- Run up to 20 scripted conversations, capped at 100 user turns, with agreed safe test access.
- Break down available timing traces by pipeline stage.
- Inspect interruption handling, silence behaviour, retries and escalation.
- Deliver a measured response baseline, reliability findings and bounded improvement proposal; include one review call and one factual-correction round.
Schedule & agreement
Draft planning assumption: 5–7 business days, starting only after adequate inputs, safe access and a delivery slot are agreed. Commercial scope is subject to review.
Currency, tax treatment and final scope are agreed before work starts. Implementation and ongoing support are scoped separately.
What’s outside the check
- Production changes, full new systems, migrations or stress testing.
- Emergency, medical or other regulated-use certification.
- Always-on operations, call-volume commitments or guaranteed latency.
Access we’ll agree
Read-only flow configuration and provider settings; existing timing traces; consented recordings or sanitised transcripts; a test environment where available. Agree retention and handling before sharing recordings.
From diagnosis to a scoped fix
A bounded implementation could add timeouts and escalation, tune a specific turn-taking issue, or instrument one latency stage. We agree the test conditions and acceptance criteria before implementation.
Questions before you start
Is this only about choosing a faster model?
No. The check distinguishes speech, network, model, tool and playback delays where evidence permits. A model change is useful only if it addresses the observed bottleneck.
Can we use synthetic test calls?
Yes. Controlled scenarios help reproduce interruptions, tool failures and silence handling. Real-world evidence can add context when it is shared with appropriate consent.
Related starting points
Have a specific problem?
Start with a useful question.
Describe the symptom and the outcome. We’ll define the boundary before quoting the work.
Book a consultation ↗Or prepare an enquiry →