Principles

These principles are the standard for how the voice agent talks on phone and in-app voice. Use them in order: get the turn right, then the tone, then the sound of the voice.

Core Principles

Three principles, in this order. Each one only helps once the one before it is in place.

Structure Before Tone

Build the turn first. If the opening, confirmation, or close is broken, a warmer voice will not fix it.

Tone & Trust

How the agent talks only matters after the call actually works. Callers decide whether to trust it at the opening, at confirmation, and at the close.

The Sound of the Voice

Choose pitch, pace, accent, and the rest on purpose for each persona. Don’t pick a voice because it sounds good.

Structure Before Tone

A nicer tone or a better-sounding voice will not save a poorly built turn. Get these seven moments right before you tune anything else:

Tone & Trust

How the agent talks cannot make up for a failed task. On a call that already works, tone can make the experience feel better and ease small friction. That’s all it does. Trust is not spread evenly through the call. It sits at three moments, and a miss at any of them costs more than the same miss anywhere else.

Moment	What it means
Opening	From the first words, the caller decides whether this agent can handle their problem.
Confirmation	Rushing, skipping, or contradicting a confirmation feels like you never confirmed. Offering the wrong day first is a confirmation failure, not a scheduling inconvenience.
Close	Stopping at “done” leaves the call hanging, even when the task succeeded.

These rules apply to every persona and channel, not just those three moments.

Standard	Requirement
DoClose with a sign-off	State what got done, what happens next, and close with a recognizable sign-off.
DoTool framing over character	The agent presents as a tool doing a job, not a persona with a personality. Strictest for Dispatcher.
DoRecommendation first, rationale second	For Technician, Dispatcher, and Owner, state the action or number before explaining how it was reached.
DoSkimmable by default	Deliver the headline first for Dispatcher and Owner; offer more detail rather than stating it automatically.
Don’tEnd on completion alone	Don’t end on task completion alone, or treat confirmation as optional under latency pressure.
Don’tNever claim or imply humanity	If the agent has a name or voice identity, that identity must stay legible as AI.
Don’tNo conversational framing on staff surfaces	No greeting, no small talk on alerts, status updates, or capture confirmations. Consumer voice is the one exception.
Don’tNo cutesy or human-mimicking delivery	No giggly filler or performed cuteness, on any surface, in any role.

The Sound of the Voice

Set pitch, brightness, clarity, accent, pacing, intonation, and temperature for the persona. Don’t pick a voice on instinct. A voice that scores well on quality is not automatically the one people trust. What helps one persona can hurt another: warmth that technicians reward can be the same warmth consumers penalize.

References

Source: Voice Experience Standards Framework (JB Booth, Aug 22, 2026).

Tone & Trust

The text and chat standard for the same principle.

Patterns

How each persona’s turns are built.

Persona and Voice Guidelines

Tone and acoustic calibration by role.

AI Kit

Agent Experience

Core Principles

Structure Before Tone

Tone & Trust

The Sound of the Voice

Structure Before Tone

Tone & Trust

The Sound of the Voice

References

Tone & Trust

Patterns

Persona and Voice Guidelines

​Core Principles

Structure Before Tone

Tone & Trust

The Sound of the Voice

​Structure Before Tone

​Tone & Trust

​The Sound of the Voice

​References

​Related

Tone & Trust

Patterns

Persona and Voice Guidelines

Core Principles

Structure Before Tone

Tone & Trust

The Sound of the Voice

References

Related