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

# Assistant Behaviour

> The assistant's behaviour is shaped by what you write in your Script — flows, guidelines, and knowledge base content all influence how it responds. However, some behaviours are inherently variable or limited by the underlying technology.

## What You Can Influence

### Tone and Personality

The wording in your flows and guidelines directly shapes how the assistant communicates. Be explicit about the tone you want:

* Formal vs casual language
* Level of empathy in responses
* How much detail to provide

### Response Content

The knowledge base and guidelines determine what information the assistant can share. Structure your content clearly to get consistent responses.

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## Behaviours with Limitations

### Repetition

Repetition is an inherently tricky behaviour that is variable (probabilistic). There is a natural tension in the system between allowing the assistant flexibility to respond naturally and ensuring it follows the script structure. You can reduce repetition by:

* Varying the wording in your flow steps
* Avoiding overly rigid scripts that force similar responses
* Using guidelines to discourage repeating the same phrases

However, repetition will still occur due to the probabilistic nature of language models trying to follow the Script.

### Interrupt Handling

The assistant can detect when its message has been cut off, but it doesn't inherently "know" it has been interrupted in the conversational sense. Adding guidelines to manage interrupt behaviour has limited effect because the assistant processes each turn based on the transcript, not the real-time audio event.

### Silence

When the user is silent, the assistant will attempt to continue the conversation. See [Silence Tolerance](/conversation-dynamics/silence-tolerance) to configure how long the assistant waits before prompting the user.

### User Accents

The assistant only knows what is directly transcribed — it cannot be prompted to "understand" or respond based on user accents. If the transcription is inaccurate due to accent, the assistant will respond to the transcribed text as-is.

The [Keywords](/conversation-dynamics/keywords) feature can help improve transcription accuracy for specific terms on a per-script basis.

### Soft Speech

The assistant only knows what is directly transcribed. It cannot be prompted to handle soft or quiet speech — if the transcription service doesn't capture the audio, the assistant didn't "hear" anything.

## Ongoing Improvements

Voxworks has ongoing programs to improve transcription quality, which will enhance the assistant's ability to handle accents, soft speech, and other audio challenges over time.

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## Related Settings

* [Silence Tolerance](/conversation-dynamics/silence-tolerance) — Configure how long the assistant waits during silence
* [Response Eagerness](/conversation-dynamics/response-eagerness) — Adjust how quickly the assistant responds
* [Thinking Effort](/conversation-dynamics/thinking-effort) — Control how much the assistant reasons before responding

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