Steps Overview - Voxworks

Step Types

Voxworks supports three step types:

Type	Purpose	Interactive	Awaits Response	Interruptible
Voice	Speak to user and listen for response	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tool	Call external services	No	No	No
Flow	Navigate to a sub-flow	No	Depends	No

Common Step Properties

All steps share these properties:

Property	Description	Default
`id`	Unique identifier for the step	Required
`type`	Step type (voice, tool, flow)	Required

Voice and Tool steps also have a script property for spoken output. Flow steps do not have a script, they simply navigate directly to the sub-flow.

Step-Specific Settings

Each step can configure conversation dynamics:

Setting	Options	Description
`eagerness`	keen, normal, patient	How quickly to respond after user stops speaking
`thinking_effort`	fast, normal, deep	LLM reasoning depth for this step
`silence_response`	hurried, patient, extremely patient, infinite	How long to wait before prompting silent users

See Conversation Dynamics for details on these settings.

Voice Steps

Voice steps are the primary interactive component. They:

Speak a message to the user
Wait for the user’s response
Evaluate conditions to determine the next step

Voice Step: "Would you like to schedule a demo?"
   Condition: "User agrees" → Booking step
   Condition: "No" → Thank user and say goodbye step
   Condition: "Otherwise" → Loop back to current step

It’s recommended to use “Otherwise” to loop back to the current step, allowing the assistant to ensure step conditions have been met before continuing. Learn more about Voice Steps →

Tool Steps

Tool steps call external services. They:

Execute integrations (SMS, calendar, webhooks)
Return results that can be used in conditions
Can map outputs to variables

Tool Step: Check calendar availability
   Condition: true (slots available) → Speak options step
   Condition: false (no slots) → Apologize and offer alternative

Learn more about Tool Steps →

Flow Steps

Flow steps navigate to sub-flows. They:

Invoke another flow as a module
Variables are automatically available in the sub-flow
Return success or failure to the parent flow

Learn more about Flow Steps →

Step Execution Order

Steps execute in sequence unless conditions redirect:

Enter step — Step settings are applied (eagerness, idle, etc.)
Execute — Step-specific action runs
Evaluate — Conditions are checked (for voice/tool steps)
Navigate — Move to the next step based on conditions

Conditions

Most steps include conditions that determine navigation:

Step Type	Condition Basis
Voice	AI analysis of user response
Tool	Boolean result of tool execution
Flow	Result returned from sub-flow

Best Practices

Keep steps focused — Each step should do one thing
Use clear scripts — Write naturally, as you would speak
Plan your conditions — Consider all possible user responses
Set appropriate dynamics — Adjust eagerness and thinking for each step
Test step transitions — Verify conditions work as expected

Next Steps

Voice Steps — Design interactive conversations
Tool Steps — Integrate external services
Flow Steps — Navigate between flows

​Step Types

​Common Step Properties

​Step-Specific Settings

​Voice Steps

​Tool Steps

​Flow Steps

​Step Execution Order

​Conditions

​Best Practices

​Next Steps