> ## 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. # Answer confirmation > When the survey interviewer reads an answer back before recording it: the Read every answer back switch, the automatic did-you-say check on possible mishearings, the default for each question type, and how respondents' replies to a check are handled. ## Two kinds of check Before recording an answer, the interviewer can check it with the respondent. There are two kinds of check: * **A read-back** — the answer is read back for a yes: *"Neutral — is that right?"* You control this with **Read every answer back** in each question's **Voice** panel. * **A did-you-say check** — on questions with a list of answers, an answer that could be a *mishearing* is checked with a short question: *"Did you say neutral?"* This happens automatically and can't be turned off. The balance matters: every check costs the respondent a turn. A survey that reads every answer back sounds careful for three questions and tedious for thirty. *** ## Defaults by question type | Question type | **Read every answer back** default | What a read-back sounds like | Did-you-say check on a mishearing | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | | [Single choice](/surveys/question-types/single-choice) / [Rating](/surveys/question-types/rating) | Off | *"Neutral — is that right?"* | Always | | [Battery](/surveys/question-types/battery) | — (not offered) | Never read back | Always, once per rating | | [Number](/surveys/question-types/number) | Off | *"3 9 4 1 — is that right?"* (digit by digit) | None | | [Long text](/surveys/question-types/long-text) | **On** | A one-line summary: *"So water infrastructure, and climate change — have I got that right?"* | None | | [First name](/surveys/question-types/first-name) | **On** | *"Jared — have I got that right?"*, or with spelling *"… Jared, J-A-R-E-D — is that right?"* | None | | [Phone number](/surveys/question-types/phone-number) | **On** | The number in digit groups, for a yes | None | | [Display](/surveys/question-types/display) | — | No answer to check | — | Changing a question's **Type** resets the switch to the new type's default, unless you've already saved a choice for that question. *** ## Single choice and Rating: the mishearing check On a question with a list of answers, how an answer was matched decides whether it's checked: | The respondent's answer matched… | Read every answer back **off** | Read every answer back **on** | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | | The option's own text, or one of its **Accept** lines | Recorded straight away | Read back for a yes | | Only one of its **Often heard as** lines, or only because it *sounds like* the option | Checked: *"Did you say neutral?"* | Read back for a yes | So with the switch off — the default — clearly heard answers go straight through and only doubtful ones cost an extra turn. If the respondent's own words contain the option's text, the answer counts as clearly heard. **Replies to a check:** * *"Yes"*, or repeating the option (*"neutral"*) — the answer is recorded. * *"No"* — the interviewer asks again with a clarify line. On a question with only two options read out, a bare "no" is taken as the other option, which is then checked instead. * Naming a different option — that option is checked instead. * Anything unclear — the check is asked again. * When the **Confirm** attempt cap is spent, the question is recorded as skipped. Each repeat of the check is worded a little differently — *"Did you say neutral?"*, then *"Sorry, I may have misheard - did you say neutral?"*, then *"Sorry about that - did you say neutral?"*. An option whose text is a number is read as separate digits, so *2111* is spoken "2 1 1 1". A screening answer — one that a rule uses to screen the respondent out or end the interview — is always checked first if it was matched from a possible mishearing, so nobody is screened out on a misheard word. A screening answer that was heard clearly is recorded straight away, without a read-back, even when **Read every answer back** is on. ### Put real phrases in Accept, not Often heard as The check is triggered by **Often heard as** matches. If you list a phrase respondents genuinely say — *"pretty happy"* for *Satisfied* — under **Often heard as**, every respondent who says it gets an extra "did you say…?" turn. Put it under **Accept** instead, and keep **Often heard as** for what the speech recogniser writes by mistake (*"can send"* for *concerned*). See [Single choice → Accept, Often heard as and Reject](/surveys/question-types/single-choice#accept-often-heard-as-and-reject). *** ## Number, Long text, First name and Phone number These types have no list to match against, so there's no mishearing check — **Read every answer back** is the only check: * **Number** — off by default. Turn it on for postcodes, years and dollar amounts, where a wrong digit matters; leave it off for short scores. * **Long text** — on by default. The summary read-back reassures the respondent they've been understood; a "no" of any kind asks them to give the answer again. The recorded answer is always their own words, not the summary. Turn it off for short, low-stakes open questions. * **First name** — on by default. With it off, the name is written straight through; a "no" at any point still switches to spelling. See [First name](/surveys/question-types/first-name). * **Phone number** — on by default, and leave it on: *"On a phone number this is the only check there is."* On First name and Phone number, a value you supply in **Value we already hold** is always read back for a yes (unless **Skip it when the contact already has one** is on), whatever this switch says. *** ## How many times The **Confirm** attempt cap (default 5) limits how many check turns a question can spend. When it runs out, the question is recorded as skipped and the interview moves on. Set it on the survey in the [Agent section](/surveys/agent), or per question in the **Behaviour** panel. See [Attempts and step levels](/surveys/attempts-and-step-levels). Single choice and Rating questions saved before 22 September 2026 keep the **Read every answer back** setting they were saved with. Open older questions and turn the switch off if you want clearly heard answers recorded straight away. *** ## Next Steps * [Single choice](/surveys/question-types/single-choice) — authoring Accept, Often heard as and Reject. * [Attempts and step levels](/surveys/attempts-and-step-levels) — the Confirm cap. * [Question settings](/surveys/question-settings) — the rest of the Voice panel.