Behaviours
The thousand small tells, catalogued.
Every AI caller gives itself away in the details — the too-eager reply, the goodbye loop, the pitch delivered to an iPhone’s call screening robot. We collected every tell from thousands of real calls and turned each one into a switch. Most are on by default. All of them are yours to change.
01 / LISTENING
Knowing when not to talk
The hardest thing to teach a machine is restraint. These behaviours govern how the agent hears — and when it holds back.
Patient silenceWaits when the prospect pauses mid-sentence instead of filling the gap. Pause threshold tuned per region — Brits pause longer.on by default
Barge-in toleranceStops talking immediately when interrupted. No finishing the sentence over the top of the prospect.on by default
End-of-turn detectionUses intonation, not just silence, to know when a thought has finished. "I was thinking…" is not an invitation to jump in.on by default
Noise discriminationCoughs, dogs, traffic, someone talking in the background — ignored. Only confident human speech gets a response.on by default
Filler interpretation"Sorry?", "what?", "huh?" are treated as repeat requests — answered with a brief rephrase, not the full paragraph again.on by default
02 / SPEAKING
Sounding like a colleague, not a script
Sentence economy, contractions, no corporate filler. The difference between a rep and a robot is usually one sentence too many.
Sentence economyShort by default. Expands only when asked. Nobody ever bought because the pitch was longer.on by default
Brief repairs"Sorry, what was that?" — not "my apologies, could you please repeat that for me?"on by default
No transcription echoNever repeats a misheard word back as a question. Asks naturally instead.on by default
No corporate phrases"Circle back", "touch base", "going forward" — blocked at the source with a curated list you can extend.on by default
No conversational signpostingDoesn't announce its own next move ("so, getting back to the demo…"). It just moves.on by default
Match prospect's registerMirrors their formality, brevity and energy. A one-word answerer gets short questions, not monologues.on by default
03 / FIELD-LEARNED
Things you only learn on a real switchboard
The behaviours no lab thinks of, because they only happen on real calls to real numbers. This is the category we're proudest of.
Call screening detectionRecognises iOS and Pixel call-screening prompts, responds appropriately to the robot, and calls back rather than burning the pitch on a transcript. Trained on 2,400 screened calls.novel
Gatekeeper navigationDetects receptionist vs. decision-maker from the first exchange and switches script — brief and useful with the gatekeeper, full pathway with the target.novel
IVR handlingPresses digits intelligently, recognises menu loops, escapes gracefully. Never pitches a phone tree.novel
Voicemail behaviourConfigurable per agent: leave a tight 12-second message, or hang up silently and retry at a better hour.novel
Reconnection on dropoutLine drops mid-conversation? One callback within 30 seconds, opening with an apology — not a restart of the script.novel
04 / SALES CRAFT
What good reps do without thinking
Written with people who've carried a quota. This is where "built by salespeople" stops being a slogan.
Assumptive closeProposes a specific slot — "Thursday at 2 or 3:30?" — never "when works for you?". Open windows kill bookings.on by default
Stop selling on yesThe prospect agreed. The pitch is over. Book the meeting and get off the phone — over-selling reopens closed doors.on by default
Don't argue with objectionsAcknowledge, ask, respond. An objection is information, not an attack.on by default
Mirror commitment levelPushes harder on enthusiasm, softens on hesitation. Pressure applied to a hesitant prospect is how you get blocked numbers.on by default
Pre-empt the obvious objectionSurfaces the concern the prospect is obviously sitting on before they raise it. Off by default — some teams prefer to let it come.off by default
One goodbye ruleOne closing pleasantry, then the line clears. No goodbye loops.on by default
05 / ENERGY, REGION & TONE
Sounding local, staying honest
Emotional register, regional convention, and the honesty settings that keep trust intact.
Energy matchingAdapts pace and tone to the prospect's vocal energy. Doesn't chirp at someone who sounds like it's been a long day.on by default
Frustration recoveryProspect sounds irritated? Back off, shorten, offer a clean exit. A graceful no protects the brand.on by default
Region presetUK, US, Australian, Irish or Canadian English — idioms, politeness conventions, and time-of-day greetings included. No mid-Atlantic blend.on by default
Honesty when stuckAdmits not knowing and offers to find out. Never fabricates a price, a spec, or a case study.on by default
No fake intimacyNo "I completely understand how you feel". It doesn't, and everyone knows it.on by default
Humour toleranceAllows light situational humour. Off by default — your call, literally.off by default
The point
Behaviours layer on top of any pathway, apply per agent, and every one shows its impact — how often it fired, and what it did to sentiment and bookings.
If you disagree with a default, switch it off. It’s your quota.
Hear the difference
Judge it on a real call, not this page.
One sixty-second call. Try to catch it out — interrupt it, go quiet on it, screen it.
No sign-up. No card.