AI voice agent glossary
The words you hear when comparing solutions, explained in one or two sentences.
AI voice agent
Software that talks on the phone in place of a person: it calls or answers, understands what is said, replies with a synthetic voice and acts on the answers (take notes, book a meeting, transfer).
Callbot
Another name for a voice agent, stressing the phone. Early callbots followed a menu (“press 1”); AI callbots understand naturally spoken sentences.
Voicebot
Software that converses by voice, on the phone or elsewhere. In everyday use, a synonym of callbot and AI voice agent.
Concurrent calls
How many calls the agent handles at the same time. This sets the possible volume: at Nodical, 10 to 200 are included depending on the tier.
Warm transfer
The agent passes the call live to a salesperson while the contact is on the line, with what they have already said, instead of promising a callback.
Voicemail detection
Automatic recognition of voicemail when the call is picked up, so the agent hangs up or leaves a message instead of talking to no one.
Word-for-word script
Mode where the agent says exactly the sentences written by the company, in the planned order, instead of rephrasing them. The AI model is then used to understand answers, not to write.
Qualification
The questions that sort a contact: need, timing, decision, business-specific criteria. The agent asks them and transfers those who are ready.
Callback within a minute
Calling an inbound request (form, missed call) back within the following minute, while the person is still available.
Transcription
The written text of the conversation, produced automatically by speech recognition. It lets you read back every call and check what was said.
Text-to-speech
Technology that turns text into voice. It gives the agent its voice.
Speech recognition
Technology that turns speech into text, so the agent understands what the person says.
Response time
The delay between the end of the person's sentence and the start of the agent's reply. The shorter it is, the more natural the conversation feels.
Per-second billing
Talk time is counted to the second, instead of rounding up to the minute. At Nodical, with a 20-second minimum per answered call; an unanswered call costs nothing.
Do-not-call list
The list of people who asked not to be called again. They are removed from campaigns.
White label
The agent is used under another company's brand (agency, call centre), which resells it to its own clients.
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