Voice experiences amplify latency and ambiguity. This checklist keeps conversational flows shippable before they reach production traffic.
Latency and barge-in
Target sub-second first-byte audio where networks allow; pad with concise acknowledgments instead of silence.
Handle barge-in gracefully—cancel pending syntheses and discard stale partial transcripts.
Fallback language and tone
Write fallback phrases that sound human without over-promising. Offer keypad or visual pivots when confidence drops.
Localize not only strings but pacing; some languages need shorter clauses for natural TTS cadence.
Logging and privacy
Redact PANs, addresses, and health tokens before retention. Pair transcripts with consent timestamps.
Alert on repeated recognition failures—often a mic policy or codec regression, not user error.
