Voice Agent doesn't speak numbers
I'm setting up a voice agent and when I test, it skips over any numbers. Times, pricing, etc. How can this be fixed?
2 Replies
Why the numbers disappear
When a Voiceflow agent is rendered as audio (Twilio/Vonage phone channel) the text is passed to a TTS engine.
If a message contains raw digits—but no SSML—the vendor’s default voice may drop them instead of pronouncing them. Fix → add a tiny bit of SSML 1. Open the Message step that should speak the number.
2. Click the
3. Wrap the number (or the variable that holds it) in a
•
•
If a message contains raw digits—but no SSML—the vendor’s default voice may drop them instead of pronouncing them. Fix → add a tiny bit of SSML 1. Open the Message step that should speak the number.
2. Click the
</> icon (toggle to SSML view).3. Wrap the number (or the variable that holds it) in a
<say-as> tag:
• interpret-as="digits" – reads each digit (“five-zero”).•
interpret-as="cardinal" – reads the whole number (“fifty”).•
interpret-as="currency", "time", "date", etc. – for prices, times, dates.
4. Save and test the call again – the agent should now speak the numbers correctly.
Tips
• If you’re inserting a variable that is stored as a number, cast it to a string first (price_str = price + '') or just reference it inside the SSML tag:<say-as interpret-as="digits">{{price}}</say-as>
• For quick tests you can also write the number in words (“fifty”) but SSML keeps it dynamic and works with variables.
More on formatting Message steps & SSML: https://docs.voiceflow.com/docs/message-step
Let me know if that solves it! 🚀Ok thanks. Where do I find the SSML view to insert the code within an Agent step?