Agent Gets Interrupted by Filler Words During User Conversation
I’m using Vapi for a real-time voice AI agent integration. I’ve noticed that when users say short filler or acknowledgment words such as “oh,” “ya,” “yes,” “hmm,” “okay,” etc. — the agent’s speech (TTS) gets interrupted multiple times.
These are not actual interruptions but natural backchannel cues from the user to show they are listening. However, Vapi currently treats them as speech events and stops the agent mid-sentence.
I’d like your guidance on how to handle this gracefully. Specifically:
Is there a way in Vapi to ignore very short speech segments or filter out filler words before triggering interruption?
Can we implement a minimum speech duration or intent-based check (e.g., classify as filler vs. actual interruption)?
Are there any built-in settings, hooks, or recommended best practices to reduce false interruptions in conversational flows?
Appreciate any suggestions or sample configurations you can share to help make the interaction smoother and more natural.
These are not actual interruptions but natural backchannel cues from the user to show they are listening. However, Vapi currently treats them as speech events and stops the agent mid-sentence.
I’d like your guidance on how to handle this gracefully. Specifically:
Is there a way in Vapi to ignore very short speech segments or filter out filler words before triggering interruption?
Can we implement a minimum speech duration or intent-based check (e.g., classify as filler vs. actual interruption)?
Are there any built-in settings, hooks, or recommended best practices to reduce false interruptions in conversational flows?
Appreciate any suggestions or sample configurations you can share to help make the interaction smoother and more natural.
