Voice agent technology is still young — but it's evolving at lightning speed. The rise of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Mistral, or Claude only began a few years ago. And yet, they can already sustain natural conversations, understand complex intentions, and act with a high level of autonomy
These advances unlock enormous potential: automating phone calls, streamlining the customer experience, and freeing up time for your teams. But like any emerging technology, voice AI isn’t perfect. Mistakes happen — misinterpretations, inaccurate responses, technical glitches..
Should we be suspicious of it? Not at all. What matters is understanding why errors occur, how to anticipate them, and most importantly: how to fix them quickly and efficiently
That’s where Rounded comes in — a platform designed to give every business full control and help you get the best out of voice AI, even when things go wrong.
1. What kind of mistakes can a voice agent make?
Even though voice agents have made tremendous progress in recent years, they’re still not flawless. One of the most frequently cited terms is "hallucination" — when the AI gives a response that sounds plausible, but is actually wrong or off-topic, often due to a misunderstanding or an ill-framed prompt
But hallucinations are just one type of error. Others may include
Misunderstood words or accents, especially in noisy environments, on poor connections, or when the caller speaks too quickly
Off-topic responses when prompts are vague or the LLM isn't well guided
Total inaction, where the agent fails to execute an expected action — like transferring a call, sending a message, or triggering an API
Loops or repetitions, often due to missing guardrails or unclear logic in the call script
Incorrect data capture, such as failing to properly extract a name, email address, or appointment date
Lag, interruptions, or unstable voice generation, usually linked to technical issues in the transcription, synthesis, or understanding layers of the stack
The good news? These errors aren’t a fatal flaw. They can be detected, understood, and most importantly: fixed. In the next sections, we’ll explain why these issues happen and how Rounded helps you anticipate, troubleshoot, and correct them — quickly and effectively.
2. Why even the best voice agent can make mistakes
Voice agents aren’t magic. They’re powerful tools — but they rely on a complex technical stack: transcription, language understanding, voice synthesis, logic rules, API integration… A flaw in any link can cause errors
Here’s why those errors occur — and why they’re still part of the game
Human language is unpredictable. It’s not code. People pause, backtrack, change their minds mid-sentence, or jump topics. Even top LLMs like ChatGPT or Mistral must interpret — and they can get it wrong
Prompts are everything. A voice agent doesn’t improvise: it follows your instructions. If the mission isn’t clearly framed, or the instructions are vague or incomplete, it might skip a step, say too much, or go off track
The phone environment is noisy. Unlike chatting online, phone calls deal with background noise, poor microphones, and unstable lines — all of which degrade transcription quality and interpretation
Like any software, AI can glitch. Server overloads, API failures, network latency… These events are rare but unavoidable at scale
Bottom line? These aren’t signs of an immature technology — they reflect the complexity of natural conversation. And more importantly: with the right platform, these issues can be tracked, prevented, and corrected. That’s exactly what Rounded is built for.3. How Rounded detects and corrects voice agent mistakesWith Rounded, errors aren’t dead-ends — they’re entry points for continuous improvement. Here’s how the platform helps you stay in control
Clear call monitoringEvery interaction is automatically logged, including
The full transcriptThe tools used (hang up, transfer, custom actions…)The captured variables (name, email, intent, etc.)In seconds, you can spot where something went wrong and fix it — no guesswork
Built-in safety netsRounded lets you define protective rules to avoid runaways
Timeouts and silence detection: calls are auto-ended after a set time or if the caller stays silent too long (with configurable retries)
Confidence thresholds: if the AI isn’t sure, it can confirm, rephrase, or hand off to a human — just set the logic in your prompt
Custom vocabulary: teach your agent to recognize key terms (names, cities, jargon) specific to your business
Technical flexibilityIf one of your providers goes down — no worries. Rounded supports multiple vendors per component
Voice: Cartesia, ElevenLabs, Azure, OpenAITranscription: Gladia, Deepgram, AzureLLM: OpenAI, Mistral, GoogleIf latency spikes or an outage occurs, Rounded alerts you in real time and lets you switch providers in seconds
Real-time adaptabilityRounded gives you full control to
Edit prompts, adjust scripts, or reword instructionsChange providers, voices, or LLMs as neededDeploy changes instantly — no developer requiredThis is the kind of reactivity that turns every mistake into a growth opportunity.
4. Voice AI is evolving fast — and the future looks bright
Just four years ago, no one would’ve trusted an AI to handle a real phone call. Voice was robotic, scripts were stiff, and understanding was limited
But today? Everything’s changed
We now have voice agents that hold fluid, context-aware, and almost natural conversations — in multiple languages, with dozens of voice styles to match your brand. Some even simulate background noise for extra realism
And this is just the beginning
Every error makes it betterEach time something goes wrong — a misunderstood word, a misfire — you can learn and fix it instantly. Rounded gives you the tools to test, update, and improve — without technical skills or delays
LLMs are getting smarterWith each new generation, models like GPT-4, Claude, or Mistral become sharper, more nuanced, and more context-aware. What took ten lines of logic now fits in a well-written prompt
Voices are becoming more humanWith top providers like ElevenLabs or Azure, synthetic voices now carry tone, rhythm, and emotion. They don’t sound robotic anymore — they sound like your team
And tomorrow
In a few years, voice agent errors will be as rare — and forgivable — as a small glitch on a website. But even now, you can deliver near-perfect voice experiences
You just need the right tools — and that’s what Rounded was built to be:a platform that lets you create powerful agents, monitor them, and grow with the future of voice AI.