Customizing the voice assistant

You can customize the voice assistant to fit your app’s needs and color scheme. To access the customization options:

  1. In Alan Studio, at the top of the code editor, click Integrations.

  2. Click the Web, iOS or Android tab and use the options below to set up the necessary style and behavior for the voice assistant.

../../../_images/customization_button_options.png

You can do the following:

Note

  • The Alan button settings are configured at the project level. If you have several projects, you need to configure the button settings for them separately.

  • You can specify different settings for every environment in the project: Development, Testing or Production, and for each platform or SDK: web, iOS or Android.

  • Some of the customization options are available on specific pricing plans. For details, see Alan pricing.

Enabling or disabling the Alan button

Use this option to show or hide the Alan button for users of your app.

Default

on/visible

Platforms

Web/iOS/Android

Enabling or disabling the Speech-to-Text panel

Use this option to show or hide the Speech-to-Text panel for users of your app. The Speech-to-Text panel is active when the user gives voice commands to the app, showing the recognized input, and helps with visual feedback.

Default

on/visible

Platforms

Web/iOS/Android

Note

The ‘Speech To Text’ panel is not displayed in mobile web browsers on the Web platform.

Recording intent audio

Use this option to record every voice command given by users. Audio recordings will be available in the project logs. Recording audio is a great way to debug user flows and adjust your voice script accordingly. We have taken extra security measures to ensure that all recordings are protected and available only to you as the project owner.

Default

off

Platforms

Web/iOS/Android

Playing the ready-to-listen sound

By default, when the user interacts with Alan, a special sound is played when Alan is ready to listen for user’s utterances. If you do not want the sound to be played, you can disable the Play ready-to-listen sound option.

Default

on

Platforms

Web

Changing the button position

The Alan button is draggable, so the user can change the button position in the app. Disable this option if you do not want users to be able to drag the button around the page.

Default

on

Platforms

Web

Saving the button position

Enable this option to keep the latest button position after the page refresh.

The button position is kept during the current dialog session. Once a new dialog session starts, the button is put to the default position.

Default

off

Platforms

Web

Disabling Alan button popups

Use this option to disable showing popups next to the Alan button in the app. For more details on popups, see Alan button popups.

Default

on

Platforms

Web

Changing the Alan button visual style

Use this option to customize the Alan button visual style to match your brand design and color scheme. You can do the following:

Default

blue

Platforms

Web/iOS/Android

Changing the button styles

By default, the Alan button is blue. If the default color does not fit the color scheme of your site or app, you can change it. In the Integrations view, to the right of the Alan button visual style field, click Change and in the Button Style section, choose the necessary colors for every Alan button state.

The Alan button has four states:

  • Idle State: the default state of the Alan button

  • Listening State: this state is applied when Alan waits for a user utterance

  • Processing State: this state is applied when Alan is analyzing the user input

  • Speaking Back State: this state is applied when Alan speaks back to the user

To save the configured color scheme, in the Integrations view, to the right of the Button Code field, click Save and define the scheme name. You can switch between the default color scheme and saved color schemes at any time.

../../../_images/customization_button_style.png

Changing the button size

The default size of the Alan button displayed in the app is 64px. You can define the necessary button size directly in Alan Studio. In the Button Size section, drag the slider right or left to make the Alan button larger or smaller.

../../../_images/button-size.png

Changing the voice, accent and rate

Use this option to change Alan’s voice:

  1. In the Integrations view, to the right of the Alan voice field, click Change.

  2. In the languages list, select the language for the voice assistant, the regional accent and the voice type.

  3. Use the slider to define the speaking rate (speed) in the range of 0.3-2.5, where 1 is normal speed. For example, to set the speaking rate to half as fast, drag the slider to 0.5; to set the speaking rate to twice as fast, drag the slider to 2.

../../../_images/language-type.png

Default

English, US, Alan voice, normal speed (1)

Platforms

Web/iOS/Android

Setting the microphone timeout

Use this option to set the period after which the Alan button is automatically deactivated. This option helps users save on battery/traffic and avoid unwanted commands. Also, the microphone timeout functionality pairs great with using the wake word.

Default

10s

Platforms

Web/iOS/Android

Taking screenshots

Use this option to take screenshots of the app with every voice command given by users. Screenshots will be available in the project logs. Taking screenshots is a great way to debug user flows and adjust your voice script accordingly. We have taken extra security measures to ensure that all screenshots are protected and available only to you as the project owner.

Default

off

Platforms

iOS/Android

Keeping the session active

Use this option to keep the voice session active even when the user puts the app in the background mode. If this option is enabled, the user will be able to continue the conversation with Alan even while actively using other app.

Default

off

Platforms

iOS/Android

Using the wake word

Use this option to allows users to activate the voice assistant in the app with a special word or phrase. The default wake words are Hey, Alan or OK, Alan. However, you can customize the wake word phrase to support your brand identity. For details, contact the Alan AI team.

To enable the wake word:

  1. In the Integrations view, to the right of the Alan wake word field, click Change.

  2. To let users activate the voice assistant with the default phrases, enable the Hey Alan wake word option.

  3. To allow using the wake word even if the app is put in the background mode, enable the Wake word in background option.

    Mind the following:

    • Together with this option, you must enable the Hey Alan wake word and Keep active while the app is in the background options. Otherwise, the wake word in the background mode will not work.

    • (For iOS) To allow the background mode for an iOS app, in your XCode project, go to the Signing and Capabilities tab. In the top left corner, click + Capability and in the capabilities list, double-click Background Modes. In the Modes list, select the Audio, AirPlay, and Picture in Picture check box.

    • The app running in the background mode will remain collapsed. To bring the app to the foreground, the user will need to tap the microphone bar at the top of the device screen or the app icon itself.

    • VoIP apps having a higher priority such as Skype or telephone can interrupt Alan voice sessions. If this happens, the wake word will not work until the user re-opens the app.

  4. To use a custom wake word, in the Wake word path field, specify a path to the wake word package provided by Alan AI. The path string must start with https://storage.googleapis.com/ and end with rar, zip or tar/tar.gz.

Default

off

Platforms

iOS/Android