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Global Settings apply to your entire flow agent. Access them from the left sidebar icons in the Flow Builder.

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Accessing Global Settings

In the Flow Builder, the left sidebar contains icons for:
IconSetting
PromptSystem prompt and agent instructions
VoiceVoice settings and TTS configuration
KBKnowledge base attachment
EnvironmentBackground sounds and ambience

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System Prompt (Global Instructions)

The system prompt defines your agent’s core personality and behavior across all conversation nodes. 
System Prompt: |
  You are Alex, a friendly customer service agent for Acme Corp.

  Core behaviors:
  - Always be helpful, patient, and professional
  - Use the customer's name when you know it
  - Keep responses concise (under 30 words when possible)
  - Never make promises you can't keep

  You represent Acme Corp, a technology company specializing
  in smart home devices. Our products include:
  - SmartHub (central controller)
  - SmartSensor (motion/temperature)
  - SmartLock (keyless entry)

  Business hours: Monday-Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM Eastern
Node-specific prompts extend (don’t replace) the global system prompt.

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Voice Settings

Configure how your agent sounds:

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Voice Selection

SettingDescription
ProviderCartesia or ElevenLabs
VoiceSpecific voice to use
SpeedPlayback rate (0.5 - 2.0, default: 1.0)
VolumeOutput volume (0 - 100)

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Responsiveness

Control how quickly the agent responds: 
Responsiveness: 7  # Scale of 1-10
Higher values = faster responses but may interrupt callers.

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Back-channeling

Natural acknowledgment sounds during conversation: 
Back-channeling:
  Enabled: true
  Frequency: 5  # How often (0-10)
  Words: ["mm-hmm", "I see", "right", "okay", "got it"]

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Emotion (Cartesia Sonic 3)

Control emotional tone: 
Emotion:
  Type: "friendly"  # neutral, excited, content, sympathetic, curious, confident
  Intensity: "medium"  # low, medium, high

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Pre-response Phrases

Filler phrases before responding: 
Pre-response:
  Enabled: true
  Phrases:
    - "Let me check that for you..."
    - "One moment please..."
    - "Good question..."

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Pronunciation Overrides

Custom pronunciations for specific words: 
Pronunciations:
  "Acme": "ACK-mee"
  "API": "A P I"
  "SQL": "sequel"
See Voice Settings for detailed configuration.

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Knowledge Base

Attach a default knowledge base for the entire agent: 
Knowledge Base:
  Folder: /Company-FAQ
  Top-K: 5
  Reranking: true
  • Folder: Which KB folder to use
  • Top-K: Number of results to retrieve
  • Reranking: Enable for better accuracy
Individual nodes can override the global KB with node-specific folders.
See Knowledge Base for setup instructions.

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Environment

Ambient sounds and effects:

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Background Ambience

Background:
  Enabled: true
  Sound: "office"  # office, cafe, call-center, quiet
  Volume: 30

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Thinking Sound

Audio feedback while AI processes: 
Thinking Sound:
  Enabled: true
  Sound: "subtle-click"
  Volume: 20
See Environment for all options.

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Agent Metadata

Basic agent information:
FieldDescription
NameDisplay name for the agent
DescriptionInternal notes about purpose
LanguagePrimary language (en-US, en-UK, etc.)
TimezoneDefault timezone for scheduling

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Settings Inheritance

Settings cascade from global to node-specific: 
Global Settings
    │
    ├── Node Settings (extend/override)
    │       │
    │       └── Transition Settings
    │
    └── All other nodes inherit global
Example:
  • Global KB: /Company-FAQ
  • Billing Node KB: /Billing-FAQ (overrides for this node)
  • Support Node: Uses /Company-FAQ (inherits global)

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Best Practices

Set Defaults Early

Configure global settings before building your flow. Nodes inherit these defaults.

Use Consistent Voice

Choose one voice and stick with it. Changing mid-conversation is jarring.

Test Voice Settings

Use Test Call to verify voice, speed, and pronunciation sound natural.

Document System Prompt

Keep your system prompt organized with clear sections for different behaviors.

System Prompt

Detailed prompt configuration

Voice Settings

Voice and speech configuration

Knowledge Base

Document and content management

Environment

Ambient sounds and effects