The technology
Barge-in is the ability of a caller to interrupt a voice system while it is still speaking, and have it stop and listen. Without barge-in the caller has to wait out the whole prompt. With it, the conversation can be cut short the way a conversation with a person can.
Also called: Interruption handling · Talk-over
Interrupting is ordinary behaviour on the telephone, especially when the caller already knows what they want. A system that keeps talking over an interruption reads as a machine within seconds. Barge-in is one of the small mechanics, alongside latency, that decides whether a call feels like a conversation.
Three things beside barge-in: a response delay short enough that nobody notices the pause, small acknowledgements in the places a person would make them, and an answer that is genuinely about what was asked. Voice quality is the most obvious of the four and, on its own, the least decisive.
Last checked 2026-09-23
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