Consistent timing is important in developing a conversational rhythm for the dialog. Activities you may want to consider include:
The default timeout value for the VoiceXML browser is 7 seconds. For applications designed for special populations (such as non-native speakers or older adults), you might want to increase this by specifying a larger value (around 10 seconds) by specifying a value for the timeout property in your application root document.
Some users may interpret a long processing delay as an indication that the system did not hear or did not accept the most recent input. This can cause users to repeat what they just said, which can lead to misrecognitions and accidentally stopping a prompt that has just begun to play.
If you anticipate that processing a user's request may take an extended period of time, you should consider playing a prompt to inform the user of the delay, or at least to confirm that the system accepted the input. For example:
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