Every link to a simulation or coach is either a text link or a voice link. Two settings decide whether a learner who opens one kind of link is offered the other mode. A third decides whether a learner whose voice session fails is offered text instead. They are available on all plans, for any simulation or coach that has voice turned on.
Simulations and coaches behave differently. In a simulation, the learner chooses a mode before an attempt starts. In a coach, the learner can move between text and voice during the conversation, and the conversation carries on.
Before you start
- Turn voice on for the simulation or coach. The settings on this page only appear once voice is on. See Set up voice.
- Know which kind of link your learners use. A link's mode comes from the link itself, not from a setting:
- In the Publish stage, a simulation or coach with voice on shows two versions of each link and embed code, labelled Text variant and Voice variant.
- For a simulation's LMS package, Content type is Text or Voice, and the package opens the matching kind of link.
- The Voice test link shown next to the voice settings is a voice link.
- A voice link to a simulation or coach that has voice turned off opens in text.
Steps
For a simulation:
- Open the simulation, and in the Design stage open the Simulation section.
- Under Voice, make sure Enable real-time voice mode is selected.
- Under Learner mode options, select or clear Offer voice mode on text links and Offer text mode on voice links.
- Select or clear Offer text mode if voice mode disconnects. The editor describes it this way: "When the microphone is blocked or the voice session cannot start or drops, learners can continue in text. Turn off to keep the experience voice-only."
- Select Save Changes.
For a coach:
- Open the coach, and in the Design stage open the Personality section.
- Make sure Enable voice mode is selected.
- Under Learner mode options, select or clear Offer voice mode on text links and Offer text mode on voice links.
- Select or clear Offer text mode if voice mode disconnects.
- Select Save Changes.
Offer voice mode on text links and Offer text mode on voice links start cleared on a simulation and selected on a coach. Offer text mode if voice mode disconnects starts selected on both. A coach that already had Offer text mode on voice links cleared when this option was added has it cleared as well, so its learners see what they saw before.
Result
Learners who open a link see the other mode offered, or not, according to the option for that kind of link. A learner whose voice session fails is offered text, or not, according to Offer text mode if voice mode disconnects. A saved change can take a short time to reach learners, because the page learners open keeps its settings briefly.
What learners see in a simulation
The choice is made before an attempt begins. The editor describes it this way: "Learners choose their mode before an attempt starts. Once a conversation begins, the mode stays fixed for that attempt."
On a text link, with Offer voice mode on text links selected:
- If the simulation has a start screen, it shows Begin in voice mode below the main button.
- If it has no start screen, a Use voice control appears above the conversation. It disappears once the learner sends a message, and is not shown after the simulation ends.
On a voice link, with Offer text mode on voice links selected:
- If the simulation has a start screen, it shows Begin in text mode below the main button.
- If it has no start screen, a Use text control appears on the voice screen until the learner starts the session.
When the learner starts a new attempt, the control is offered again under the same conditions.
Choosing the other mode reloads the simulation as the other kind of link:
- The start screen is not shown a second time.
- A learner identifier typed on the start screen is carried over. Other learner details typed there are carried over in the same browser tab.
- A learner who moves to voice lands on the voice screen and starts the session there ("Tap to start").
- From then on the learner is on the other kind of link. In a simulation without a start screen, selecting both options lets them move back before the attempt starts. In a simulation with a start screen, the choice is made once on the start screen and is not offered again after the switch.
When voice cannot start or drops
Offer text mode if voice mode disconnects decides whether text is offered when voice fails. Offer text mode on voice links controls only the choice offered before the attempt, and has no effect here. The option applies to every voice session of the simulation, including one a learner chose from a text link.
With Offer text mode if voice mode disconnects selected:
- If the microphone is blocked, the connection is lost, or the voice session cannot be started for a reason other than used-up attempts or the daily spending cap, the screen that explains the problem includes a Use text mode button. After a lost connection, the button is left out when the learner is on their last allowed attempt, because text mode would start a new attempt.
- If the voice connection fails before it is established, the learner can be moved to text mode without being asked.
In both cases the simulation continues in text on the same page, and Use voice is not offered there.
With the option cleared, the simulation stays in voice:
- The screens that explain the problem do not include Use text mode, and their wording does not mention text mode. The learner retries with Try again, or with Try Again when the session could not be started. After a lost connection the learner can choose Resume session or Start over.
- If the voice connection fails before it is established, the learner sees "Having trouble connecting your microphone." with Try again.
When the simulation has reached its daily spending cap, a voice link shows "Daily usage limit reached" with no Use text mode button. The cap applies to text turns as well, so text mode would be refused too. See Daily spending caps.
What learners see in a coach
On a text link, with Offer voice mode on text links selected:
- A Use voice control appears above the conversation. Unlike a simulation, it stays available after the learner has sent messages, until the coach session ends.
- If the coach has a start screen, it also shows Begin in voice mode.
- Selecting either one starts the voice session on the same page, with no reload.
A learner who moved to voice from a text link can always return to text, and is always offered text when voice fails. The two options below apply to voice links.
A voice link opens on the voice screen once voice is available. If a linked simulation is running when the page loads, voice is not available yet and the coach opens in text. Once the learner has sent a message there, the page stays on the text conversation when the simulation ends, and Use voice is offered instead.
With Offer text mode on voice links selected, a Use text control appears on the voice screen before the session starts and while it is running. Before the session starts, selecting it opens the text conversation without starting a voice session. During a session, selecting it ends the voice session, shows "Returning to chat…", and returns the learner to the text conversation. In both cases Use voice is offered there again. With the option cleared:
- No Use text control is shown.
- A voice session that reaches its time limit returns to the voice start surface, not to the text conversation.
- The exception is a linked simulation starting: the voice session is closed and the learner is moved to the text conversation.
Offer text mode if voice mode disconnects decides what happens on a voice link when voice fails, whichever way the first option is set:
- With it selected, the screens for a blocked microphone, a session that cannot connect or start, and a lost connection include Use text mode. Selecting it moves the learner to the text conversation, where Use voice is offered again. A voice connection that fails before it is established moves the learner to the text conversation without being asked.
- With it cleared, those screens do not include Use text mode and their wording does not mention text mode. The learner retries in voice, and a voice connection that fails before it is established shows "Having trouble connecting your microphone." with Try again.
When the coach has reached its daily spending cap, the voice screen shows "Daily usage limit reached" with no Use text mode button, whichever way the option is set.
End on the voice screen is different from Use text: it ends the coach session rather than moving it to text. See Coach sessions across slides, reloads, and course restarts.
While a linked simulation is running, a coach does not offer voice on any link, and a voice session that is open is ended.
What carries over in a coach
- A voice session started from the text conversation is given the most recent part of that conversation, so the coach continues from it.
- When the voice session ends, what was said is added to the text conversation, so the learner sees a single thread, including after a reload. If the session began in voice with no text conversation yet, one is created when the session had at least one turn and the learner is identified.
- Voice time is charged as voice. The turns added to the text conversation are not charged a second time. See Credits and usage.
How the control looks
Use voice and Use text are small labelled buttons with a microphone or text icon. In a narrow frame only the icon shows. On the text screen, the button takes the voice accent color from Appearance; if that color would be hard to read against the widget background, a more readable shade of it is used.
Other things to know
- Restoring an earlier version of a simulation or coach also restores these options. A version saved before an option was recorded does not hold it, so restoring that version leaves the option as it is. For a coach that applies to Offer text mode if voice mode disconnects in versions saved before it existed. For a simulation it applies to all three options in versions saved before version history started recording them.
- An AI tool connected through the MCP server cannot change these options. Set them in the editor.