Ride the AI Wave with ConversationRelay: Effortless Voice AI, Made Human

Ride the AI Wave with ConversationRelay: Effortless Voice AI, Made Human

Voice AI has come a long way, and the demand for reliable, high-powered solutions is stronger than ever. Developers and innovators are ready for a seamless way to add voice to their existing AI stack—and that’s why we built ConversationRelay.

Built to integrate effortlessly with the AI you’ve already invested in, it’s Twilio’s latest solution to help you drive operational efficiency, boost customer satisfaction, and unlock impressive ROI. Today, we are excited to share that ConversationRelay is now in public beta!

ConversationRelay makes voice AI integrations straightforward, so you can focus on delivering the self-service experiences customers expect without diving into the complexities of voice technology. It’s more than just functionality; it’s about creating interactions where customers feel understood and supported, with GenAI-powered virtual agents handling the routine so live agents can focus on the complex issues. With ConversationRelay, your voice AI doesn’t just work—it excels, helping transform customer interactions and empowering your business to achieve massive impact.

Why we built ConversationRelay

Building exceptional voice AI experiences requires the best of AI—bringing together top-tier voices, seamless conversational flow, and high-quality Speech-to-Text (STT) and Text-to-Speech (TTS) technologies. TTS serves as a natural complement to bringing Large Language Model (LLM) responses to life on the voice channel with GenAI voices, delivering natural, human-like tones that build trust and keep customers engaged. STT ensures accurate transcription, enabling smooth, real-time interactions, while advanced interruption handling and natural pacing further enhance the conversational experience. Together, these elements are vital for creating dynamic, personalized interactions that elevate customer engagement.

But combining these critical components—Speech-to-Text (STT), TTS, and LLMs—isn’t easy. Integrating high-quality voice technologies with your AI can be technically complex, and managing multiple vendors to support smooth operation can quickly become overwhelming.

That’s why we built ConversationRelay: to simplify voice AI by taking the technical complexity off your plate.

With ConversationRelay, you get everything you need to build human-like voice AI experiences, out of the box. That includes:

• Speech Recognition (STT): We handle voice input by converting spoken words into text in real time. This provides your LLM with transcription, helping to support smooth and responsive conversations.
• Natural, Human-Sounding TTS: After your LLM processes the text, we transform it into lifelike, natural speech, delivering an engaging voice that feels human and helps build trust with your customers.
• Human-Like Conversational Pacing, Orchestration, and Interruption Handling: We manage seamless voice interactions, handling interruptions and maintaining natural pacing to prevent awkward pauses. All of this supports a smoother conversation flow, even when real-time input is needed, saving you from the complexity of orchestrating media streams and handling interruptions yourself.
• LLMs for Real Conversations: Your LLM handles dynamic, context-aware conversations. We focus on the voice—ensuring seamless input and output that allows your AI to engage with customers in a natural and conversational way.

By managing all the technical complexity of voice—connectivity, scale, latency, and interruption handling, along with the best-in-class STT/TTS integrations—we make it easy for you to bring your own LLM and build powerful voice interactions without the need for voice infrastructure expertise. With ConversationRelay, voice AI becomes accessible, scalable, and reliable, so you can stay ahead of the curve without the hassle.

What makes ConversationRelay different?

With ConversationRelay, you get the best of both worlds: full control over your AI roadmap without the hassle of managing the voice channel. We handle everything behind the scenes so your AI sounds natural, with smooth, human-like interactions and no awkward pauses or clunky transitions.

Here’s what sets ConversationRelay apart:

• Low Latency, High-Quality Interactions: We all know pauses are conversation killers. ConversationRelay is optimized to keep things flowing smoothly with best-in-class interruption handling baked in.
• Flexible Configuration: We’re starting with top-tier STT and TTS providers, including Deepgram and Google for Speech-to-Text, and Amazon and Google for Text-to-Speech. And in the future, you can expect even more powerful options as we expand our partnerships, giving you the flexibility to choose the best solutions to fit your evolving needs.
• Integrated with the Full Twilio Ecosystem: Create seamless, omnichannel experiences from SMS to voice, and everything in between.

Where ConversationRelay shines

ConversationRelay is designed to elevate customer interactions, especially in retail and customer support, where personalized service makes all the difference:

• Customer Support that feels human: Deliver a seamless, intuitive experience with GenAI-powered virtual agents that ensure a better user experience. Unlike legacy voice AI solutions, these more capable agents handle routine inquiries effortlessly, keeping customers engaged and frustration-free. Complex issues are intelligently routed to live agents when needed, ensuring your customers stay in control and their experience stays on track.
• Lead Qualification that connects: Gather information, qualify leads, and even schedule appointments all while maintaining a conversational, personalized touch.
• Proactive Notifications that drive engagement: Keep your customers in the loop with timely updates and real-time callback options, fostering deeper connection and ongoing engagement every step of the way

As we continue to expand, ConversationRelay will unlock even more possibilities across industries like healthcare and financial services, where security and compliance are essential.

Why this matters now

Voice AI has shifted from a "nice-to-have" to a must-have for creating the meaningful connections customers expect today. But here's the catch: not all voice AI is created equal.

Poor-quality AI experiences can quickly turn best intentions into massive frustration. That’s where ConversationRelay steps in. It keeps your voice AI optimized, flexible, and ready to evolve with the fast-paced world of AI—so you don’t have to worry about falling behind.

With ConversationRelay now in public beta, there’s never been a better time to dive into voice AI that’s powerful, straightforward to integrate, and designed to scale with your needs. It’s your chance to shape the future of voice interactions, and deliver experiences that do more than just meet expectations—they set new ones.

Get ready to build with Twilio

With ConversationRelay, we’re making voice AI accessible and adaptable, without the complexity.

Ready to create voice interactions that truly connect? Now is your chance to get in early, experiment, and continue to push the boundaries of innovation, creating new and exciting ways to connect with your customers.

Getting started with ConversationRelay is easy, and we've got the resources to guide you through every step! Head over to Twilio Docs for onboarding essentials, tech specs, and everything you need to get familiar with Connect. And if you’re looking to design and deploy on AWS, our latest blog post has you covered.

Let ConversationRelay take care of the tech details while you focus on delivering voice experiences that truly resonate. We can’t wait to call what you build.

Jason Spulak brings 24 years of experience in the voice industry, spanning on-premises systems, SIP, UCaaS, and CCaaS product development for SMBs. Now leading Voice product marketing at Twilio, he leverages his deep understanding of voice technology to create solutions that meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. Jason holds a Master’s in Product Design and Development Management from Northwestern University.