# Use voice chat with an agent

Start and control a governed voice conversation from agent chat.

- Category: Agent Builder
- Last updated: 2026-07-15
- URL: https://help.irongorilla.ai/articles/use-voice-chat-with-an-agent

## Start a voice conversation

Open a deployed agent’s chat and choose Start voice call. Review the consent state, allow microphone access, and confirm the agent identity before the conversation begins.

## What the agent must have

Voice agents use the autonomous-agent SDK configuration. The agent needs an enabled chat trigger, a signed loop with the tools it may use, and `speechToSpeech` settings on that chat trigger. The live speech model is separate from the loop model that reasons and chooses tools.

## Choose voice governance settings

Deployment and session startup also check provider capabilities, approved voices, residency, and route policy. Only tools in the signed loop are available during the call. See [Build and optimize voice agents](https://developer.irongorilla.ai/docs/build/voice-agents) for the complete SDK example and tuning guidance.

- `providerId` and `model` select the managed realtime provider and speech model; the current managed path is OpenAI `gpt-realtime-2.1`.
- `voice` selects the approved spoken voice. If you do not choose one, the SDK uses `marin`.
- `requestedMode` uses `strict` by default so audio and transcript wait for applicable DLP checks; `native` lowers latency but can release audio before final-response DLP completes.
- `reasoningEffort` tunes realtime reasoning from `minimal` through `xhigh`; the default is `low`.
- `recording` is `disabled` by default. `optional` still requires tenant and user permission.

## Stay in control

Mute, end, or restart the call from the voice panel. Iron Gorilla keeps a transcript and can pause for [approval](/articles/review-pending-approvals) when a tool action needs review.

If live voice is unavailable or a safety check needs a stricter path, the conversation can fall back to a turn-based voice or text experience.

> Watch out: Voice is available only for agents that were configured, reviewed, and deployed with voice enabled.

## Related articles

- [Review an agent before deploy](https://help.irongorilla.ai/articles/review-an-agent-before-deploy)
- [Review pending approvals](https://help.irongorilla.ai/articles/review-pending-approvals)
- [Read an LLM trace](https://help.irongorilla.ai/articles/read-an-llm-trace)

## Support

Need help? Tell us where you got stuck: https://help.irongorilla.ai/contact