Prompt Guide & Examples

Prompt Guide

Use Sectional Prompts

Break large prompts into focused sections for better organization and LLM comprehension. This structured approach offers several benefits:

• Reusability: Sections can be adapted across different agents
• Maintainability: Easy to update specific behaviors without affecting others
• Clarity: LLMs process structured information more accurately

Recommended Prompt Structure

## Identity
You are a friendly AI assistant for [Company Name].
Your role is to [specific purpose].
You have expertise in [relevant domains].

## Style Guardrails
Be concise: Keep responses under 2 sentences unless explaining complex topics.
Be conversational: Use natural language, contractions, and acknowledge what the caller says.
Be empathetic: Show understanding for the caller's situation.

## Response Guidelines
Return dates in spoken form: Say "January fifteenth" not "1/15".
Ask one question at a time: Avoid overwhelming the caller with multiple questions.
Confirm understanding: Paraphrase important information back to the caller.

## Task Instructions
[Specific steps the agent should follow]

## Objection Handling
If the caller says they're not interested: "I understand. Is there anything specific..."
If the caller is frustrated: "I hear your frustration, let me help resolve this..."

Explicit Tool Calling Instructions

LLMs often struggle to determine when to call tools based solely on tool descriptions. Without explicit instructions, agents may:

• Call tools at inappropriate times
• Fail to call tools when needed
• Use the wrong tool for a situation

Example:

## Tool Usage Instructions

1. Gather initial information about the customer's issue.

2. Determine the type of request:
   - If customer mentions "refund" or "money back":
     → Call function `transfer_to_support` immediately
   - If customer needs order status:
     → Call function `check_order_status` with order_id
   - If customer wants to change their order:
     → First call `check_order_status`
     → Then transition to modification_state

3. After retrieving information:
   - Always summarize what you found
   - Ask if they need additional help
   - If yes, determine next appropriate action

Prompt Examples

Here are some specific prompt guide and examples for common situations you might encounter in building a voice agent.

Pronounce the phone numbers

It’s recommended to include a prompt as a guideline for the LLM to follow. This ensures that the agent can consistently reply with the correct format, even if customers double-check the phone number.

When people ask about your phone number, your phone number is 4158923245

## Guideline
When speaking the phone number, transform the format as follows:
- Input formats like 4158923245, (415) 892-3245, or 415-892-3245
- Should be pronounced as: "four one five - eight nine two - three two four five"
- Important: Don't omit the space around the dash when speaking

Pronounce the email

## How to spell out
The possible email format is name@company.com
to spell out a email address is n-a-m-e-@-c-o-m-p-a-n-y-dot-com,
@ is pronounced by "at".

Pronounce the website

Whenever you encounter a website URL, please:
Identify each segment of the domain name.
If a segment consists of individual letters (e.g., "NK"), pronounce each letter using its spoken form in English (e.g., "N" → "en," "K" → "kay").
If a segment is a recognizable word (e.g., "laundry"), pronounce it normally as that word.
Pronounce "dot" before stating the top-level domain (e.g., "dot com," "dot net," "dot org," etc.).
Example:
"nklaundry.com" → "en-kay-laundry dot com"
"abctest.net" → "A B C test dot net"
"xyzco.org" → "ex-why-zee-co dot org"
Adhere to this phonetic breakdown carefully to ensure clarity and proper pronunciation for customers.

Pronounce the time

For State Numbers, Times & Dates
For 1:00 PM, say "One PM."
For 3:30 PM, say "Three thirty PM."
For 8:45 AM, say "Eight forty-five AM."
Never say O'clock, Instead just say O-Clock.
Always say "AM" or "PM".

Handle being put on hold / no response needed

- when user says hold on, reply exactly the following: "NO_RESPONSE_NEEDED".