Decision: what Foodie sounds like at your venue. Tone, voice, language, pronunciation. None of these are technical — they're brand decisions.
Response style — the five tiles
Style | Sounds like… | Best for |
Casual | Friendly bartender chatting with a regular | Lively neighborhood spots |
Friendly | Warm and approachable, light professional touch | Family-friendly, community-focused venues |
Balanced (default) | Professional yet personable | Most venues land here |
Formal | Polished and reserved | Fine dining, hotel restaurants |
Very Formal | Highly ceremonial — "shall I assist you with a reservation, sir?" | The very few venues where it fits |
The difference is real — not just a label. Foodie's word choice, sentence length, and willingness to make small talk all shift with the style.
Voice library
A full library of voices to choose from. Each has its own:
Accent — American, British, Australian, German, Mexican, French-Canadian, and more.
Gender — male, female, non-binary options where the underlying TTS supports it.
Age — some voices read younger, others more mature.
Preview voices in the app. Play a sample, hear it speak your venue's name. We've seen venues spend an hour A/B testing voices with their team — worth doing once.
Foodie is the character; the voice is how she sounds. The same Foodie can speak with a British accent at a Mayfair-inspired venue and a French-Canadian accent at a Montégor restaurant. The personality stays consistent.
Language modes
Mode | How it works |
English only (default) | Foodie speaks only English. Detects non-English callers and offers a transfer or a follow-up. |
English + Spanish | A single bilingual agent that switches between languages on the same call as the caller switches. |
English + French | Two separate agents that hand the call between each other based on the language detected. |
If you don't see the language mode dropdown in the app, multi-language isn't enabled on your account. Ask us — it's a flip on our side.
Pronunciation guide
For every word that matters — your venue's name, signature dishes, neighborhood streets — you can teach Foodie how to say it:
Word: the spelling guests would expect ("Gnocchi")
IPA: the International Phonetic Alphabet version ("ˈnjpɒki")
There's an IPA converter linked in the app. The first time you do this it feels weird; by the third entry you'll be efficient.
Boosted keywords
Different from pronunciation. Boosted keywords help Foodie hear better — it tunes the speech-to-text to expect specific words. Add:
Your venue's name
Signature dish names
Local street and neighborhood names
Names of frequent guests, if you have a private-dining focus
Format: comma-separated. Example: Chez Marc, Pappardelle, Côte-des-Neiges, Berri-UQAM
Opening line
The first thing every caller hears. Default is:
"Thank you for calling [your venue name]. Just so you know, this line is being recorded. How may I help you today?"
Customize freely. Many venues drop the recording disclosure if they're in a state/province that doesn't require it. Many add a quick brand line: "Thank you for calling The Carbon Bar, Toronto's home for slow-smoked everything."
Keep it short. Long openings make guests impatient.
How to change it later
All of these are settings. Change them whenever. Click Update Agent at the top of the AI Host page after you save — see Going live: Save vs Update Agent.
Common questions
Can different times of day use different voices?
No. One voice per venue. (Different venues in the same group can use different voices.)
Will Foodie adapt to the caller's tone?
Within reason. Foodie won't suddenly become formal because a caller is. Style is fixed; what shifts is small — word choice, response length, willingness to chit-chat.
Can I write Foodie's exact responses?
You can customize specific lines (the opening, the late-arrival message, the cancellation policy). You can't script Foodie's full conversation — her language is generated. The settings shape it.
Wizard decision_key: voice-and-personality (and languages for the language mode sub-decision)