---
title: "Voice agent questions"
description: "Attach a question to a voice agent so it collects information mid-call, map the answer onto a company field, and decide what happens if a caller doesn't respond."
---

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# Voice agent questions

A question is something you configure a voice agent to ask while it's already on a call, on top
of the open conversation it's having. The agent asks it out loud, listens for the answer, and can
write that answer onto a field in your workspace so it shows up next to the call in your library
instead of staying buried in the transcript.


## Why add questions to an agent

An agent already understands and responds to whatever a caller says, but a free-flowing
conversation doesn't reliably leave you with clean, structured data. Add a question when you need
a specific piece of information out of every call, such as a membership number, an email address,
or a yes/no confirmation, and you want it captured the same way every time instead of hoping the
caller mentions it and the agent catches it.

## Where to find them

Open the agent and go to its **Details** tab. The **Questions** section sits below the rest of the
agent's settings and lists every question currently configured on it.

## Add a question

1. Select **Add question**.
2. Pick a question from the list, or select **Create a custom question** to define your own.
3. Set whether it's required and how the agent should handle a caller who doesn't answer.
4. Optionally map the answer to a field.
5. Select **Save question**.

Picking an existing question attaches a ready-made one, built from a shared library your whole
company draws from: it already has a display label, an answer type, and the exact question text
the agent will say, all of which you can still override for this agent.

Creating a custom question instead asks you for a **Name**, a **Description**, and an **Answer
type**, then saves it to your company's own question library so you can reuse it on other agents
without rebuilding it. Give it a display label and the question text before you save.

## Set the answer type

Every question collects one specific kind of value. The answer type controls what the agent
expects back, and includes Text, Email address, Number, Date, Time, Date and time, Yes or no, one
of several options, and a web address.

## Decide what happens if the caller doesn't answer

Two settings on each question control this:

- **Required** turns on a **Required** label next to the question in the list, and means the
  agent must collect an answer before it can end the conversation.
- **Max ask attempts** limits how many times the agent tries. The first attempt counts as
  attempt 1, and the hard maximum is 3.

Once the agent has used up its attempts without an answer, **If the user does not answer**
chooses what happens next:

- **Move to next question** continues the conversation and stops retrying this one.
- **End conversation** has the agent politely end the call instead.

The question list shows both settings together under each question, for example "2 attempts •
Moves to next question on no response."

## Map an answer to a field

Each question can optionally point at a field in your workspace under **Map to field**. When a
caller answers a mapped question, Speak writes that answer onto the field after the call ends, so
it appears as structured data next to the recording instead of only inside the transcript. Leave
it set to **No field mapping** if you just want the agent to ask the question without saving the
answer anywhere structured. If the field you want doesn't exist yet, you can create one from the
same dropdown without leaving the panel.

For what a field can do once your questions are writing to it, see [AI fields](/help/insights/fields/).

## Edit or remove a question

Select the pencil icon next to a question to reopen it with its current settings, or the trash
icon to remove it from the agent. Removing a question only detaches it from this agent; the
underlying question stays in your company's library so you can attach it to another agent later.

When you edit an existing question, the underlying question it's based on is fixed. You can still
change its required flag, attempts, no-response behavior, field mapping, and override its display
label or question text for this agent.

## What order questions run in

The agent asks questions in the order they appear in the list.

---
Related: [Voice agent questions API](/api/voice-agents/questions/) ·
[AI fields](/help/insights/fields/)

Source: https://docs.speakai.co/help/voice-agents/questions/index.mdx