Plain-language definitions for the voice-AI category.
Every term that matters for AI voice agents, inbound conversion, and the regulated verticals Thoughtly serves — defined without buzzwords.
AI / Voice
- AI voiceAn artificially generated, natural-sounding voice produced by a TTS model. Thoughtly supports a library of AI voices and brand-specific cloning.
- HallucinationWhen an LLM-driven agent confidently states something incorrect. Mitigated with RAG, strict prompting, and evals against ground-truth data.
- Large Language Model (LLM)A machine-learning model trained on massive text data, used as the reasoning engine that drives a voice agent's understanding and responses.
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)A technique that lets the LLM ground its responses in retrieved documents (knowledge base, FAQs) instead of relying on training data alone.
- Speech-to-Text (STT)The system that turns the caller's speech into text the agent can reason over.
- Text-to-Speech (TTS)The system that turns the agent's generated text into spoken audio — the voice the caller actually hears.
- TranscriptThe text record of a voice conversation, used for review, training, compliance audit, and search.
- Voice agentAn autonomous, conversational interface that interacts with humans over the phone — answering, qualifying, and routing calls without human staffing.
Telephony
- 10DLC10-Digit Long Code — US carrier-mandated registration for A2P SMS. Without it, your business texts get filtered or blocked.
- A2P messagingApplication-to-person SMS — the category for business messages sent from a software platform like Thoughtly. Subject to carrier registration and content rules.
- CarrierA telecommunications provider that routes phone calls and SMS over its network. Twilio, Telnyx, and Bandwidth are the three most common in the AI voice space.
- Screen popAutomatic display of caller information — name, account, history — on the rep's screen the moment a call connects.
- TelnyxA telecommunications provider competing with Twilio for cloud-native voice and SMS. Thoughtly supports Telnyx as a carrier.
- TwilioA cloud communications platform widely used as the carrier layer for voice and SMS. Thoughtly supports Twilio for inbound and outbound traffic.
Sales / GTM
- Abandonment recoveryOutbound re-engagement of prospects who started but didn't finish a form, application, or signup.
- After-hours coverageHandling inbound calls outside of business hours. Thoughtly works 24/7, so prospects don't bounce to voicemail at 2am.
- BANT qualificationA sales qualification framework — Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline. Thoughtly captures BANT in a single inbound call before transfer.
- CRMThe system of record for leads, contacts, deals, and activity. Thoughtly reads from and writes to your CRM continuously.
- Contact rateThe percentage of inbound leads your team actually reaches by phone. Most B2C teams hover around 25%; Thoughtly typically delivers 90%+.
- Dead-lead reactivationRe-engaging leads previously written off as unreachable. Thoughtly's persistent cadences typically reactivate 8–15% of dead lists.
- Speed to leadHow fast you respond to an inbound lead after they raise their hand. Conversion drops sharply past 5 minutes.
Compliance
- DNC scrubbingFiltering outbound dialing lists against federal and internal Do-Not-Call registries. Required for compliant outbound — Thoughtly scrubs every call.
- Personally Identifiable Information (PII)Any data that can identify an individual — name, phone, SSN, account number. Voice agents must redact and protect PII per privacy law.
- Recording consentState-by-state legal requirement to disclose call recording. Some states require all-party consent; Thoughtly enforces the right script per state.
- TCPAUS federal law governing telemarketing calls and SMS. Thoughtly enforces consent capture, time-of-day windows, and DNC scrubbing automatically.
Platform
- Dead endA conversation node with no valid next step. Avoid by designing for unexpected inputs and graceful fallback.
- Decision treeA flowchart-style conversation structure where the agent branches based on caller responses — the explicit logic behind a voice flow.
- Happy pathThe ideal conversation flow where every input matches expectations and the agent reaches the intended outcome with no detours.
- OAuthAn authentication standard that lets Thoughtly connect to your CRM or app without storing your password.
- VariableA named value the voice agent stores during a conversation — caller name, intent, qualifying answers — and uses to drive routing and post-call actions.
- WorkflowAn automated, multi-step process — usually triggered by an event (form fill, new lead) and orchestrating one or more voice / SMS / email actions.
Mortgage
- LOSA loan origination system — the pipeline software lenders use to manage applications. Encompass and Velocify are common; Thoughtly integrates with both.
- LTV (loan-to-value)The ratio of loan amount to property value, captured during pre-qualification to route the lead to the right loan product.
- MLOA licensed mortgage loan originator. Required for any rate or product-specific advice — Thoughtly handles pre-qualification, then warm-transfers to your MLO.
- Pre-qualificationCapturing the qualifying details — income, credit-score range, LTV, timeline — before a licensed officer engages. Thoughtly automates this.
Insurance
- AMSAn agency management system — the system of record for independent agencies. Applied Epic, Vertafore, and EZLynx are common; Thoughtly integrates with all three.
- Aggregator leadA lead purchased from a comparison-shopping site (EverQuote, MediaAlpha, etc.). Quality varies; Thoughtly handles the high-volume, low-conversion follow-up profitably.
- Producer routingRouting pre-qualified insurance prospects to the right licensed producer based on line, state, and book size. Thoughtly handles this automatically.
- Quote-to-bindThe window from generating an insurance quote to binding the policy. Speed of follow-up is the single largest predictor of bind rate.
Education
- Enrollment funnelThe journey from prospective student inquiry to enrolled. Thoughtly works the inbound inquiry and qualifying steps so admissions counselors close.
- Inquiry pacingTracking and improving the velocity of moving inquiries to applications. Speed-to-lead is the single largest factor in pacing.
- SISA student information system — the system of record for education programs. Slate and Ellucian are common; Thoughtly integrates with both.
Financial Services
- Account openingThe intake process for opening a banking, brokerage, or financial account. Thoughtly handles inbound intake calls and warm-transfers to a banker for sign-off.
- FINRAThe self-regulatory body governing US broker-dealers. Voice agents in FINRA-regulated firms must support recording retention and supervised review.
- GLBAUS federal law governing financial-services privacy. Thoughtly's controls and retention policies are aligned with GLBA's safeguards rule.
- KYCRegulatory identity verification required for financial accounts. Thoughtly captures KYC-relevant intake data with audit-ready transcripts.