Skills are the building blocks that define what a VoiceAgent can do during a call. They control how the agent handles tasks such as collecting information, answering questions, transferring calls, or triggering follow-up actions.
In this article, you will learn what VoiceAgent skills are, how they work, which skills are available, and how to configure them to match your specific use case.
User level:
Admin
Understanding VoiceAgent Skills
VoiceAgent Skills define what a VoiceAgent can do during a call. They control how the agent handles specific tasks, what information it collects, how it responds to callers, and when it should involve a human agent or another system.
CloudTalk offers predefined skills that cover the most common VoiceAgent actions:
Take a Message - allows the VoiceAgent to collect a caller’s message and capture the details needed for follow-up
Extract Information - allows the VoiceAgent to capture structured information from the conversation and store it for reporting, call logs, or external use
Answer Questions – allows the VoiceAgent to respond to caller questions based on the configured knowledge base
Transfer to Human – allows the VoiceAgent to transfer the call to a live agent, group or call flow when specific conditions are met
In addition to these predefined skills, you can also create Custom Skills to support more specific or advanced use cases. Custom Skills allow you to define behavior beyond the standard skill set and tailor the VoiceAgent to your business needs.
Take a Message
The Take a Message skill tells the VoiceAgent that it can collect a message from the caller during the conversation.
When this skill is enabled, the VoiceAgent can capture a caller’s message and pass it forward as part of the call data. As a result, the extracted output automatically includes the relevant message fields, such as:
caller_name
message_from_caller
Within the Take a Message skill configuration, you can define what the VoiceAgent should say after the message has been collected.
⚠️ On its own, this skill does not automatically make the VoiceAgent offer message-taking in every conversation. The VoiceAgent will typically use it when it cannot move the conversation forward, for example when a transfer is not possible or the caller’s request cannot be resolved directly.
If you want the VoiceAgent to explicitly tell callers that they can leave a message, add that instruction to the agent’s Scenarios.
Example:
Using this skill together with a clear scenario helps ensure callers know that leaving a message is an available option.
Extract information
The Extract Information skill defines what data should be captured from the call and saved after the conversation ends. This data will be displayed in the call detail, passed to agents after a transfer and sent to external systems.
In this skill, you define a set of properties that the AI should extract from the conversation. For each property, you configure:
Property name - the label used for the extracted value
Type - the format in which the value should be saved (Text/ Number/Yes or No/ List)
Instruction for AI - guidance for the AI describing what value should be captured
Once configured, extracted properties are automatically reflected in the call detail in the CloudTalk Dashboard and are also exported through native integrations.
How does information extraction work?
Once a call with the VoiceAgent ends, the full call transcript is processed by AI using the instructions configured in the Extract Information skill. The AI then returns a JSON object containing the exact fields defined in the skill configuration.
In addition to the properties you configure, CloudTalk automatically includes the Call Result value (Connected, Not Connected or Voicemail).
For template-based VoiceAgents (such as AI Receptionist), additional fields may be included automatically depending on the selected use case.
For outbound calls, the exported object also includes values passed in the output variables of the trigger API request.
Send via webhook
In the Extract Information skill configuration, you can enable Send via webhook setting. When enabled, the system sends the extracted data to an external endpoint of your choice in addition to the standard data export available through native integrations. This endpoint acts as the connection point between your VoiceAgent and the workflows, integrations, or internal systems you want to use.
Answer Questions
The Answer Questions skill instructs the VoiceAgent to respond to customer questions based on the information available in the VoiceAgent’s knowledge base.
When this skill is enabled, the AI uses the configured knowledge sources to provide relevant answers during the call. This is useful for handling common inquiries without requiring a live agent.
In the skill configuration, you define what the VoiceAgent should do if it does not have enough information to answer the customer’s question. Available options include:
Be honest - the VoiceAgent clearly states that it does not have the information
Guide to other topics - the VoiceAgent redirects the conversation to another relevant topic
Hand over to a person - the VoiceAgent transfers the call to a live agent or group
If you select Hand over to a person, you must choose the specific Agent or Group the call should be transferred to. In most cases, this would be a general support group or another team responsible for handling unanswered questions.
Transfer to Human
The Transfer to Human skill allows your VoiceAgent to hand off a conversation when it reaches a specific goal or when a caller’s request requires human intervention.
Depending on your workflow, you can choose between three primary methods:
Transfer to Agent: Routes the caller directly to a specific team member. This is best for direct handoffs where the agent's availability is guaranteed.
Transfer to Group: Sends the call to a specific department queue, where it follows your standard group ringing strategies.
Transfer to Call Flow: (Inbound only) Ends the VoiceAgent session and routes the call through the Answered branch of your call flow. This allows for advanced routing, such as using AI-extracted data for branching or setting up failover queues.
Ready to set up a handoff? Check out our Detailed Guide to the Transfer to Human Skill for step-by-step instructions on routing to agents and sharing AI-generated context.
Custom Skill
Custom Skill allows you to define additional behavior for your VoiceAgent beyond the predefined skill set. To add a Custom Skill, select Custom from the list of available skills and click Add. You will then be asked to provide:
Skill Name - the name under which the skill will appear in the list of applied skills
Skill Prompt - the instruction that tells the AI what to do when this skill is used
The Skill Prompt should clearly describe:
when the skill should be applied
what the goal of the skill is
how the VoiceAgent should behave when performing it
You can add as many Custom Skills as needed. These skills will be applied during the call as part of the VoiceAgent’s behavior.
💡 Pro tip: Within the skill prompt, you can also use dynamic variables such as system_prompt variables from outbound call trigger or contact context variables available for inbound calls.
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