Live vs Silent Agents

Every CoAgentor agent operates in one of two modes: Live or Silent. This is the most important configuration choice you'll make, and it shapes everything about how the agent participates in meetings.

→ Create or edit an agent →

Live mode — the agent speaks in the meeting#

In Live mode, the agent joins the meeting as an audible participant. When a trigger fires, the agent speaks its response aloud using an AI voice — everyone in the meeting can hear it.

Best for:

• Sales calls where you want real-time objection handling delivered verbally
• Training or coaching scenarios where the agent acts as a live co-facilitator
• Meetings where participants have agreed to AI participation in advance
• Situations where interrupting with a response is faster than checking a private channel

Considerations:

• All participants hear the agent. Make sure everyone in the meeting is aware and consented.
• The agent's bot displays its name with an (AI) suffix in the participant list, which is required and cannot be removed.
• Response timing matters — the agent speaks after a short evaluation window. For very fast conversations, a silent agent with a back-channel may be more fluid.
• You'll need to select a voice (powered by ElevenLabs). There are multiple voices to choose from.

Silent mode — the agent delivers privately#

In Silent mode, the agent joins the meeting and listens, but never speaks aloud. When a trigger fires, the insight is delivered privately to your configured back-channel: your CoAgentor dashboard, a Slack message, a Microsoft Teams message, or a Telegram chat (coming soon).

Best for:

• Sales managers monitoring rep calls without participating
• Coaches who want to capture coaching moments without interrupting
• Compliance teams monitoring for regulatory triggers
• Any scenario where you need the insight without disrupting the conversation
• Teams new to AI meeting tools who want to observe before making the agent visible

Back-channel options:

| Destination | What it looks like | |---|---| | Dashboard | Events appear in your CoAgentor meeting log in real time | | Slack DM | The agent sends a direct message to a Slack user | | Slack Channel | The agent posts to a Slack channel | | Microsoft Teams Channel | The agent posts to a standard Teams channel | | Telegram | (Coming soon) |

The Hand-Raise Protocol (Live agents)#

Live agents have an optional mode called the Hand-Raise Protocol. When enabled on a trigger rule, the agent doesn't speak immediately when the trigger fires. Instead, it displays a visual "Waiting to speak" indicator in the meeting camera feed — signalling to the host that the agent has something to say. The host can then explicitly invite the agent to speak (using a configurable phrase), or the response will time out and fall back to the back-channel.

This is ideal for high-stakes meetings where you want the agent available but don't want it interrupting automatically.

→ Learn more: Hand-Raise Protocol →

Mixing modes across trigger rules#

Silent agents can have individual trigger rules set to speak or silent delivery independently. This means you can create an agent that:

• Posts most trigger responses to Slack silently
• But for a critical trigger (e.g. "contract terms mentioned"), speaks aloud

Live agents can similarly have individual rules deliver silently, so the agent only speaks for the most important triggers while routing lower-priority ones to Slack.

Changing mode#

You can change an agent's mode at any time by editing it. The new mode takes effect on the next meeting deployment. Previously recorded meetings always reflect the mode that was active at the time.

→ Edit your agents →

Choosing the right mode#

| Scenario | Recommended Mode | |---|---| | Sales co-pilot, real-time verbal objection handling | Live | | Manager monitoring a rep's call | Silent → Slack DM | | Compliance monitoring | Silent → Dashboard | | Meeting coach for a small internal team | Live | | Automated insight capture for async review | Silent → Dashboard or email summary | | First-time setup / testing | Silent → Dashboard |