Unfortunately, there is currently no way to make the Vapi assistant remain completely silent or stop saying filler phrases like "hold on a sec" or "one moment" during tool calls—even if you set the delay message to an empty string or try to enforce silent behavior. This is a known limitation, and no configuration options or workarounds are documented at this time.
If you need the assistant to be silent during tool calls, you may need to monitor for future updates from Vapi regarding this feature.
Sources:
- [Vapi assistant speech control during tool call (Discord)](
https://discord.com/channels/1211482211119796234/1337536512807403530)
- [Vapi tool call speech behavior (Discord)](
https://discord.com/channels/1211482211119796234/1334114042876264518)