When I try with , it just reads it. Is there a way to use SSML or any other way to make short pauses in the intro message?

Currently, Vapi does not support SSML or

<break>

tags in the intro message, so adding

<break time="800ms"/>

will be read out literally. As a workaround, you can simulate a short pause by using punctuation such as an ellipsis or period in your intro message. For example:

text
Hello... How can I help you today?

This will prompt the TTS engine to insert a natural pause. For more details, see the [voice formatting plan documentation](https://docs.vapi.ai/assistants/voice-formatting-plan). Source: - [Voice formatting plan documentation](https://docs.vapi.ai/assistants/voice-formatting-plan)

Is that the only way? I already tried that, but it doesn't make the break long enough

Disable voice input formatting voice.chunkPlan.formatPlan.enabled = false so SSML <break time="800ms"/> tags work correctly otherwise, the tags are read literally or ignored..

@MILANCHeJ can you confirm if it works as suggested by kings big?

I am using this agent only through the dashboard, not API, so I am not sure how to set that in the vapi dashboard

To enable ssmlParsing you will need to use API for now.