Chat-First Agent vs. Voice-First Agent
Chat agents are solid at knowledge Q&A. Feed Decagon a polished help center, and it'll handle support tickets well.
The Catch
Voice isn't chat with a speaker. 2,500 ms of dead air between replies. Callers get talked over. No IVR navigation. No warm transfers. No whispers. It's a chat engine reading text out loud.
.svg)
This is your voice-first AI agent. Hand Retell a phone number and a goal, such as "resolve billing calls" and it gets to work.
- Responds in 500 ms, not 2,500 ms
- Handles interruptions the way humans do
- Navigates IVR menus to reach the right party
- Warm-transfers with whisper messages to agents
- Redacts PII automatically and monitors QA at scale
You start with a caller. Retell ends with a resolution.
Why Retell is Different
A voice agent that converses and resolves, not just deflects.
Built for voice, not extended to it
Decagon started in chat and extended into voice. Retell engineered voice from day one — proprietary orchestration, human-like backchanneling, interruption handling, and pace matching by audience. A chat bot with a phone number.
Full call center toolkit, not a bolt-on
3-way warm transfers. Whispers. Approvals. IVR navigation. Hold music. SIP headers. Retell: all of it. Decagon: none of it. Built the way contact centers actually run.
600ms latency, Not 2500ms
Retell responds in 600 ms. Decagon sits at 2,500 ms. In conversation, that gap is the difference between dialogue and dictation — and the difference between a resolved call and a hang-up. Real-time beats almost-real-time, every time.
Closes 78% of calls, not 47%
In head-to-head testing on the same queries, Retell resolved 78% of customer issues. Decagon resolved 47%. More contained, fewer escalations, better CSAT, lower cost per call. Resolution is the only metric that matters.
Overview
Built for better conversations
Explore the key capabilities that make Retell the stronger choice, including flexibility, cost efficiency, customization, and enterprise readiness.
| Features |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Core approach | Voice-first AI agent with strong omnichannel core | Chat-first AI agent with voice bolted on |
| Best for | Voice-heavy enterprise contact centers | Chat-heavy support workflows |
| Resolution rate (head-to-head) | 78% | 47% |
| End-to-end latency | 600 ms | 2,500 ms |
| Interruption handling | Excellent | Weak |
| Customer pace matching | Yes | No |
| Background noise handling | Excellent | Weak |
| Human-like backchanneling | Yes | No |
| Agent approval before transfer | Supported | Not supported |
| Whisper message during warm transfer | Supported | Not supported |
| IVR navigation during transfers | Supported | Not supported |
| Custom on-hold music | Supported | Not supported |
| Caller ID shown to agent | Customer or previous agent number | Not configurable |
| SIP transfer methods | REFER and INVITE | Not configurable |
| Custom SIP headers | Supported | Not supported |
| CCaaS integrations | 10+ platforms | Limited |
| Pricing | | |
|---|---|---|
| Voice AI | $0.07/min | Custom enterprise solution pricing only |
| Phone Number | $2.00/month | Custom enterprise solution pricing only |
| Toll Phone Number | $5.00/month | Custom enterprise contracts only |
| Verified Phone Number | $10/month + $10 one-time setup | Custom enterprise contracts only |
| Branded Calls | $0.10 per outbound call | Custom enterprise contracts only |
| Batch Calls | $0.005 per dial | Custom enterprise contracts only |
| Extra Knowledge Base Slots | 10 free, then $8/month each | Custom enterprise contracts only |
| Concurrency Add-on | 20 free; $8/month per additional slot | Custom enterprise contracts only |
| Speech-to-Text | Included at no extra cost | Custom enterprise contracts only |
| Enterprise-Grade | | |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced AI QA for voice | Supported | Limited |
| Simulation testing before production | Supported | Limited |
| PII redaction | Auto: names, addresses, DOBs, passwords, PINs | Limited |
| Custom alerts | 10+ conditions with custom triggering | Limited |
| Free trial | Yes | No |
Built for Contact Centers, Not Demos
Retell is the AI Voice Platform Enterprise Contact Centers Run On
Retell lets you build, test and deploy AI phone agents that handle real call volume, so your team spends its time on the conversations that need a person.
Why Retell is Different
Retell handles the call, not just the voice.
Ultra-Low Latency
Retell's proprietary orchestration hits 500 ms — 5× faster than Decagon. Real-time dialogue, no awkward pauses.
Human-Like Voice
Interruption handling, background noise tolerance, backchanneling, and pace matching by audience. Callers rarely know it's AI.
AI Quality Assurance
Proprietary QA catches misretrievals, word error rate, unnatural interruptions, and other metrics. All without humans listening to every call.
Ship in Days, Risk-Free
Free trial to evaluate before you commit. Conversation Flow config lets CX teams iterate without engineering. Skip the 6-month consulting cycle.
Enterprise-Grade Security
Automatic PII redaction for names, addresses, DOBs, passwords, and PINs. HIPAA, SOC 2 Type I & II, and GDPR compliance out of the box.
Call-Center Native Tools
Benefit from 3-way warm transfers, whisper messages, agent approval before hand-off, IVR navigation, custom on-hold music, and custom SIP headers.
When to Use Each Tool
Use Decagon when you:
- Run chat-first customer support
- Primarily need knowledge base Q&A
- Treat voice as a secondary channel
- Don't need complex transfers or IVR navigation
Decagon excels when chat is your primary channel.
.svg)
Use Retell when you:
- Run a voice-heavy enterprise contact center
- Need sub-second AI responsiveness
- Require warm transfers, whispers, and IVR navigation
- Want voice-native QA and monitoring
- Need to ship fast without heavy engineering
Retell excels when voice is the business.
FAQ
Common Questions
What is Retell AI?
Retell is a voice AI platform for building production-grade phone agents. It handles inbound and outbound calls end-to-end — from answering the phone and running the conversation to calling your tools, transferring to a human, and closing the task. Teams use it for support, sales, scheduling, collections, and operations.
What kinds of calls can Retell handle?
Retell runs both inbound and outbound workflows at scale. Common use cases include customer support, lead qualification and follow-up, appointment scheduling and reminders, intake and triage, and outbound campaigns like surveys and collections. If the work happens on the phone, Retell is built for it.
How fast is Retell on a live call?
Retell responds in under a second and uses dynamic turn-taking to adapt to how people actually speak — pauses, interruptions, overlap, and repairs. That latency budget is what makes calls feel conversational instead of robotic.
How natural does Retell sound?
Very natural. Retell combines high-quality voice synthesis, human-like turn-taking, and real-time interruption handling, so callers can talk the way they normally would — cutting in, trailing off, changing their mind mid-sentence. Most customers don't realize they're talking to AI until the agent tells them.
What LLMs can we use with Retell?
Retell is LLM-agnostic. Pick GPT, Claude, Gemini, an open-source model, or your own fine-tune — tune the prompt, wire in your tools through the API, and ship. Model selection stays your decision, not the platform's.
How does Retell connect to our phone system?
Retell is telephony-native. It integrates directly with SIP, VoIP, and PBX, so you can bring your own numbers, route through your existing carrier, and plug into contact-center tooling without rebuilding your stack.
Can Retell scale to thousands of concurrent calls?
Yes. Retell is built for high-volume workloads, including batch outbound campaigns and peak inbound traffic. Call quality, latency, and accuracy hold up whether you're running ten calls or ten thousand.
Is Retell secure enough for regulated industries?
Retell is used in production by teams in healthcare, financial services, and other regulated environments. Review current certifications, data-handling terms, and deployment options with our team before signing — we'll walk through what's needed for your compliance posture.
Revolutionize your call operation with Retell
