Convo gives you on-demand AI help during calls. It listens and transcribes in the background, and when you need assistance, you click a suggestion pill or use Ask AI. Nothing is pushed to you automatically.
How Real-Time Suggestions Work
Convo's AI help is accessed through the Smart Panel. While Convo transcribes your conversation in the background, it waits for you to request help. You trigger AI assistance in two ways: clicking suggestion pills (pre-built quick prompts) or typing a question in Ask AI.
Two Ways to Get Help
Suggestion Pills
Pre-built quick prompts you click when you need help (e.g. "How can I answer?", "Follow-up question")
Ask AI
Type any question and get answers from your live transcript, documents, or the web
Accessing the Smart Panel
To access AI help during a call:
- Join your video call or phone conversation
- Press ⌘L or click the Convo menu bar icon → Listen
- The toolbar appears as a floating pill on your screen
- Click a suggestion pill or the Ask button when you need help
Pro tip: Position the Smart Panel on a secondary monitor or screen edge where you can glance at it without being distracted from your video call.
Understanding Suggestion Pills
Suggestion pills are small clickable buttons that appear below the toolbar. They contain pre-built prompts you can tap when you need quick help mid-conversation. When you click one, the Smart Panel opens with an AI-generated response.
What Suggestion Pills Look Like
Each pill displays as a compact clickable button with text like:
"Ask [person] about their experience with [topic]"
"Learn how [topic] solves the problem"
"Discuss next steps and timeline"
What Powers the Responses
When you click a suggestion pill, Convo generates an answer based on:
- Topics mentioned - Key subjects being discussed (e.g., "AI," "budget," "timeline")
- People identified - Names of participants and their roles
- Conversation patterns - Introductions, questions, challenges, or decision points
- Meeting stage - Whether you're in introduction, discovery, or closing phase
Tips for Using Suggestion Pills
The AI responses are guidance, not scripts. Here's how to use them effectively:
Use When You Need It
Click a suggestion pill when you feel stuck or need a prompt. The AI gives you ideas you can adapt in your own words.
Adapt to Your Style
Use suggestions as inspiration and rephrase them in your own words. If a button says "Ask about their role," you might say "Tell me more about what you do."
Pick What's Relevant
Not every suggestion will be useful. Choose actions that feel natural and move the conversation forward. It's okay to ignore suggestions that don't fit.
Use Ask AI for Specific Questions
If the suggestion pills don't cover what you need, click Ask and type your own question. You can ask anything about the conversation, your documents, or get web-based answers.
Using On-Demand Answers
When you need specific information during a call, use the Ask AI feature in the Smart Panel.
How to Ask Questions
- Click in the search field at the top of the Smart Panel
- Type your question naturally (e.g., "What's our refund policy?")
- Press Enter
- An AI-generated answer appears in seconds
What You Can Ask
About Current Conversation
- "What did they say about pricing?"
- "Summarize the main concerns mentioned"
- "What questions have they asked so far?"
From Knowledge Sources
- "What integrations do we support?"
- "What's the difference between Pro and Enterprise?"
- "How does our product handle security?"
General Guidance
- "How should I respond to objections about cost?"
- "What questions should I ask in a discovery call?"
- "What are good next steps after this call?"
Where Answers Come From
Convo searches two sources to answer your questions:
- Conversation history - What's been said in the current call (uses dynamic context scaling based on call length)
- Knowledge sources - Documents, websites, and notes you've uploaded in the Ask AI section of your dashboard
Important: For best results, upload relevant knowledge sources before your calls. Go to General → Ask AI in your dashboard to add product documentation, sales playbooks, or FAQs.
Making Suggestions More Relevant
The quality of real-time suggestions improves as Convo learns about your conversations and has access to better information.
1. Upload Knowledge Sources
Add materials that contain information you frequently reference:
- Product documentation and feature specs
- Sales playbooks and objection handling guides
- Pricing sheets and package comparisons
- Company policies and procedures
- Case studies and customer testimonials
2. Create Live Answer Cards
Pre-prepare answers to frequently asked questions:
- Go to General → Live Answer in your dashboard
- Create a new card with the question and your prepared answer
- Specify when the card should appear (topic, keywords, context)
- When a matching topic comes up, clicking a suggestion pill will reference your prepared card
3. Use Convo Consistently
The more calls you record with Convo, the better it understands:
- Your typical conversation topics and patterns
- Industry-specific terminology you use
- The types of questions you encounter
- Your communication style and preferences
Best Practices
Do:
- Use suggestions as conversation starters and memory aids
- Ask AI for specific facts when you need verification
- Rephrase suggestions in your own words
- Click suggestion pills only when you need a prompt
- Trust your judgment over AI suggestions
Don't:
- Read AI responses word-for-word as scripts
- Stare at the Smart Panel instead of engaging with participants
- Feel obligated to use every suggestion
- Share your screen with the Smart Panel visible
- Rely solely on AI—your expertise matters most
Troubleshooting
Suggestion pills not giving useful answers
AI responses need conversation context. They work best after 1-2 minutes of recording. Ensure:
- You pressed ⌘L or clicked "Listen" to start recording
- Your microphone is working and picking up audio
- The transcript is updating in the Smart Panel
- You've been talking for at least 1-2 minutes
Suggestions aren't relevant
Suggestions improve with more conversation context. If they're off-topic initially, wait a few minutes as Convo gathers more information. Also ensure you've uploaded relevant knowledge sources for your industry or role.
Ask AI not finding answers
- Check that you've uploaded knowledge sources in General → Ask AI
- Verify the information exists in your uploaded documents
- Try rephrasing your question more specifically
- Ensure you have an active internet connection
Smart Panel feels slow
Check your internet connection. Real-time suggestions require network access to process questions and generate answers. For very long calls (2+ hours), slight performance degradation is normal as more conversation history accumulates.
Examples: Suggestions in Action
Sales Call Scenario
Context: Prospect mentions budget concerns
Suggestion Pill: "Explain how we provide ROI within 6 months"
Ask AI Query: "What case studies show ROI?"
Result: You have talking points ready and specific examples to share
Product Demo Scenario
Context: Customer asks about integration capabilities
Ask AI Query: "What integrations do we support?"
Suggestion Pill: "Show how integrations work in practice"
Result: You get the integration list and a suggestion to demo it live
Discovery Call Scenario
Context: Client describes their current workflow
Suggestion Pill: "Ask about challenges with their current solution"
Ask AI Query: "What pain points did they mention?"
Result: You have a follow-up question and a summary of their concerns
Next Steps
Now that you understand real-time suggestions, explore these features:
- Your first AI-assisted call - Complete walkthrough of using Convo
- Understanding AI meeting cues - Learn about different types of AI assistance
- Understanding the dashboard - Upload knowledge sources and create Live Answer cards
- Try using Ask AI during your next call
- Upload your first knowledge source to improve answer quality
Need more help?
Visit our Help Center for more articles or contact support at itsconvo.com/contact.
Sources & References
- Real-Time AI Processing Best Practices
- Conversation Intelligence Technology
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