> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getthread.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Minimal vs Advanced AI mode

> Understand the difference between Minimal and Advanced AI mode for the Voice AI Attendant, why Minimal Mode plays hold music and creates tickets with no details, and which mode to choose.

<Note>
  See the latest **Voice AI** updates in the [changelog](/changelog/q3-2026).
</Note>

The Voice AI Attendant runs in one of two modes — **Minimal** or **Advanced** — set under **Customize Agent behavior** in your Attendant settings. The mode decides how much the agent does before it hands a caller to a technician, and it's the single most common source of "the agent isn't doing anything" confusion. This page explains what each mode does so you can pick the right one.

## Minimal AI mode

Minimal AI mode is a **pass-through**. The Attendant answers, plays your greeting, and transfers the caller straight to a technician. It does **not**:

* Ask the caller what they need or collect any issue details.
* Run AI caller identification (name and company matching).

Because Minimal Mode collects nothing, partners often report symptoms that look like a broken agent but are working as configured:

* **"It just plays hold music."** The greeting plays and the call transfers — there's no AI conversation because none is configured.
* **"Tickets are created with no details provided."** Nothing was collected before the transfer, so the ticket body is empty.
* **A thin or inaccurate handoff.** The technician receives little context, so any AI-generated handoff summary has almost nothing to work from.

Minimal Mode is appropriate only when you want the Attendant to be a simple, fast router to a live person and you don't want the AI to gather anything.

## Advanced AI mode

Advanced AI mode is the full experience, and it's what most partners want:

* The agent speaks your AI greeting.
* It **collects the issue details** from the caller before transferring.
* It can run **AI caller identification** — asking for the caller's name and company to map the call to the right contact. See [Voice AI contact mapping](/ai-agents/contact-mapping) for how identification works.

The result is a richer ticket and a more useful handoff to your technicians.

## Which mode to choose

| You want…                                                                   | Use          |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------ |
| The agent to gather the issue and identify the caller before handing off    | **Advanced** |
| A fast, greeting-only transfer to a live technician with no AI conversation | **Minimal**  |

<Tip>
  If callers hear only your greeting and tickets arrive empty, check whether the Attendant is set to Minimal Mode before troubleshooting anything else.
</Tip>

Contact mapping is configured **independently for the Attendant and the Overflow agent** — enabling AI caller identification on one does not enable it on the other. Advanced AI mode is required for the Attendant to run AI caller identification. See [Voice AI contact mapping](/ai-agents/contact-mapping) for the per-agent settings.

## Next

<Card title="Voice AI contact mapping" icon="address-book" href="/ai-agents/contact-mapping">
  How Voice AI identifies callers and maps calls to the right contact and company.
</Card>


## Related topics

- [Replace your phone menu with the Auto-Attendant](/ai-agents/voice-ai-setup-phase-3-the-auto-attendant-walk-run.md)
- [Voice AI Contact Mapping](/ai-agents/contact-mapping.md)
- [Answer overflow & after-hours calls](/ai-agents/voice-ai-setup-phase-2-overflow-after-hours.md)