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Voicing each answer type

Loaded by every section subagent  ·  Not loaded by intro, stop & refer, handover

How to ask each answer type out loud, and how to map what comes back onto the field. The types themselves are defined in Question patterns — that page is the data model, this page is the delivery.

Type How to ask it by voice
Short text / Long text Ask openly. Don't cap the length. For the reflective questions, let silence do work — resist filling it with a follow-up prompt.
Yes/No Ask directly. Accept "yeah", "nope", "I think so" — but treat "I think so" as not sure and ask which.
Number Repeat the number back. Transcription turns "fifty" into "fifteen" often enough to matter.
Number + unit Accept whatever unit they use and record which one. Don't convert silently, and don't ask them to convert.
Single choice Ask openly first. If the answer doesn't map cleanly, then offer the options. Don't lead with a menu.
Multi-select Name the options and say "tell me any that apply — could be none". Always voice the escape option. Over the phone, cap a spoken list at five items and split longer ones into two passes.
Scale 0–10 / 1–5 Give both anchors every time: "nought is no pain, ten is the worst you can imagine." Never assume they remember from a previous scale — and never assume they remember one a different subagent gave them.
Score 0–3 Coach-assigned. No subagent asks this.
Date Accept "about three years ago". Store the approximation as-is; don't force a calendar date.
Checkbox Read the statement in full, then ask for an explicit yes. A consent cannot be inferred from "mm-hm" — see section 11.
Signature Cannot be captured by voice. Record a verbal affirmation plus a timestamp and flag that a written signature is still outstanding.
File upload Ask them to send it after the call, note that it's pending, and continue. Don't block.
Repeating group One entry at a time, complete, then: "any others?"
Calculated Never asked. Derived after the call.
Matrix See Matrix questions by voice — this is the one that goes wrong.

Reading options aloud

A list that works on a page does not work in an ear. Three rules:

  1. Group before you list. "There are a few about digestion, then a few about energy" beats nine ungrouped items.
  2. Put the escape last and say it plainly. "…or none of those" — clients who hear no escape will invent an answer.
  3. Offer the list once, then stop offering. If they answer in their own words the second time, map it yourself rather than re-reading options.

Recording what you hear

Store the normalised value matching the declared answer type, and keep the client's own words wherever the wording carries information the option label loses. "I can't get down on the floor since the surgery" is worth more than mobility_limited = Yes, and the handover needs both.

Mark every field as one of: answered, declined, skipped — not triggered, or skipped — section omitted. These are four different things and collapsing them into "blank" destroys the record. The full record format is in The handover record.