Hello tawk.to Support Team,
I’m reaching out to strongly request that text-to-speech functionality be prioritized for AI Assist and chatbot conversations.
I saw this feature discussed in the community feature requests, including the request for:
“Speech-to-text — guests talk to the bot
Text-to-speech — bot reads the reply out loud”
While both would be valuable, I believe text-to-speech (bot reads the reply out loud) should be treated as the immediate priority. Honestly both.
For businesses using AI Assist seriously, the chatbot is no longer just a text box. It is becoming a digital representative of the brand. In my case, it is carefully built with a strong knowledge base, detailed FAQs, and a very specific communication style. The way the bot responds is a major part of the customer experience. But when the response is only text, a large part of that experience is lost.
Even a simple speaker button beside each AI response would make a major difference. The customer could tap the button and hear the reply read out loud. It does not need to be fully conversational or bi-directional at first. A basic text-to-speech option with a small selection of male and female voices would already be a powerful improvement.
This would help with:
Accessibility for users who have difficulty reading or prefer audio
Mobile users who may not want to read long replies on a small screen
Customer engagement, because voice feels more natural and interactive
Brand experience, especially for companies that put serious work into their AI assistant’s tone and personality.
Conversion, because customers are more likely to stay engaged when the assistant feels alive and responsive.
This is not just a cosmetic feature. Voice is becoming a core part of how people expect to interact with AI. Many users are already comfortable with assistants that speak back, and chat platforms that do not support this will start to feel limited compared to newer AI experiences.
I believe this is something tawk.to can figure out and implement easily in a practical way. Even if it starts simple, the feature would immediately make AI Assist feel more modern, accessible, and valuable.
Please consider moving text-to-speech higher on the development roadmap. For businesses like mine, this would be a major upgrade and could make the chatbot experience much stronger for customers.
Thank you,
Richard Barton | Skan Digital
Founder & CEO
DigiDevice
