Migrating a text agent to a voice assistant with Amazon Nova 2 Sonic

This article explains how to migrate text-based agents to voice assistants using Amazon Nova 2 Sonic, highlighting key architectural and design differences.

• Text agents deliver formatted paragraphs; voice agents require concise, conversational responses with confirmation loops
• Voice agents demand ultra-low latency (hundreds of milliseconds); text agents tolerate mid-latency with loading indicators
• Voice requires bidirectional streaming and turn-taking with interruption support; text uses stateless request-response
• Client applications need refactoring from REST to WebSocket/WebRTC for persistent bidirectional connections
• Orchestrators can reuse system prompts and tools; Nova 2 Sonic unifies ASR, reasoning, and TTS in one model
• Sub-agents need tuning: shorter responses, faster models, reduced verbosity, and filler messages during processing
• Most migration changes involve prompt adaptation and configuration rather than architectural rewrites

Migration requires rethinking interaction design, latency budgets, and response structure—not just adding voice to existing text logic.