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

# Conversational Video Agents

> How Beyond Presence agents combine LLMs with lifelike avatars, and when to choose Managed Agents versus self-hosted LiveKit Agents.

## What are Agents?

Agents are AI systems that can perform tasks and make decisions autonomously. When these agents are designed for real-time dialogue and natural conversation with users, they become **conversational agents** - combining large language models (LLMs) with real-time communication capabilities to create interactive experiences.

At Beyond Presence, we focus on conversational agents - and specifically **conversational video agents** powered by our ultra-realistic [avatar models](/concepts/avatars).

### Agent Modalities

Agents can operate across different communication channels:

* **Text agents**: Traditional chatbots that respond via written messages
* **Voice agents**: AI assistants that speak and listen, like Siri or Alexa
* **Video agents**: The next evolution - AI that communicates with lifelike visual presence

## Why Video Agents?

While text and voice agents are useful, video agents create deeper engagement by:

* Establishing human-like connections through visual presence
* Conveying emotions and personality through facial expressions
* Building trust faster than disembodied voices or text
* Providing a more natural interaction paradigm

## Implementation Approaches

### Managed Agents

Use Beyond Presence's fully managed infrastructure where agents run on our servers. No framework setup required - just configure your agent through the Studio or our API and deploy instantly.

<Card title="Managed Agent Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/get-started/quickstart/managed-agent">
  Start building with Beyond Presence Managed Agents
</Card>

### Self-Hosted Agents

Build and manage your own conversational infrastructure using frameworks like [LiveKit Agents](https://github.com/livekit/agents) for real-time audio/video communication. This approach gives you complete control but requires significant engineering effort for media handling, scaling, and infrastructure management.

<Card title="LiveKit Agents Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/get-started/quickstart/speech-to-video">
  Quickstart for Speech-to-Video API with LiveKit Agents
</Card>

## Agent Components

Understanding agent components helps you optimize performance and customize functionality.
Whether configuring managed agents or building custom implementations, these components form the foundation of every conversational system.

### Core Intelligence

The core reasoning components that power your agent's conversational abilities:

* **Language Model**: The "brain" that understands user input and generates intelligent responses. This is the core reasoning engine that makes your agent conversational and context-aware.
* **System Prompt**: Instructions that define your agent's behavior, tone, and role. The system prompt contains the guidelines your agent follows during conversations.
* **Knowledge Base**: Domain-specific information your agent can reference to provide accurate, relevant responses. Upload documents, FAQs, or data to enhance your agent's expertise.

### Media Processing

Components that handle audio and video processing for real-time interactions:

* **Speech-to-Text (STT)**: Converts user speech into text that the language model can process.
* **Text-to-Speech (TTS)**: Converts language model responses into natural-sounding speech.
* **Turn Detection**: Detects when users finish speaking and when to respond, enabling natural conversation flow.
* **Avatar Rendering**: Turns text or speech responses into a lifelike video of a person.

### Transport

Manages real-time audio and video streaming between users and agents. Popular transport options in the space include [LiveKit](https://docs.livekit.io).

### External Tools

Connections to external systems, APIs, and services that expand your agent's capabilities beyond conversation.

## Learn More

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Custom LLM" icon="brain" href="/concepts/agents/external-llm">
    Connect your own OpenAI-compatible LLM API to a Managed Agent
  </Card>

  <Card title="Extra Capabilities" icon="sparkles" href="/concepts/agents/extra-capabilities">
    Enhance agents with webcam vision and wakeup mode
  </Card>

  <Card title="Just-in-Time Context" icon="user-gear" href="/concepts/agents/just-in-time-context">
    Provide conversation-specific context to your agents
  </Card>

  <Card title="Webhook Events" icon="webhook" href="/concepts/agents/webhook-events">
    Receive real-time events for conversations of your managed agents
  </Card>

  <Card title="List Calls API" icon="code" href="/api-reference/calls/list-calls">
    Retrieve historical data for conversations of your managed agents
  </Card>

  <Card title="LiveKit Client SDK" icon="cubes" href="/integrations/web/livekit-client-sdk">
    Connect to agents using LiveKit Client SDK
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


## Related topics

- [Speech-to-Video Integration for Voice Agents](/integrations/voice-agents/index.md)
- [Glossary](/learn/glossary.md)
- [Introduction](/get-started/index.md)
- [FAQ](/learn/faqs.md)
- [Studio](/concepts/studio.md)