> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.withallo.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Recordings and Audio
> Record, upload or write every message a caller hears in your call flow
Anywhere your flow speaks to a caller, you choose how that message is made: record it yourself, upload a file, or write the text and let Allo read it out.
## The three sources
On any step that talks, select **Edit** on the audio row and pick one:
| Source | What it is | Good for |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| **Record audio** | Record straight into Allo from your microphone. | A real voice, without leaving the app. |
| **Upload a file** | Upload an MP3 or WAV you already have. | A studio recording or a jingle. |
| **Text to speech** | Write the words, Allo reads them out. | Anything you expect to edit again. |
Uploads must be **MP3 or WAV**, up to 5MB. Other audio formats can look like they saved and then play as silence to your callers. If you have an m4a file, convert it before uploading.
## One source at a time
A step plays one thing. If a step has a recording and you then write text for it, the text replaces the recording, and Allo warns you before it does: "This step plays a recording. The text you write here replaces it."
Menu option names are the exception. There, the name you type is also the label on the canvas, so the name and the recording live side by side: the name is what you read on screen, the recording is what the caller hears. The row shows **Named by your recording**, and **Remove recording** takes you back to the spoken name.
## Where audio shows up
* **Phone menu greeting**, played before the options.
* **Menu option names**, the "For Sales, press 1" line for each key.
* **Play announcement**, the message played mid-flow.
* **Voicemail greeting**, played before the caller records.
## Writing text that reads well
Allo reads your text exactly as written, so write it the way you would say it.
* Spell out anything you want heard as words. "24/7" is read back as digits and a slash.
* Give phone numbers room to breathe: "zero one, four four, five five" reads better than one long string.
* Punctuation sets the pace. A full stop is a real pause.
* Listen to it once with the player on the row before you save.
## Announcements need their text
A **Play announcement** step will not save without written text, even when a recording is what actually plays. Write the message first, then add the recording if you want a human voice on it. The text stays as the label for that step.
## Recordings and barge-in
With a text-only menu, a caller can press their key at any point while the menu is being read.
As soon as any part of a menu uses a recording, that changes: callers can only press once the last option starts playing. If your regulars are used to pressing 1 straight away, keep that menu on text to speech.
## Related pages
Greeting, options and fallbacks
Callers hear silence, or hear the menu twice