Voice chat

**Voice chat** is the primary mode of communication in *Phasmophobia*.

## Player chat

Player chat is used to communicate between players. *Phasmophobia* uses the Photon Voice voice chat system.

### Local chat

Local chat is proximity-based. Players can hear one another up to 20 metres away, though in reality this distance is usually shorter due to volume fall-off.

There are three settings available for players to communicate through:

* **Push-to-talk:** The game will hear the player while they hold the local chat (default: V on keyboard) button.
* **Voice activation:** The game will always hear the player; this is also known as open mic.
* **On/Off toggle:** The local chat button is used to toggle open mic on or off. A microphone icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen will light up when the game is listening. A throat-clearing sound can also be heard when toggling; a rising tone when toggling on and a falling tone when toggling off.

This setting can be adjusted via the settings in the journal or in the main menu.

Players in different locations may hear local chat as being muffled:

* Players on different floors
* Players that are inside versus outside a building

Dead players can hear living players. There are several bugs that could occur where living players can also hear dead players, or dead players cannot hear each other clearly.

During a hunt, any noise transmitted through the microphone that is loud enough (when local chat is enabled) will attract the ghost if it is within 9 metres (or 2.5 metres for a Yokai) of the player on the same floor.

### Global chat

Global chat allows the player to communicate to all players on-site, regardless of their location. Global chat can be activated by pressing the global chat (default: B on keyboard) button, or by grabbing the walkie-talkie when using VR headsets. Voice through global chat will be muffled in a manner similar to a walkie-talkie. The VR walkie-talkie will automatically return onto the belt when dropped.

Global chat can only be activated via push-to-talk. Global chat cannot be used by dead players or in the lobby. Dead players can hear living players through global chat.

Using global chat within 9 metres of a ghost (2.5 metres for a Yokai) during a hunt will attract the ghost to the player, regardless of whether the player is speaking or not. Doing this will also cause a static noise to be played for all players in lieu of any microphone audio. One player using global chat will not attract the ghost to other players, regardless of if the speaker is inside or outside the investigation area.

There is currently a known issue where one or more players may not be able to hear others through global chat at random.

## Voice recognition

Voice recognition is used for recognition of phrases said by the player to elicit reactions from the ghost. Players can change the voice recognition system that is used (Vosk or Windows), as well as the voice recognition language. While Vosk supports all existing languages that are available on the game, the Windows-based system only supports English, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish.

When voice recognition is set up correctly, the player can use either local or global voice chat to communicate with the ghost using the Spirit Box, the Ouija Board, or the Monkey Paw. Additionally, saying the ghost's name or recognised phrases in the same room as the ghost also has a chance of causing it to perform an interaction. This has a minimum cooldown of 10 seconds.

The following is a list of recognized phrases:

* "Do something."
* "Let us know you are here."
* "Make a noise."
* "Make a sound."
* "Can you make a sound?"
* "Open a door."
* "Open the door."
* "Open this door."
* "Turn on the light."
* "Turn off the light."
* "Show us your presence."
* "Show your presence."
* "Show me."
* "Show us."
* "Knock something."
* "Throw something."
* "Can you speak?"
* "Can you speak to us?"
* "Can we speak?"
* "Would like to speak to you."
* "Can I ask you?"
* "May I ask you?"
* "Would you like to talk?"
* "Talk to me."
* "Talk to us."
* "Scream."
* "Do you know who we are?"
* "We mean you no harm."
* "We are friends."
* "Is there anyone with me?"
* "Is there anyone here?"
* "Are there any ghosts?"
* "Are you male or female?"
* "Are there children here?"
* "Are you alone?"
* "Are you the only one here?"
* "Are you here all the time?"
* "Are you waiting?"
* "Are you happy?"
* "Is there anything that I can do?"
* "Is this your home?"
* "Do you want us to leave?"
* "I'm scared."
* "I am scared."
* "Scared"
* "Scare"
* "Scary"
* "Spooky"
* "Horror"
* "Fright"
* "Frighten"
* "Panic"
* "Hide"
* "Run"

Note that some of these phrases were tied to older mechanics, so they don't all make sense with the game's current context. Additionally, not all of these may be functional.

If the player is unable to use voice recognition, they may use the text option for the Ouija Board, the Spirit Box, and the Monkey Paw.

## Tips

* Players who are unable to use voice recognition may consult the official *Phasmophobia* Discord server's voice recognition help channel on potential ways to fix voice recognition.
* Some languages on the Vosk system may not work correctly; use the Windows recognition system or text system as an alternative.
* If you are using the Windows recognition system, there is a bug where voice recognition (not voice chat) may "fall asleep" when the player loses focus of the game, causing it to fail. Pressing the Windows key twice, or pressing once and clicking on the game icon in the taskbar, will "wake" it up.

## History

 0.6.3.0 | Added the option to switch back to the Windows-based voice recognition system.

## References

1. ↑ *"Saying the ghost name..."* Shuee, *Phasmophobia* Discord Moderator. 6 April 2023 (on Discord).