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

# Talking an RFI into existence

> Dictation fills a field. The conversational agent asks you follow-up questions until the RFI is specific enough to send.

export const Video = ({id, title, runtime, url}) => {
  const meta = VIDEOS[id] || ({});
  const label = title || meta.title || "Tutorial video";
  const length = runtime || meta.runtime || "";
  const track = meta.track || "";
  const src = toEmbedUrl(url || meta.url);
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    position: "relative",
    width: "100%",
    paddingTop: "56.25%",
    borderRadius: "10px",
    overflow: "hidden",
    background: "rgba(127,127,127,0.09)",
    border: src ? "1px solid rgba(127,127,127,0.24)" : "1px dashed rgba(127,127,127,0.42)"
  };
  const fill = {
    position: "absolute",
    inset: 0,
    width: "100%",
    height: "100%",
    border: 0
  };
  const center = {
    position: "absolute",
    inset: 0,
    display: "flex",
    flexDirection: "column",
    alignItems: "center",
    justifyContent: "center",
    gap: "10px",
    padding: "24px",
    textAlign: "center"
  };
  const idBadge = {
    fontFamily: "ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Menlo, monospace",
    fontSize: "12px",
    letterSpacing: "0.06em",
    padding: "2px 8px",
    borderRadius: "4px",
    background: "rgba(184,82,40,0.14)",
    color: "#B85228",
    fontWeight: 600
  };
  const caption = {
    display: "flex",
    flexWrap: "wrap",
    alignItems: "center",
    gap: "8px",
    marginTop: "8px",
    fontSize: "13px",
    opacity: 0.66,
    fontFamily: "ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Menlo, monospace"
  };
  return <div style={{
    margin: "0 0 28px"
  }}>
      <div style={frame}>
        {src ? <iframe style={fill} src={src} title={label} frameBorder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowFullScreen /> : <div style={center}>
            <svg width="44" height="44" viewBox="0 0 44 44" fill="none" aria-hidden="true">
              <circle cx="22" cy="22" r="20" stroke="currentColor" strokeOpacity="0.28" strokeWidth="2" />
              <path d="M18 15.5L29 22L18 28.5V15.5Z" fill="currentColor" fillOpacity="0.32" />
            </svg>
            <div style={{
    fontWeight: 600,
    fontSize: "15px",
    maxWidth: "36ch",
    lineHeight: 1.35
  }}>{label}</div>
            <div style={{
    fontSize: "13px",
    opacity: 0.6
  }}>
              Video coming soon{length ? " · " + length : ""}
            </div>
          </div>}
      </div>
      <div style={caption}>
        {id ? <span style={idBadge}>{id}</span> : null}
        {length ? <span>{length}</span> : null}
        {track ? <span>{track} track</span> : null}
      </div>
    </div>;
};

<Video id="90.1" />

<Note>
  **Two different things.** **Dictation** types what you say into a field. The **conversational agent** interviews you — it asks follow-up questions until the RFI is actually answerable.
</Note>

## Dictation vs. the agent

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Dictation" icon="keyboard">
    You talk, it types. Good when you know exactly what you want to say and your hands are dirty.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Conversational agent" icon="comments">
    You describe the problem, it asks: which sheet? what location? what did you expect to find?

    Good when you know there's a problem but haven't worked out how to ask it.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Use it on site

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open a new RFI and start talking">
    Describe what you're looking at, in whichever language you work in.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Answer its questions">
    It'll push for specifics — the sheet number, the location, what the conflict is. That's the point. The questions it asks are the ones the architect would have asked next week.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read the draft before you send it">
    Every word of it. You're the one signing it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Attach the marked-up sheet">
    → [Marking up a sheet](/drawings/markup-a-sheet)
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  **Always read it before it goes out.** The agent writes a clean RFI from what you said — but it can only work with what you told it. If you misspoke the sheet number, it will write the wrong sheet number very professionally.
</Warning>

<Tip>
  It works in Spanish too, end to end — you talk in Spanish, and the RFI can go out in English. → [Working in Spanish](/help/languages)
</Tip>

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Voice on forms" icon="waveform-lines" href="/ai/voice-on-submittals-and-forms">
    What it does with tables.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Write a good RFI" icon="circle-question" href="/approvals/write-an-rfi">
    Question vs. References.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>