Currently when a word is misunderstood or not clear, the AI agent will be silent, and then ask if the caller is still there.

Conversationally this is rude. It would be much better if the agent could say "Sorry I didn't understand you - can you please repeat" or something like that.

Part of the issue with this also can stem from background noise, which is another issue I will address because I have an idea for that as well.

However, if the caller is speaking loudly enough that it's obvious it's not background noise and the AI didn't understand, it should say it didn't understand, and not be silent.