Sorry if this has been answered in other posts but I have looked at the help file and could not work out how to get VC to time out after 10-20 secs and go into the standby mode.

As I have an open air mic system in my house I want to be able to use an attention phase to put VC into On mode ready to receive the commands.
This will help reduce the number of false commands being sent.

Hey aussie mate, you will find the information for both questions here: http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Options

1. idle event in options menu - you can set here the idle timeout in seconds and the action which will executed after this elapsed time.
example: If you set the idle timeout to 10 sec and as action VC.Standby, then VoxCommando switch to standby mode after 10 seconds.

2. is called prefix mode also in options menu

I think that was only one question, but prefix mode is also a useful tool.

The command to pay attention already exists in every standard configuration.

thanks for the help - I feel stupid - I looked at the options menu but didn't see it there.

see attached pics 

one show you where you find the prefix settings and the other pic show you where you find the command which switch VC in "On mode" by a phrase like pay attention, listen, ... in the command editor.