The present solution includes a method for dynamically switching modalities in a dialogue session involving a voice server. In the method, a dialogue session can be established between a user and a speech application. During the dialogue session, the user can interact using an original modality, which is either a speech modality, a text exchange modality, or a multi mode modality that includes a text exchange modality. The speech application can interact using a speech modality. A modality switch trigger can be detected that changes the original modality to a different modality. The modality transition to the second modality can be transparent to the speech application. The speech application can be a standard VoiceXML based speech application that lacks an inherent text exchange capability.