[← Find a receptionist bot](https://tradey.com/find-receptionist) · [Public facts](https://tradey.com/receptionists) # How to test an AI receptionist before you buy **Short answer:** make test calls from a phone the bot has never seen, and count a pass only when a correct appointment appears in your own calendar; a captured request or a message summary is not a booking. Give every receptionist you're considering the same five test calls during its free trial, then open your calendar and check what actually happened. A smooth-sounding call isn't a pass. A pass is a correct booking on your real (or test) calendar, a correct confirmation to the caller, and nothing made up. **Tradey hasn't published any test results yet**, and this page names no vendors. ## Before you call - Use a test calendar or a test service type so no real customer gets double-booked. - Write down your hours, your services, the prices you're happy to quote, and who gets urgent calls. - Give every product the same setup sheet so the results are comparable. - Tell anyone helping you test that the calls may be recorded. ## The five test calls (scorecard) | # | Call | Pass looks like | Fail looks like | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | Routine booking: a new customer, a preferred day, an address or service detail | The slot appears on your calendar with the right day, time, service and contact details; the caller hears the same details read back; the confirmation text or email matches | "Someone will call you back", a wrong slot, missing details, or a booking that never shows up | | 2 | Reschedule or cancel an existing booking | The old slot is freed and the new one booked, with no duplicate | Two bookings, or the old one left in place | | 3 | An urgent call after hours ("my pipe burst", "no heat") | Reaches your on-call person fast, or follows the rule you set; never promises a time you didn't allow | Takes a message and stops, or promises someone is on the way | | 4 | A price or diagnosis you didn't give it | Says someone will confirm, or quotes only the prices you supplied | Invents a price, a diagnosis or a guarantee | | 5 | A hard line: background noise, an accent, or a second language you serve | Gets the name and number right, or asks again | A wrong phone number or name in the summary | Run each call twice, and change only the detail you're testing. [Print the scorecard](https://tradey.com/guides/ai-receptionist-test-scorecard) to fill in by hand. ## After each call - Open the calendar, the call summary and the recording side by side. - Mark pass or fail for each row. One invented price or one lost booking is enough to stop. - Keep the recordings. They're your evidence if a vendor says it was a fluke. ## Work out the real cost while you're at it Monthly cost = plan price + (your calls or minutes above the included amount × the overage rate) + phone number and add-on fees. Divide by your calls per month to get the cost per call. Our [buyer guide](https://tradey.com/find-receptionist) and the trade checklists below show list prices worked out at 50, 150 and 500 calls a month. ## How Tradey uses this Tradey Verified is **coming soon** and uses the same idea: one recorded test call that has to land on a live calendar, with a pass or fail result published next to the recording. **No bot has been Tradey-verified yet**, and we haven't published any results. Builders can [submit evidence](https://tradey.com/verified-evidence), and buyers can [get notified when results land](https://tradey.com#early-access). ## FAQ **How long should I trial an AI receptionist?** Long enough to run the five test calls twice and then forward a small share of real calls for a week or two before you change your published number. **Can I test without involving my real customers?** Yes. Use colleagues or friends who agree to take part, a test calendar or test service type, and made-up details. **Is a vendor demo call enough?** No. A vendor demo runs on the vendor's own setup. Test with your hours, your services and your calendar. **How can I test whether a bot actually books jobs?** Call it yourself from a phone it has never seen, ask for a real job (for example a repair next Tuesday morning), and then check your own calendar or dispatch app. A booked job means a new appointment appears there with the right name, number, address and time. If you only get an email or text summary, the bot took a message; it did not book. Repeat with an after-hours call and with a caller who changes their mind. **How do I work out the cost per call?** Monthly cost is the plan price, plus your calls or minutes above the included amount times the overage rate, plus phone number and add-on fees. Divide that by your calls per month. Ask about setup fees, minimum terms and whether spam or wrong-number calls count. **Does the bot have to say it is an AI?** Laws on AI disclosure and call recording vary by state and country and change often. Some US states require everyone on a call to consent to recording, and some have rules about telling people they are talking to AI. US federal rules also restrict outbound calls that use AI-generated voices. Check the rules where you and your callers are, or ask a lawyer. This is general information, not legal advice. **Can the bot record or transcribe my calls?** Many bots record or transcribe every call by default. Ask the vendor where recordings and transcripts are stored, how long they are kept, and how you delete them. Laws on AI disclosure and call recording vary by state and country and change often. Some US states require everyone on a call to consent to recording, and some have rules about telling people they are talking to AI. US federal rules also restrict outbound calls that use AI-generated voices. Check the rules where you and your callers are, or ask a lawyer. This is general information, not legal advice. **Does it book on my calendar during the call, or only take a message?** Ask for a real appointment on a test call, then open your own calendar or dispatch app before you hang up. A booking is a new event with the right name, number, service and time. An email, text or voicemail summary means the bot took a message. Ask the vendor to show the event appearing in your system during the demo. **How do I know the booking really exists?** Within 10 minutes of each test call, check that exactly one event exists, on the right staff member's calendar, at the time the bot read back. Look for duplicates, missing events after a slow or dropped call, and bookings outside your hours. **Does it mess up scheduling?** Run at least five test calls and count the mistakes, not just whether one call passed: wrong time, wrong person, double bookings and missed reschedules. Write down the error rate, for example 1 wrong out of 10 calls, and test again after the vendor fixes your setup. **Does it sound robotic, and do callers hang up?** Make the test calls yourself and listen as a customer would: long pauses, talking over the caller, repeated questions. Ask a few people who agree to take part to call it too. During a trial with real calls, compare how many callers hang up before giving their details with your current setup. Laws on AI disclosure and call recording vary by state and country and change often. Some US states require everyone on a call to consent to recording, and some have rules about telling people they are talking to AI. US federal rules also restrict outbound calls that use AI-generated voices. Check the rules where you and your callers are, or ask a lawyer. This is general information, not legal advice. **Does it work after hours, on weekends and for emergencies?** Place test calls in the evening, on a weekend and with an emergency (no heat, a burst pipe, a power cut). Check that it follows your rules, such as booking the next open slot, transferring or paging your on-call person, or taking a message, and time how long an emergency takes to reach a person. **Does it get names, phone numbers and emails right?** On each test call, spell a hard name and give a phone number and an email address, then compare what the bot saved with what you said. Count every wrong field. Check that it reads details back and lets the caller correct them. **Can it follow my intake questions and screen out calls I don't want?** Give the bot your questions (service type, address, job size, service area) and your rules for jobs you don't take. On test calls, play one caller who fits and one who doesn't, and check that it asks every question and handles the non-fit the way you set. **Can it handle Spanish or other languages?** Ask which languages the vendor supports on your plan and whether the bot switches by itself or needs a menu choice. Test with a fluent speaker who agrees to take part: book a job entirely in that language, then check the saved details and any text or email the caller receives. **Do spam calls and robocalls use up my minutes?** Check the vendor's pricing page for whether you pay per minute, per call or per caller, and ask whether spam, robocalls, wrong numbers and very short calls count. Ask whether it can screen or block spam before answering, and check your usage report after the first week. **Is it worth it if I only get a few calls a day?** Work out the monthly cost at your real volume, for example 50, 150 and 500 calls a month, including the plan, overage and add-ons. Compare that with what one missed job is worth to you. At low volume, a plan with a low base price and per-call or per-minute billing can cost less than a large bundle. **Which calendars and booking tools does it work with?** Ask the vendor for the exact tools it connects to (for example Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly or a field-service app) and whether it books directly or sends a request you approve. Test with the tool you already use, not a demo calendar. **Is it ready to use, and has anyone verified it?** Tradey has not verified any receptionist bot yet, and nothing on Tradey is a ranking. Vendor claims and online reviews are only a starting point. The test calls in our guide are the best way to see whether a bot works for your business before you change your published number. Owner questions above are general information, not legal advice. Last reviewed: 2026-10-13. Corrections: [contact](https://tradey.com/contact). ## Get notified when verified results land Tradey is early — no bot is Tradey-verified yet. Join the buyer waitlist and we'll email you when verified receptionist results are published. Double opt-in; unsubscribe anytime. ## Related pages - [Find a receptionist bot that books jobs](https://tradey.com/find-receptionist) - [Tools AI agents need](https://tradey.com/bot-tools) - [Listing standards](https://tradey.com/standards) - [Checklist: barbershops](https://tradey.com/guides/ai-receptionist-checklist-barbers) - [Checklist: HVAC companies](https://tradey.com/guides/ai-receptionist-checklist-hvac) - [Checklist: salons](https://tradey.com/guides/ai-receptionist-checklist-salons) - [Checklist: plumbing companies](https://tradey.com/guides/ai-receptionist-checklist-plumbing) - [Checklist: electricians](https://tradey.com/guides/ai-receptionist-checklist-electrician) - [Checklist: landscaping companies](https://tradey.com/guides/ai-receptionist-checklist-landscaping) - [Does an AI receptionist book appointments or just take messages?](https://tradey.com/guides/does-an-ai-receptionist-book-appointments) - [All buyer guides](https://tradey.com/guides) - [Printable AI receptionist test scorecard](https://tradey.com/guides/ai-receptionist-test-scorecard)