To make your first test call to Voco, add your own mobile as a test number, then ring your Voco number directly and talk to your AI receptionist as a customer would. Calls from a test number are free, and you do not need to forward your business number first. Testing takes about 10 minutes and lets you change anything you do not like before a real customer hears it.
Are test calls to Voco free?
Yes, calls from your test numbers are free. In your Voco dashboard, go to Settings, then Test numbers, type your mobile into Your test numbers and press Add number. It saves straight away, with no separate save button. Add any other phone you will test from too.
Calls from these numbers use none of your plan's allowance and none of your credit. They are marked "Test call" in your call list, and they are left out of your call statistics and insights, so testing never skews your numbers. They also never count towards milestones such as review requests.
How do I ring my Voco receptionist?
Ring your Voco number from your mobile. Your Voco number is at the top of your dashboard home page, after "Your receptionist is answering on", with a copy button, and in the email that said your receptionist was live. Voco answers after a pause of about 1 second with your greeting, which thanks the caller for ringing your business by name and asks how it can help.
Talk to it the way a customer would. Good things to try on a first call:
- Ask one of the questions customers ask you most, such as your prices, your area or your opening hours.
- Ask to book an appointment, if you take bookings through Voco.
- Describe an urgent problem, to hear how Voco handles an emergency for your type of business.
- Ask to speak to a person, to hear what happens with your transfer setting.
How do I check how my receptionist sounds?
Voco's receptionist sounds right when it reads your callers' details back correctly and keeps up with the conversation. Make a second test call just for this. Ask the receptionist to take each detail below and read it back to you, as if you were a customer leaving a message:
- A mobile number: 07700 900123.
- Two postcodes: SW1A 1AA and TS1 3BA.
- Three prices: £85, £1,250 and £4.99 a week.
- A date and time: "Tuesday the 14th at half past two".
- Two names: Siobhan and Nguyen.
- Your own trading name, said the way your customers say it.
Then test how it copes with a real caller. Interrupt it in the middle of a sentence: it should stop and listen. Speak quickly, then slowly. If you can, ring once from somewhere noisy.
While you listen, note three things: any silence longer than about 2 seconds, any detail it misreads, and any time it talks over you. Each one has a fix in the dashboard:
- The start of the greeting is cut off on calls forwarded from your business number: go to Settings, then Receptionist, and set Pause before answering to "3 seconds (suits most forwarded calls)". Your phone provider is probably playing its own message first.
- Your business name sounds wrong: write it the way it is said in the Greeting script. See how to set your greeting and away message.
- The voice or pace does not suit your business: change Voice style under Call behaviour, or press Change voice under Your receptionist.
- A wrong answer: the information is missing or out of date. See how to teach Voco about your business.
Where do I see what happened on the call?
Every call appears in Calls in your Voco dashboard once it ends, with the caller, the reason they rang, a summary and whether they need a call back. Open a call to play the recording and read the transcript, which is the quickest way to check exactly what the receptionist heard. See Voco call transcripts and notes for everything on a call page. If email notifications are on, you also get an email titled "New call for" and your business name, with a short summary and a link to the full call. Turn email and text alerts on or off under Settings, then Notifications.
How do I change what Voco says?
Each part of a call is set on its own page in the dashboard. Voco updates your receptionist when you save, so ring again to hear the change.
| To change | Go to |
|---|---|
| The greeting | Settings, then Receptionist, then Greeting script under Your receptionist. Press Save changes. |
| What it knows | Settings, then Receptionist, then Your receptionist's knowledge: add your website, upload a document, or answer common questions under "Anything else it should know?". |
| Opening hours | Settings, then My business, then Business hours. Press Save changes. |
| When it puts calls through to you | Settings, then Call handling, then Call transfer: always, only urgent calls, during scheduled hours only, or never. Add the number to ring in Transfer phone number. |
If an update does not reach your receptionist, the Receptionist settings page says "Your receptionist is still answering with older settings". Save again, and if the message stays, email the Voco team.
What should I do after the test call?
When Voco sounds right, tick "I have made my test call" on the checklist on your dashboard home page, then forward your business calls to Voco so it answers the calls you miss. If you have not finished the rest of the checklist, set up Voco in your first hour first. If you also want Voco answering questions on your website, add Voco chat to your website next.