Turn it on and run a test call
Never let a robot answer your phone untested. The Receptionist page has a simulator that runs a whole call in text, so you can hear its judgment before a client does, then flip it on with confidence.
Who can do this: Owner or Admin, under Settings, then Receptionist.
Run a test call
- In the Simulate a call card, pick the Location and enter a Caller number (any number; it plays the caller).
- In What the caller says, one line per turn, script the caller side, one line per thing they say:
book a hydrafacial tomorrow at 2pm yes please
- Click Run the call. The full conversation plays out in text: greeting, answers, booking, and the outcome.
- Check the results: the conversation transcript, the outcome in Recent calls, and (for a booking test) the appointment on your calendar.
Turn it on
- At the top of the form, tick Answer calls with the voice agent.
- Click Save receptionist settings.
- Read the status badge in the header. It's the truth about your phone line:
- Simulation only. The voice provider isn't live yet; simulate freely, real calls aren't routed.
- Paused. The provider is live but your switch is off.
- Answering calls. Live. The next real call gets the receptionist.
Example. Before launch, Golden Coast scripts five test calls: a booking, a Spanish booking, a parking question, a price question, and "I want to talk to someone." Four handle themselves; the FAQ gains one new pair from the price question; the escalation works. Then, and only then, the box gets ticked.
Common questions
- My test booked a real appointment? Simulated bookings book against real availability, which is exactly what you're testing. Cancel it afterward like any appointment.
- The status says Simulation only; did I break something? No. That's the pre-go-live state: your settings and tests all work, and real telephony arrives when the voice provider is switched on with your Lime Papaya contact.
- How do I take it offline fast? Untick Answer calls with the voice agent and save. The status flips to Paused.
- What should a launch test cover? One booking, one FAQ hit, one escalation, and one out-of-scope question. Fifteen minutes, full confidence.
Good to know
- Recent calls keeps the history with each call's outcome, which turns every week of real calls into next week's FAQ edits.
- Test after every meaningful settings change. The simulator is free and the phone is not the place to discover a typo in your hours.