Usage & credits
What you have used, what it costs, and how to avoid running out.
Open Settings → Usage & credits.
What is metered
Call minutes
Time on calls handled by people.
AI minutes
Time your AI receptionist spends on calls.
Messages
SMS and MMS, per segment.
Number rental
Monthly, per number held.
Enrichment
Per lookup, where enabled.
AI minutes are metered separately from call minutes. A call the AI answers and transfers uses both.
Allowances and credits
Your plan includes an allowance per billing period. It resets each period and does not roll over.
Usage beyond the allowance draws on credits — a prepaid balance. With credits, service continues and draws down. Without them, service stops.
What stops when you run out
AI minutes exhausted — the assistant stops answering. Calls fall through to whatever else the number is configured to do, or nowhere if nothing is set.
Call minutes exhausted — outbound calling is restricted.
Messages exhausted — sending stops.
Nothing announces this to your callers. A number whose AI has run out and which has no fallback simply fails to help anyone who rings it. Set a fallback destination on every number.
Set an alert
Under Settings → Notifications, set a usage alert at around 80% of your allowance.
Send it to email and to Slack. Finding out from a customer that your phone has not been answered since Friday is avoidable for the cost of one checkbox.
Auto-recharge
Where available, auto-recharge tops credits up automatically when the balance falls below a threshold. This is the most reliable way to avoid interruption.
Set a sensible cap so an unexpected spike — a spam wave, a runaway automation — cannot run up a large bill.
What costs more than expected
Spam calls. Every robocall your AI answers is metered. Enable screening — see Spam & blocking.
Long message content. Messages bill per segment. Emoji and other non-GSM characters sharply reduce characters per segment.
International destinations. Rates vary considerably by country.
Held calls. A caller who sets the phone down without hanging up keeps the call open. Set a maximum call length.
Testing. Test calls are metered like real ones.
Reducing usage
Screen spam aggressively.
Shorten the AI's greeting — seconds saved on every call add up.
Ask only for fields you will act on.
Transfer early on calls the AI cannot resolve.
Release numbers you are not using.
Reviewing
Check usage against results monthly under Analytics. Usage rising alongside conversions is a business growing; usage rising alone is something to investigate.