---
title: "How to make a test call"
description: "Ring your receptionist from your browser, or type to it, to hear how it handles a call before your customers do."
url: https://geiavwiyz.gleap.help/en/articles/167-how-to-make-a-test-call
collection: "Receptionist"
updated: 2026-11-02
language: en
---

# How to make a test call

Ring your receptionist from your browser, or type to it, to hear how it handles a call before your customers do.

A test call is you playing the caller. It follows your call flow as it is now, published or not, so you can try a change before your customers hear it. Test calls are free: they don't use your receptionist minutes.

They find real free times in your calendars, but they book nothing, text nobody and ring nobody.

You need to be an admin of your team to make a test call.

## Talk to it

1.  Click **Receptionist** in the sidebar, then the **Test** tab.
    
2.  Make sure **Talk** is picked.
    
3.  Click **Call**, and allow your browser to use the microphone.
    
4.  Talk to it as a customer would: say what job you want, where you are, when suits.
    
5.  Click **Hang up** when you're done, or **Call again** to start over.
    

What you both say appears as you go, with each step of the flow it moves onto. After a few replies it shows how quickly it typically answers.

## Type to it

1.  On the **Test** tab, click **Type**.
    
2.  Click **Start**.
    
3.  Type what a caller would say, and press Enter.
    

Click **Start again** to begin a new call, or **Again** once a call has ended.

## Test from the call flow

On the **Call flow** tab, click **Test**. The test opens beside the map, and each step lights up as the call reaches it. It's the best way to see why a call went the way it did.

## Change how it sounds while you talk

On the **Talk** tab, click **Advanced voice settings** above the call, before or during it. Move **Pace**, **Steadiness** and the rest, and you hear the change from its next sentence. Changes save as you go, and callers hear them once you publish. See _How to change your receptionist's name and voice_.

## What happens when a test call would put someone through

A real call would ring the number on the Transfer step. A test call says so, and carries on as if nobody answered.

## Why does it say the flow has a problem?

Above the call, a yellow box lists anything in your call flow that could make calls go wrong. You can still test, but fix them before you publish. See _How to change your call flow_.

## Why can't I talk to it?

-   If you see **Talking isn't available yet**, the voice service isn't working just now. Test by typing instead: it follows the same flow. Contact us if it stays.
    
-   If the call doesn't start, check your browser has let the page use your microphone.
    

## Why did it say a letter would be linked?

If you say a letter brought you, and read out a reference, the test shows which letter the call would be linked to. A real call is linked to it once it ends, and counts on that campaign.