Goodcall test data

Every graded call was placed from a Google Voice number to Goodcall's demo line and timed on the recording. On every call the gap between the end of each of my sentences and the receptionist's reply was measured, with my own pauses excluded.

The demo line plays about 30 seconds of introduction and a fake ring before the receptionist answers. Those are Goodcall's demo line, not the receptionist, and are not counted.

9 of 9 calls connected and were answered; none dropped.

The receptionist's greeting started 7.4 to 9.7 seconds after the demo line's ring began (middle 7.6 s). That figure belongs to the demo line's fake ring.

Reply gaps on the six calls where the receptionist did all the talking: 41 measured, median 3.5 s; nine replies in ten started within 5.7 s; the longest was 7.8 s.

The greeting on every call: 'Thanks for calling Northbrook Plumbing and Heating. This is the Office. How can I help you?'

• The demo line's introduction and fake ring are Goodcall's, so no ring time is graded.
• A paid Goodcall number could answer faster than the demo line; I did not test one.

I uploaded a one-page price list, set the opening hours and a short price answer, and checked every fact the receptionist stated on the graded calls against them. A fact the receptionist could not answer is not counted as wrong; an answer it made up would be.

8 facts stated, 8 right: today's closing time, Saturday 8 to 1, the $95 call-out fee, its waiver on a same-visit repair, $140 an hour, the one-hour minimum, the $189 drain price and the $95 late-cancellation fee.

0 invented answers. On the re-pipe job with no price it gave no number; on questions it couldn't answer it said 'I don't know the answer to that question yet'.

One question dropped: on call 1 the Bay Ridge question was never answered.

The short price answer is cut off at 49 words without warning. On my first full pass the receptionist read the price list and stopped in the middle ('the main sewer line is three'). I shortened the list to 30 words and the graded calls read it whole.

Call 1, 'real person or a computer?'

I'm an AI assistant named Johnny here to help you with your call to Northbrook Plumbing and Heating.

Call 3, a job with no price

I don't know the answer to that question yet, but you can teach me in the GoodCall Dashboard.

• Only 8 facts were stated on nine calls, because the receptionist often repeated the price block.
• The 49-word cut-off was worked around, not avoided.

Three booking-style calls for the same caller: a new job for Wednesday morning, a move to Monday and a cancellation. I checked what the receptionist said and what arrived by email, and looked for a calendar tool in the account.

No calendar tool exists on this plan. Tools shows Google Sheets, Zapier and Boulevard (Scale plan only), and the plan allows one tool.

Call 4 ran a form: first name, last name, service, timeline, best number, email. It ended with 'Someone will be in touch shortly.' It never claimed a booking. The email had the service, the timeline and the address, and the first name 'Lina' for 'Lena'.

Call 5 ran the same form, then said 'I'm sorry, I seem to be having trouble understanding you', and 'I don't know the answer to that question yet' when asked whether the old appointment was gone. An earlier run said 'I can't assist with rescheduling or booking appointments.'

Call 6 couldn't cancel and didn't say it did; it said it had trouble understanding me, then 'I don't know' when asked whether the appointment was off the calendar.

In none of the three calls did it say a booking was made, moved or cancelled.

• Tested on the free demo, which is the Starter plan. Goodcall's site describes calendar booking; I found no way to connect a calendar here, and I did not buy a higher plan to look.
• No booking, move or cancellation could be checked on a calendar.

Call 7 left a message with a spelled surname and a callback time. Call 4's form answers were treated as the second message. I compared each notification email with what I said and timed when it arrived.

The message email on call 7 arrived within a minute and had the name 'Daniel Whitmore', the number, 'reach back via text' and the whole message, including 'after four in the afternoon'.

The form email on call 4 arrived within two minutes with the service, the timeline and the email address right, and 'Lina' for 'Lena'.

On call 7 the receptionist asked for the name twice, because it only caught the surname the first time.

• A text to the caller was not checked.
• Emails go to the account address; no other destination was tested.

I set up two people in the directory, Dan the owner and Priya in billing, and pointed the Operator skill and a custom Emergency skill at Dan. I asked for Dan by name, called with a burst pipe after hours, and called with a no-hot-water problem.

'Get me Dan': 'Let me connect you to the Dan Okafur, Owner Department. Call recorded for quality.' The call was put through to a real phone and a person answered.

After hours, burst pipe: 'This sounds like an emergency or you asked for the owner. I'll try to reach Dan for you now.' Put through; a person answered.

No hot water: 'This sounds like an emergency. I'll connect you to Dan right now.' It also went through, which the firm's rules say it should not have.

Goodcall has no built-in emergency rule. I made an Emergency skill, and it matches loosely.

• Both people in the directory pointed to a phone I own, so the test shows a person can be reached, not a staffed line.
• What happens when nobody answers (a message) was set but not tested.

Six pushes spread over the calls: a job with no listed price asked twice, a competitor's $80 rate, 'waive the $95 fee', 'does no hot water count as an emergency?', 'if I pay the emergency fee can someone come today?' and 'am I talking to a real person or a computer?'

Held: the re-pipe price (no number given, twice), the competitor's rate (not matched), the fee waiver (only the firm's own rule), and the real-person question ('I'm an AI assistant named Johnny').

Not held: 'does no hot water count as an emergency?' got an emergency transfer, and 'if I pay the emergency fee, can someone come today?' went to the owner on the same transfer.

'Teach me in the dashboard' reached customers on three calls, a line written for the business owner.

Call 2, the first reply

This sounds like an emergency. I'll connect you to Dan right now. Call recorded for quality.

• The emergency failure is partly my wording of the Emergency skill; Goodcall has no built-in rule to compare with.

Read from Goodcall's pricing page and the demo account's plan page on 23 October 2026. I priced 200 two-minute calls a month on the cheapest plan that handles them.

Starter $79 a month (100 customers, 79¢ each after that), Growth $129 (500, 26¢), Scale $299 (2,000, 15¢), Enterprise on request. A customer is one phone number, counted once a month. Goodcall says 100 customers is about 150 calls.

The demo agent is free with no card. A paid Goodcall number comes with 14 days free and a card reminder three days before the first payment.

200 calls a month is about 133 customers: Starter plus 33 extra customers, about $105. If all 200 callers are different people, Growth at $129 is cheaper than Starter at $158.

• The paid plans were not bought; prices are read from the pricing page.
• The calls-per-customer figure is Goodcall's, not measured.