> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.itellico.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Phone Testing

> Place real test calls to verify voice quality, timing, answering machine detection, call transfers, and the full customer experience.

## Why Test with Phone Calls

Use phone testing if your agent will be deployed on a phone number. The web simulator is faster for iteration, but a real phone call is the only way to verify voice quality, timing, answering machine detection, and transfer flows over the actual telephony path.

<Note>
  Phone testing is not a substitute for real-world experience — it validates the technical path, not how your agent handles real callers. Always review live conversations after launch and iterate from there.
</Note>

## Use This Page Before A Live Telephony Launch

If customers will call a real phone number, run at least one phone test before launch even if web simulator tests already passed.

## How to Make a Test Call

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Test Agent">
    Go to your agent and click **Test Agent** in the top right corner.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Phone call">
    In **Test type**, select **Phone call**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose your caller ID">
    Select which phone number to call from. This will be the caller ID your contact sees.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter destination number">
    Type the phone number you want to call in international format with country code (e.g., +1 for US).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure AMD (optional)">
    Choose [Answering Machine Detection (AMD)](/build/advanced/voicemail-handling) mode.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the call">
    Click **Start phone call**. Your agent will call the number and you can have a real conversation.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What to verify during the call

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Response Time" icon="clock">
    Count the beats between speaking and hearing the agent. Flag anything over \~600 ms.
  </Card>

  <Card title="AMD" icon="robot">
    Let voicemail answer to check whether the selected AMD mode behaves correctly.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Tools & transfers" icon="bolt">
    Trigger custom tools, bookings, or transfers to confirm they still fire during a real phone call.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Context accuracy" icon="id-card">
    Confirm caller-specific prompts or knowledge lookups still work when the call is initiated with real metadata.
  </Card>

  <Card title="End-of-call handling" icon="flag-checkered">
    Ensure wrap-up messaging, automations, and transcripts finalize even if the caller hangs up first.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Test Scenarios

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Conversation flow" icon="comments">
    Test the complete conversation path from greeting through goal completion. Verify the agent follows your prompt and handles the conversation naturally.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Interruptions" icon="hand">
    Try interrupting the agent while it's speaking. Verify it stops gracefully and responds appropriately to your interruption.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Different environments" icon="location-dot">
    Test from quiet rooms, noisy environments, and different locations. Call from mobile phones, landlines, and different carriers if possible.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Edge cases" icon="triangle-exclamation">
    Test unexpected inputs, unclear requests, and scenarios where the agent needs to ask clarifying questions or gracefully handle confusion.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## After the Call

1. Go to the **Conversations** tab in your dashboard
2. Find your test call (look for the phone icon)
3. Review the transcript for accuracy
4. Check that goals were tracked correctly
5. Verify any tools or automations triggered as expected

<Tip>
  Keep notes on what worked and what needs improvement for each test call.
</Tip>

## Common Issues

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Call doesn't connect" icon="phone-xmark">
    Check that your selected phone number is active and properly configured in **Telephony → Phone Numbers**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Poor audio quality" icon="volume-xmark">
    Try calling from a different location or device.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="No transcript appears" icon="file-slash">
    Wait a few moments after the call ends for processing. If it still doesn't appear, try another test call.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Agent sounds different than web test" icon="waveform">
    This is normal — the phone network processes audio differently than web calls. Test multiple times to ensure consistency.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

Once your phone tests are successful, you're ready to launch your agent to customers!

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Web & Chat Testing" icon="browser" href="/test/web-simulator">
    Test your agent in the browser for fast iteration
  </Card>

  <Card title="Phone Numbers" icon="phone" href="/launch/phone-numbers">
    Deploy your agent to production phone numbers
  </Card>

  <Card title="Debugging" icon="bug" href="/test/debugging">
    Troubleshoot issues with conversation logs and diagnostics
  </Card>
</CardGroup>