Tradesly · Guide
Your first test call
Call your own number and hear your receptionist in action before any customer does.
You've told Tradesly about your business, picked a number, and coached your receptionist. Now find out what your customers are about to experience — by being one.
Pick up your cell phone and call your new AI number. This uses the same business details and availability your receptionist uses for customer calls, so it is the clearest way to hear what needs another coaching pass.
A test call can create real activity. Use your own contact details. Remove any test appointment you do not want, and remember that a text sent during the call is actually sent.
1 The steps
Call your AI number from your cell.
The screen at the end of setup offers Call now and Copy number; after that, your line is listed in Settings under AI Phone Number.
Play a real customer, not a friendly one.
Ask your top five questions, try to book a job, and be a bit difficult — the section below has the detail.
Judge two things while it talks.
The facts it gives you, and whether it sounds like your business.
Coach whatever's off and call again.
Say the fix in plain language in the coaching conversation, then dial the same number a second time.
Hand the phone to someone else.
A second set of ears catches phrasing you've gone blind to.
2 Play a real customer, not a friendly one
The temptation is to say “hi, just testing!” and hang up, satisfied. Resist it. The test call is worth ten times more if you act like the callers you actually get:
- Ask the questions your phone rings with. “How much is a service call?” “Do you cover Lakewood?” “Can someone come out today?” You know your top five — ask all of them.
- Try to book something. Let it walk you through getting an appointment on the books, and notice that it offers times your schedule can genuinely staff — it books against your real availability, not a wish list. How AI booking works explains that engine.
- Be a little difficult. Interrupt. Change your mind. Ask something oddball. Your customers will.
3 What to listen for
You're checking two things. First, the facts: are the services, hours, and answers right? Second, the feel: does it sound like your business — the greeting you gave it, the tone you asked for?
When something's off, that's not a failure — that's the test call doing its job. Go back to the coaching conversation, describe the fix in plain language
“Don't say 'certified technicians' — just say 'our techs.'”
then call again. Most businesses go around that loop two or three times in the first afternoon and come out with a receptionist they'd put up against any front desk. Coaching never stops being available — Describe the change covers using it day to day.
4 Let the rest of the team hear it
Once you're happy, have your office manager or a tech call the number too. A second set of ears catches phrasing you've gone blind to, and there's no faster way to get your team bought in than hearing the new receptionist handle a question well.
5 What your customers will never know
Your test calls look like any other call to the receptionist — it treats you exactly the way it will treat customers, which is the point. And remember the standing safety net: every version of your agent is kept, so any change you make after today is one Restore away from being undone — you can always test the next tweak the same way you tested the first.
When a real call comes in that needs a real person, you're one click from the conversation — see Taking over from the AI for the day the phone rings for real.