Guide
A two-week AI receptionist pilot with a rollback plan
A proposed rollout schedule that checks records, exceptions and cost before expanding.
Set the stop conditions first
Treat two weeks as a planning window, not proof that every business will collect enough evidence in that time. A quiet office may need longer. Before the first customer call, agree which events stop the pilot: a false booking promise, repeated lost callbacks or a failed employee escalation are sensible candidates.
Assign one office owner. Record the existing phone route and the exact steps to restore it. Keep the carrier account and configuration under business control.
Days 1–3: test without customers
Run the demo checklist with fictional data. Test transfers, cancellations and unavailable integrations. Inspect the resulting records with the dispatcher who will use them. Resolve launch-blocking failures before moving on.
Set a usage alert or spending limit where the service supports it. If it does not, decide how often the owner will inspect usage and when routing will be paused.
Days 4–7: limit the exposure
Route a small, clearly defined window of overflow or after-hours calls. Keep the established route for the rest. Each morning, inspect unanswered questions, booking corrections and transfer outcomes.
Record the number of eligible new inquiries, how many received follow-up, how many booked and how many eventually completed a job. Do not count spam or an existing customer’s schedule question as a new sale.
Days 8–14: evaluate the work, not just the call count
Compare the call records with your dispatch system. Look for duplicate contacts, wrong addresses, unacknowledged callbacks and missed appointments. Log how much time staff spend fixing the data.
Calculate cost per additional completed job only when you can reasonably distinguish additional work from jobs you would have won anyway. Our calculator can explore assumptions, but it does not establish causation.
Expand, extend or stop
Expand the routing window only when critical checks pass, someone owns exceptions and the costs fit your budget. Extend the pilot if the sample is too small. Restore the old route if stop conditions occur, then verify the restoration with a test call.
Keep a short decision record: dates, routing scope, results, unresolved issues, cost and approver. A clean rollback is a successful control, even when the product does not pass.
Prepared by Contractor Software HQ. Documentation research and editorial guidance; not a hands-on product test. Prices and features change — verify on the vendor's site before you buy.