How to test an AI receptionist before a client launch
A practical acceptance checklist for agencies: facts, conversations, calendar outcomes and reproducible failures.
Start with approved facts
Write down opening hours, service durations, prices, staff, time zone, lead time and cancellation rules. Have the business approve them. A plausible answer is not evidence that the answer is correct.
Test six journeys
Create a new booking, reschedule it, cancel it, ask for an unavailable time, change your mind mid-conversation and ask for a human. Add the exact expected outcome to each scenario before running it.
Inspect the booking system
After a booking claim, check the dedicated test calendar for the service, start, end, staff and synthetic customer. Check for duplicates. A successful cancellation removes the intended booking and leaves unrelated bookings untouched.
Keep failures reproducible
Save the approved facts, scenario version, transcript, run identifier, calendar before and after, and provider errors. Retest the same scenario after the agency fixes its agent. A successful demonstration is not a guarantee of future reliability.