Test an AloAi Voice Agent before it takes live calls. You can test as a real or mock contact, replay saved test calls, preview the voicemail message, and see which version of the agent each test ran against. This article covers each of these tools.
To get there, open the Agents menu and click the agent’s name. Test your Agent is at the bottom right of the Configure tab.
Open the agent from the Agents list.
The Test your Agent button on the Configure tab.
Placing a test call
Click Test your Agent on the agent screen. On the Test Audio tab, click Start test call and start talking to the agent. To chat with the agent instead, use the Test Chat tab.
The test panel with the Test Audio tab.
Action functions, such as Send SMS, do not run during a test.
Testing as a contact
When no contact is selected, the test runs as Basic test (anonymous), so contact-based dynamic variables do not resolve.
To test the way a live call works, click Add contact on the Test Audio tab and select a contact.
The agent loads that contact’s fields and resolves contact-based dynamic variables as it does on a live call. Agent-level dynamic variables also resolve during the test.
The Add contact picker.
You can test as:
A real contact. Search your Aloware contacts by name, phone, or email, and select one. Testing as a real contact does not send messages to that contact.
A mock test contact. Five mock test contacts are listed under Test data. Each one has test values for every contact field used in dynamic variables, so no variable is left blank.
The test panel shows which contact the test is running as. You can change or clear the selection at any time.
After you select a contact, expand Resolved dynamic variables to see each variable and the value it resolves to. Contact dynamic variables show the contact’s values. System dynamic variables, such as {{current_time}}, show Resolved at call time.
To pass other variables to the agent during a test, click the <> button next to the History tab to open Dynamic Variables, then click Add variable.
Reviewing test calls
Every test you start from the test panel is saved automatically. Saved test calls appear on the History tab under Test history, newest first, with a badge showing how many test calls are saved.
Each test call shows:
The contact the test ran as, or Anonymous when no contact was selected.
The date and time, the duration, an Audio tag, and a version tag, such as v1, that shows the version the test ran against.
A status badge, such as Ongoing or Ended. Expand the test call to see Success and Sentiment.
Processing recording... while the recording is processed.
A Run again button and an arrow to expand the test call.
Test history on the History tab.
Expand a test call to read the transcript. Each message shows who sent it, such as AI Agent, and when in the call it was sent. You can also play back the call’s audio to hear tone, pacing, and pronunciation. Click the download icon next to the audio player to save the recording. The expanded test call also lists the agent configuration it ran with: STT, LLM, TTS, and voice.
An expanded test call with Success, Sentiment, the audio player, and the transcript.
Click Run again to repeat the test with the same contact using the agent’s current configuration. Each repeat creates a new test call, so you can compare attempts before and after a change.
Previewing the voicemail message
For outbound agents, you can hear the voicemail message the agent leaves without placing a call.
Click Test your Agent and select the Test Audio tab.
Click Test voicemail.
The Test voicemail button on the Test Audio tab of an outbound agent.
The preview plays in the agent’s current voice using its voicemail setting, including the message text and any pronunciation or speech settings.
When the voicemail message is set to Prompt, the agent writes a new message on each call. The preview plays a sample message and shows its text under the buttons. While the preview plays, the button reads Stop voicemail.
Voicemail Response set to Prompt in Advanced Call Handling.
A voicemail preview with the message set to Prompt.
To change the result, edit the voicemail message or the voice and click Test voicemail again.
The preview places no call and does not create a test call, so you can preview as often as you need.
The Test voicemail button depends on the agent’s setup:
On inbound agents, the button does not appear.
If voicemail is off or no message is set, the button is unavailable. Voicemail settings are in the Advanced Call Handling panel.
When voicemail is on and a message is set, the button is available.
To set up voicemail, see Call settings and advanced call handling.
Agent versions
Each time you save a change to the agent’s instructions or configuration, a version is recorded with what changed and when. Use the Versions dropdown to read earlier versions and to see which version each test call ran against, so you can tell whether a change in behavior came from an edit.
To browse versions, open the History tab in the test panel and open the Versions dropdown. Versions are listed newest first, and the version in use is marked Current.
Selecting a version shows its configuration at the time it was saved, including the AI model, voice, transcription settings, language, welcome and goodbye messages, and instructions.
The Versions dropdown on the History tab, with the current version marked.
Selecting a version shows its saved settings.
Versions are read-only. Opening an earlier version does not change the agent, and a version cannot be restored. To reuse earlier wording, copy it from the older version and paste it into the editor.
Filtering test calls by version
Each past test call names the version it ran against. In the Versions dropdown, select a version to show only test calls from that version. Select All versions to see all test calls again.
Each test call shows the version it ran against.
If no test calls ran on the selected version, the list says so.