Why it matters
Previewing allows you to validate your agent’s instructions, voice settings, pacing, and logic without impacting real customers. Testing both phone and chat simulations helps you catch issues early, refine prompts, and ensure the agent behaves as intended before activation or channel assignment. Although AI agents can also handle messaging, this guide focuses on testing both call and chat behavior.
Key Concepts
Phone preview: A live test call placed to your phone so you can hear the agent’s greeting, tone, and behavior during a call.
Chat simulation: A text-based preview that lets you test the agent’s logic and instructions quickly inside the editor.
Begin message: The first spoken line when a phone preview call begins.
Agent version: The specific saved version of the agent used during the preview. Each save creates a new version.
Test panel: The right-hand simulation area of the editor used for chat-based testing.
Step-by-Step: Preview an AI Agent
Open your agent and confirm it is in Draft or Active status.
In the editor, click Preview agent near the top-right.
Choose Phone preview or Chat preview depending on how you want to test.
Phone Preview
Enter the phone number you want the system to call.
Select the channel you want the preview call to originate from.
Click Trigger call.
Answer your phone and listen to the agent’s greeting and interaction.
Continue the conversation to assess pacing, clarity, and instruction adherence.
Chat Simulation
Open the test panel on the right side of the editor.
Send a message to begin a simulated conversation.
Evaluate replies for accuracy, tone, and alignment with your instructions.
Clear the chat when you want to restart the test.
Tips and Best Practices
Start with chat simulation for rapid iteration before moving to phone previews.
Use phone preview to validate voice quality, pacing, call flow, and interruption handling.
Adjust Begin message, instructions, and voice or model settings between tests as needed.
Confirm which agent version is being used in the preview if responses seem outdated.
Test in a quiet environment to better evaluate audio behavior.
Re-run previews after any major instruction, call setting, or voice configuration update.
Troubleshooting
Issue | Possible Cause | Fix |
Preview call not triggering | Invalid phone number or no channel selected | Re-enter the phone number and choose a channel |
Agent greeting not spoken | Begin message not set | Add a Begin message in the editor |
Unexpected preview responses | Older version used or unclear instructions | Save changes, confirm the version, refine instructions |
Poor audio quality | Voice or denoising settings misconfigured | Adjust denoising or speech-to-text settings |