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Usage Tracking

Monitor your Voka AI usage and stay within plan limits.

Overview​

Usage tracking helps you:

  • Monitor minutes and SMS consumption
  • Avoid overage charges
  • Plan for growth
  • Optimize costs

Usage Dashboard​

Accessing Usage​

To view usage:

  1. Go to Billing → Usage
  2. See current billing period
  3. Review all usage metrics

Dashboard shows:

  • Call minutes used
  • SMS messages sent
  • Storage consumed
  • Phone numbers active
  • Current billing period
  • Projected costs

Call Minutes Usage​

Viewing Minutes​

Minutes tracked:

  • Included minutes: From your plan
  • Used minutes: Total consumed this period
  • Remaining minutes: Left in current period
  • Overage minutes: Beyond plan limit

Example display:

Call Minutes: 1,847 / 2,000 (92%)
Remaining: 153 minutes
Overage: 0 minutes

What Counts as Minutes​

Included in usage:

  • Inbound calls (answered)
  • Outbound calls (if enabled)
  • Hold time
  • Transfer time (before human picks up)
  • Time assistant is speaking

Not included:

  • Unanswered calls
  • Failed call attempts
  • Busy signals
  • Voicemail playback (by you in dashboard)

Minutes by Assistant​

View usage per assistant:

  1. Go to Usage → By Assistant
  2. See minutes per AI assistant
  3. Identify high-usage assistants

Use for:

  • Cost allocation
  • Optimize high-usage assistants
  • Balance load across assistants

SMS Usage​

Tracking Messages​

SMS is a paid add-on with its own monthly allotment, tracked separately from call minutes.

SMS metrics:

  • Included SMS: From your SMS add-on tier (Starter or Pro)
  • Sent SMS: Total outbound messages this month
  • Remaining: Messages left in your allotment
  • Overage: Beyond your allotment

Important:

  • Inbound SMS are FREE (don't count toward your allotment)
  • Only outbound messages count — in-call texts, two-way replies, and tests
  • Longer messages split into multiple segments; each segment counts

Example display:

SMS Messages: 412 / 500 (82%)
Remaining: 88 messages
Overage: 0 messages

SMS by Assistant​

Track messaging per assistant:

  • View SMS sent by each assistant
  • Identify messaging patterns
  • Optimize high-volume assistants

Storage Usage​

Call Recording Storage​

Storage metrics:

  • Used storage: Current consumption
  • Total available: Based on plan
  • Retention period: 30/90/365 days

Example:

Storage: 45 GB / 100 GB (45%)
Oldest recording: 87 days ago

Knowledge Base Storage​

KB storage shows:

  • Files uploaded
  • Total size
  • Available space
  • Largest files

Optimize storage:

  • Delete old/unused files
  • Compress large documents
  • Remove duplicate content

Phone Number Usage​

Active Numbers​

Track phone numbers:

  • Total numbers owned
  • Numbers included in plan
  • Additional numbers (billed extra)
  • Cost per additional number

Example:

Phone Numbers: 7 / 5 included
Additional: 2 × $2/mo = $4/mo extra

Usage Alerts​

Setting Up Alerts​

Configure alerts:

  1. Go to Settings → Notifications
  2. Enable Usage Alerts
  3. Set thresholds

Alert types:

75% threshold

  • Email when 75% of minutes/SMS used
  • Plan for potential overage
  • Gives time to optimize

90% threshold

  • More urgent notification
  • Consider upgrading plan
  • Review usage patterns

Overage alert

  • Immediate notification when over limit
  • Track overage costs
  • Upgrade plan if recurring

Managing Alerts​

Customize alerts:

  • Set different thresholds per metric
  • Choose notification methods (email, SMS)
  • Select recipients (team members)

Overage Charges​

Understanding Overages​

When you exceed plan limits:

Call minutes:

  • Rate: $0.02 per minute over limit
  • Cap: $50/month maximum
  • Example: 500 extra minutes = $10

SMS messages:

  • Rate: a per-message overage rate set by your SMS add-on tier (Pro's rate is lower than Starter's)
  • Billed automatically beyond your monthly allotment
  • See Pricing Details for current rates

Viewing Overage Costs​

Track overage spending:

  1. Go to Usage → Overages
  2. See current overage costs
  3. View historical overages

Projected overage:

  • Dashboard shows estimated overage cost
  • Based on current usage rate
  • Updates daily

Historical Usage​

View past usage:

  1. Go to Usage → History
  2. Select date range
  3. See usage over time

Useful for:

  • Identify usage patterns
  • Seasonal variations
  • Plan upgrades
  • Budget forecasting

Usage Charts​

Visual usage tracking:

Minutes over time

  • Daily/weekly/monthly views
  • Compare to plan limits
  • Spot unusual spikes

SMS over time

  • Message volume trends
  • Identify peak days
  • Plan capacity

Cost over time

  • Total monthly costs
  • Overage costs
  • Compare periods

Optimizing Usage​

Reduce Call Minutes​

1. Streamline conversations

  • Shorter greetings
  • Concise responses
  • Clear instructions
  • See Best Practices

2. Better knowledge base

  • Reduce clarification questions
  • Faster information retrieval
  • Fewer callbacks

3. Optimize transfers

  • Transfer when truly needed
  • Reduce back-and-forth
  • Clear transfer criteria

Reduce SMS Usage​

1. Consolidate messages

  • Single confirmation vs multiple
  • Batch related information
  • Avoid unnecessary follow-ups

2. Use templates

  • Pre-written messages
  • Optimal length
  • Fewer errors

3. Email for long content

  • Use SMS for urgent only
  • Email for detailed info
  • Save SMS for time-sensitive

Manage Storage​

1. Adjust retention

  • Keep only what's needed
  • Delete old recordings
  • Export before deleting if needed

2. Optimize knowledge base

  • Remove outdated files
  • Compress large documents
  • Regular cleanup

Plan Recommendations​

When to Upgrade​

Consider upgrading if:

  • Consistently hitting 90%+ of limits
  • Regular overage charges
  • Projected growth
  • Overage cap reached monthly

Upgrade benefits:

  • Higher limits
  • Lower per-unit costs
  • More features
  • Better value at scale

Right-Sizing Your Plan​

Check monthly usage:

  • Review last 3 months
  • Calculate average usage
  • Add 20-30% buffer for growth
  • Select appropriate plan

Example:

Average usage: 1,800 minutes/month
With buffer: 2,160 minutes needed
Best plan: Professional (2,000 min + overage buffer)

Usage Billing​

How Usage Affects Billing​

Monthly charges include:

  1. Base plan fee
  2. Additional phone numbers
  3. Overage charges (if any)
  4. Add-ons

Billing timeline:

  • Usage tracked real-time
  • Charged at end of billing period
  • Overage charges included in invoice

Viewing Past Invoices​

Invoice shows:

  • Plan fee
  • Included usage
  • Actual usage
  • Overage charges
  • Total cost

Access invoices:

  1. Go to Billing → Invoices
  2. Select billing period
  3. Download PDF

Real-Time vs Delayed​

Real-Time Metrics​

Updated immediately:

  • Current call count
  • Active calls
  • Failed calls

Delayed Metrics​

Updated hourly:

  • Total minutes
  • SMS count
  • Storage usage
  • Projected costs

Note: Slight delay is normal for accurate aggregation.

Usage API​

API Access (Business+ plans)​

Access usage data programmatically:

  • Current period usage
  • Historical usage
  • Overage calculations
  • Export to external systems

See: API Documentation (Business/Enterprise plans)

Multi-Assistant Usage​

Usage by Assistant​

Track usage per assistant:

  • Minutes per assistant
  • SMS per assistant
  • Calls per assistant
  • Cost allocation

Use cases:

  • Department chargeback
  • Cost center allocation
  • Performance comparison
  • ROI analysis

Usage FAQs​

Do unused minutes roll over?​

No, minutes reset each billing cycle.

When does usage reset?​

On your billing date (same day each month).

Can I buy extra minutes?​

Overage charges are automatic. Or upgrade plan for more included minutes.

How accurate is real-time usage?​

Very accurate. May have 1-2 hour delay for aggregated metrics.

What if I downgrade mid-month?​

New limits apply next billing cycle. Current period unchanged.

Can I set hard limits?​

Not currently. Use alerts to monitor. Overage charges are capped.