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Practice mode: test before you go live

While a building is in Setup, its number is live for practice. Have a friend text or call it to see exactly what your guests will.

Updated June 16, 2026 2 min read

Reading your own knowledge base back to yourself tells you very little. The real test is whether a stranger with a normal question gets a good answer. That is what practice mode is for. While a building is in Setup, after you have paid but before it goes live, its dedicated number is already switched on for testing, and a friend or family member can use it exactly the way a future guest would.

How to use it

Open the property’s Go live page, copy the number, and send it to someone you trust. Ask them to text it and call it like a real guest: a WiFi question, a parking question, a “my sink is leaking” emergency, and a question you intentionally left out of the knowledge base. They reach the real AI and get real answers, so you see precisely what your guests will see.

Daily practice limits

Practice is capped per building per day: up to 10 text messages and about 2 minutes of calls. The caps keep testing costs predictable and reset every day. They lift the moment the building goes live.

What to look for

  • Answers match your information exactly, the actual WiFi password, the actual quiet hours
  • The question you left out of the knowledge base escalates to you instead of getting a confident guess
  • On a call, the greeting names the right building and the assistant answers in its natural voice
  • Anything that comes back wrong points you straight at the knowledge entry to fix

If an answer is off, edit the knowledge entry and have them try again. Tuning during practice is far cheaper than fixing it after a real guest gets the wrong answer.

Your own texts are treated as verification

Texts and calls from the host phone are handled as the verification checks, not as practice. To experience the guest side, use a different phone or ask someone else to test.

Does practice mode cost extra?
No. Practice happens on the number you already pay for, within the daily caps. There is no separate charge for testing.
What happens to practice conversations when I go live?
Nothing carries a stigma, they are ordinary conversations on your number. Once the property is live, the practice caps lift and real guests are handled normally.
Can I keep using practice limits after going live?
The caps are a Setup-only safeguard. Once live, normal usage limits apply instead, which are far higher. See how texting works.

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