Where can the advertised price mislead?

5. Count connected time, not just the AI’s speaking time

Retell’s pricing FAQ says billing includes silence and hold time. After a transfer, the AI agent charge stops, but telephony charges continue for the remaining call. These are platform-specific terms—not universal rules for every supplier. (retellai.com)

Buyer action: Ask for an itemised invoice example covering a long call, a transfer, an unanswered transfer and a failed booking attempt. Have the supplier identify which charges are included rather than adding every possible platform fee twice.

Use this proposed cost schedule:

• Setup, data preparation and staff training.
• Required software subscriptions and telephone numbers.
• Usage, messages, recording and storage where applicable.
• Monitoring, integration maintenance and change requests.
• Internal review, exception handling and rework.
• Exit assistance and any non-recoverable tax.