Roark Live Bench · Suite v1.3 · Sweep of 30 October 2026
Voice AI models, ranked on live phone calls.
Every speech-to-text, language model and text-to-speech model, run in every combination on the same real call to the same agent. A model is ranked on every stack it runs in; the stacks are the evidence.
Our picks
Roark scoreTask completionMedian responseCost per minute- Best overallUniversal-3.5 Pro + GPT-6.1 Sol + Turbo v2.570 / 10096%4.0 s$0.12
- Best valueUniversal-3.5 Pro + GPT-6.1 Sol + Coda69 / 10098%4.0 s$0.040
- FastestGrok Voice 3.066 / 10087%1.9 s$0.086
- Best speech-to-speechGPT Live 1 (Sol)65 / 10085%2.3 s$0.061
- Best in customer supportGrok Voice 3.085 / 10095%1.7 s$0.083
- Best in healthcareUniversal-3.5 Pro + Gemini 3.8 Flash + Flash v2.575 / 10097%4.3 s$0.10
- Best in home servicesGPT Live 1 (Luna)79 / 10095%2.1 s$0.052
- Best in insuranceUniversal-3.5 Pro + GPT-4o + Sonic-3.676 / 10098%3.2 s$0.042
The read
- 430 of 642 cascades complete the task in at least 90% of calls, and the top 10 sit within 1 point of each other. What separates the top stacks is speed and cost.
- Median response time runs from 2.0 s to 6.2 s on the same agent and the same caller, a spread of 4.2 s that comes entirely from the models behind it.
- No stack wins everything. The fastest, Speechmatics Linden-1 (own VAD) + Anthropic Claude Haiku 4.5 + ElevenLabs Turbo v2.5 at 2.0 s, ranks 559 of 642 on task completion; the most complete is Speechmatics Linden-1 (own VAD) + OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol + OpenAI TTS-1 HD at 99%.
- The language model matters most: swapping it moves task completion by 7 points, against 3 for the speech engine and 2 for the transcriber.
- The fastest speech-to-speech model answers 0.1 s sooner than the fastest cascade, and its completion rate sits 12 points below the best cascade.
Cascade vs Speech-to-Speech
The first choice to make. A cascade chains three models: one transcribes, one decides what to say, one speaks. A speech-to-speech model does all three at once. Both run the same agent on the same calls here.
- Cascades lead on task completion, tool use, time to first word, barge-in handling and cost per task; speech-to-speech leads on response time. Neither wins outright, so the right choice depends on what your calls need.
- Speech-to-speech costs 1.6 times as much per completed task: $0.24 for speech-to-speech against $0.15 for cascades.
- The biggest difference is response time: 3.8 s for cascades against 2.1 s for speech-to-speech.
| Measure | Cascade | Speech-to-speech |
|---|---|---|
| Task completion | 94% (leads) | 85% |
| Tool use | 78% (leads) | 78% |
| Time to first word | 0.8 s (leads) | 1.1 s |
| Response time | 3.8 s | 2.1 s (leads) |
| Barge-in handling | 100% (leads) | 96% |
| Cost per task | $0.15 (leads) | $0.24 |
The three strongest of each, averaged. Cascades: AssemblyAI Universal-3.6 Pro + OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol + Rime Coda; Speechmatics Linden-1 (own VAD) + OpenAI GPT-4.1 + Rime Coda; AssemblyAI Universal-3.6 Pro + Google Gemini 3.8 Flash + Rime Coda. Speech-to-speech: grok-voice-think-fast-2.0; gpt-live-1 (backend gpt-6-luna); grok-voice-3.0. Each measure is scored 0 to 100 on its own scale, further out is better; the table gives the same figures in their own units.
Which to use
- Choose speech-to-speech when the pause matters more than the outcome: short transactional calls, callers who interrupt, queues where every half second costs you callers. Expect to pay more, and choose the model carefully (grok-voice-3.0 leads here).
- Choose a cascade when the call has to complete, when cost matters, or when you need to see which stage to fix. It is 12 points ahead on task completion here.
- Costs are what each stack’s providers charged for these calls, at the rates in effect when they ran. Telephony and hosting are not included.
Speech-to-Text
The transcriber turns the caller's speech into text. It decides what the agent thinks it heard, and nothing after it can start until it finishes.
- AssemblyAI Universal-3.6 Pro, AssemblyAI Universal-3.5 Pro, Deepgram Nova-3 and Speechmatics Enhanced (realtime) are level: none leads by more than the margin of error. Of them, AssemblyAI Universal-3.6 Pro costs least, at $0.030 a call. Avoid Speechmatics Linden-1 (own VAD): last on semantic word error rate (2.2%).
- Speechmatics Linden-1 (own VAD) delivers its transcript in 0.49 s, OpenAI Whisper-1 in 1.93 s: 1.44 s added to every turn of the call.
- AssemblyAI Universal-3.6 Pro is the most accurate: it changes the meaning of 0.9% of the caller's words, against 2.2% for Speechmatics Linden-1 (own VAD).
- In 341 of 648 cascades the transcriber is the slowest step of the turn, whichever model runs it.
Roark score, best first
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Universal-3.6 ProAssemblyAI | 90 / 100. Semantic word error rate 0.9%, 61.2 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.89 s, 28.6 of 29 points(among the best) | 0.9%(among the best) | 0.89 s(among the best) | $0.030 |
| 2 | Universal-3.5 ProAssemblyAI | 84 / 100. Semantic word error rate 1.1%, 55.7 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.90 s, 28.6 of 29 points(among the best) | 1.1%(among the best) | 0.90 s | $0.030 |
| 3 | Nova-3Deepgram | 82 / 100. Semantic word error rate 1.1%, 53.5 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.89 s, 28.6 of 29 points(among the best) | 1.1%(among the best) | 0.89 s(among the best) | $0.031 |
| 4 | Enhanced (realtime)Speechmatics | 82 / 100. Semantic word error rate 1.1%, 53.3 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.98 s, 28.6 of 29 points(among the best) | 1.1%(among the best) | 0.98 s | $0.054 |
| 5 | Linden-1Speechmatics | 79 / 100. Semantic word error rate 1.3%, 50.0 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.99 s, 28.6 of 29 points | 1.3% | 0.99 s | $0.020(among the best) |
| 6 | Nova-2Deepgram | 71 / 100. Semantic word error rate 1.5%, 42.2 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.89 s, 28.6 of 29 points | 1.5% | 0.89 s(among the best) | $0.023(among the best) |
| 7 | Standard (realtime)Speechmatics | 66 / 100. Semantic word error rate 1.7%, 37.5 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.96 s, 28.6 of 29 points | 1.7% | 0.96 s | $0.031 |
| 8 | Whisper-1OpenAI | 56 / 100. Semantic word error rate 1.4%, 45.5 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 1.93 s, 10.9 of 29 points | 1.4% | 1.93 s | $0.025 |
| 9 | Linden-1 (own VAD)Speechmatics | 52 / 100. Semantic word error rate 2.2%, 23.1 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.49 s, 28.6 of 29 points | 2.2% | 0.49 s(among the best) | $0.020(among the best) |
Open a model to see where it ranks and the stacks it works best in.
Language model
The language model decides what the agent says and does. It has the most influence on whether the task gets done, and usually takes the largest share of each turn.
- Pick OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol: it leads on task completion (95%), tool use (77%) and instruction following (4.2 / 5). If speed matters more, Anthropic Claude Haiku 4.5 is the quickest, at 0.36 s, and completes 91%. Avoid OpenAI GPT-4o: last on task completion (88%).
- Anthropic Claude Haiku 4.5 starts answering in 0.36 s, Google Gemini 3.8 Flash in 1.47 s: 1.11 s added to every turn of the call.
- OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol uses its tools most reliably: it handles its tools without a mistake on 77% of calls, against 38% for OpenAI GPT-5.1.
- In 161 of 648 cascades the language model is the slowest step of the turn, whichever model runs it.
Roark score, best first
| # | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GPT-6.1 SolOpenAI | 66 / 100. Task completion 95%, 27.0 of 36 points; Tool use 77%, 15.0 of 27 points; Instruction following 4.2 / 5, 11.3 of 18 points; Time to first token 0.97 s, 12.4 of 18 points(among the best) | 95%(among the best) | 4.2 / 5(among the best) | 77%(among the best) | 0.97 s | 73% | $0.019(among the best) |
| 2 | Claude Sonnet 5.5Anthropic | 61 / 100. Task completion 94%, 25.1 of 36 points; Tool use 72%, 11.8 of 27 points; Instruction following 4.2 / 5, 10.8 of 18 points; Time to first token 0.90 s, 13.3 of 18 points(among the best) | 94%(among the best) | 4.2 / 5(among the best) | 72%(among the best) | 0.90 s | – | $0.138 |
| 3 | Gemini 3.8 FlashGoogle | 51 / 100. Task completion 95%, 26.5 of 36 points; Tool use 62%, 6.7 of 27 points; Instruction following 4.2 / 5, 11.1 of 18 points; Time to first token 1.47 s, 6.4 of 18 points(among the best) | 95%(among the best) | 4.2 / 5(among the best) | 62%(among the best) | 1.47 s | – | $0.016(among the best) |
| 4 | GPT-4.1OpenAI | 50 / 100. Task completion 92%, 21.2 of 36 points; Tool use 48%, 0.0 of 27 points; Instruction following 4.2 / 5, 10.8 of 18 points; Time to first token 0.52 s, 18.0 of 18 points | 92% | 4.2 / 5(among the best) | 48% | 0.52 s | 82%(among the best) | $0.022 |
| 5 | Claude Haiku 4.5Anthropic | 49 / 100. Task completion 91%, 19.4 of 36 points; Tool use 47%, 0.0 of 27 points; Instruction following 4.2 / 5, 11.0 of 18 points; Time to first token 0.36 s, 18.2 of 18 points | 91% | 4.2 / 5(among the best) | 47% | 0.36 s(among the best) | – | $0.062 |
| 6 | GPT-4o miniOpenAI | 47 / 100. Task completion 90%, 17.4 of 36 points; Tool use 51%, 0.7 of 27 points; Instruction following 4.2 / 5, 10.8 of 18 points; Time to first token 0.45 s, 18.2 of 18 points | 90% | 4.2 / 5(among the best) | 51% | 0.45 s(among the best) | 81%(among the best) | $0.002(among the best) |
| 7 | GPT-5.1OpenAI | 44 / 100. Task completion 89%, 17.0 of 36 points; Tool use 38%, 0.0 of 27 points; Instruction following 4.1 / 5, 10.1 of 18 points; Time to first token 0.59 s, 17.1 of 18 points | 89% | 4.1 / 5 | 38% | 0.59 s | 74%(among the best) | $0.031 |
| 8 | GPT-4oOpenAI | 44 / 100. Task completion 88%, 15.0 of 36 points; Tool use 50%, 0.0 of 27 points; Instruction following 4.2 / 5, 10.9 of 18 points; Time to first token 0.45 s, 18.2 of 18 points | 88% | 4.2 / 5(among the best) | 50% | 0.45 s(among the best) | – | $0.027 |
Open a model to see where it ranks and the stacks it works best in.
Text-to-Speech
The speech engine is the voice the caller hears, and the last step before they hear anything.
- Cartesia Sonic-3.6, ElevenLabs v4 Turbo and Cartesia Sonic-3.5 are level: none leads by more than the margin of error. Of them, Cartesia Sonic-3.5 costs least, at $0.165 a call. Avoid OpenAI TTS-1 HD: last on readback accuracy (80%), word error rate (8.7%) and time to first audio byte (2.09 s).
- ElevenLabs v4 Turbo starts speaking in 0.11 s, OpenAI TTS-1 HD in 2.09 s: 1.97 s added to every turn of the call.
- Cartesia Sonic-3.6 is the most accurate: it reads codes, amounts and dates back correctly 87% of the time, against 80% for OpenAI TTS-1 HD.
- Cartesia Sonic-3.6 sounds the most human: 3.8 / 5, against 3.4 / 5 for ElevenLabs Flash v2.5.
- In 99 of 648 cascades the speech engine is the slowest step of the turn, most often with OpenAI TTS-1 HD (54 of them).
Roark score, best first
| # | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sonic-3.6Cartesia | 77 / 100. Readback accuracy 87%, 25.6 of 38 points; Word error rate 6.2%, 14.5 of 25 points; Time to first audio byte 0.12 s, 25.0 of 25 points; Voice consistency 99%, 12.1 of 13 points(among the best) | 6.2% | 87%(among the best) | 3.8 / 5(among the best) | 99% | 0.12 s(among the best) | $0.168 |
| 2 | v4 TurboElevenLabs | 77 / 100. Readback accuracy 87%, 25.1 of 38 points; Word error rate 5.7%, 15.8 of 25 points; Time to first audio byte 0.11 s, 25.0 of 25 points; Voice consistency 98%, 11.2 of 13 points(among the best) | 5.7%(among the best) | 87%(among the best) | 3.6 / 5 | 98% | 0.11 s(among the best) | $0.470 |
| 3 | Sonic-3.5Cartesia | 77 / 100. Readback accuracy 86%, 24.6 of 38 points; Word error rate 6.2%, 14.6 of 25 points; Time to first audio byte 0.13 s, 25.0 of 25 points; Voice consistency 100%, 12.4 of 13 points(among the best) | 6.2% | 86%(among the best) | 3.8 / 5(among the best) | 100%(among the best) | 0.13 s | $0.165 |
| 4 | Sonic-3Cartesia | 73 / 100. Readback accuracy 85%, 23.3 of 38 points; Word error rate 6.9%, 12.8 of 25 points; Time to first audio byte 0.17 s, 25.0 of 25 points; Voice consistency 99%, 12.1 of 13 points | 6.9% | 85% | 3.4 / 5 | 99% | 0.17 s | $0.165 |
| 5 | Turbo v2.5ElevenLabs | 71 / 100. Readback accuracy 80%, 19.0 of 38 points; Word error rate 5.7%, 15.6 of 25 points; Time to first audio byte 0.15 s, 25.0 of 25 points; Voice consistency 98%, 11.5 of 13 points | 5.7%(among the best) | 80% | 3.4 / 5 | 98% | 0.15 s | $0.451 |
| 6 | Flash v2.5ElevenLabs | 70 / 100. Readback accuracy 80%, 18.5 of 38 points; Word error rate 6%, 14.9 of 25 points; Time to first audio byte 0.12 s, 25.0 of 25 points; Voice consistency 98%, 11.5 of 13 points | 6%(among the best) | 80% | 3.4 / 5 | 98% | 0.12 s(among the best) | $0.437 |
| 7 | CodaRime | 68 / 100. Readback accuracy 83%, 21.7 of 38 points; Word error rate 8.1%, 9.8 of 25 points; Time to first audio byte 0.18 s, 25.0 of 25 points; Voice consistency 99%, 11.8 of 13 points | 8.1% | 83% | 3.7 / 5(among the best) | 99% | 0.18 s | $0.116(among the best) |
| 8 | TTS-1OpenAI | 55 / 100. Readback accuracy 82%, 21.0 of 38 points; Word error rate 6.1%, 14.8 of 25 points; Time to first audio byte 1.13 s, 7.1 of 25 points; Voice consistency 100%, 12.5 of 13 points | 6.1% | 82% | 3.6 / 5 | 100%(among the best) | 1.13 s | $0.036(among the best) |
| 9 | TTS-1 HDOpenAI | 39 / 100. Readback accuracy 80%, 18.3 of 38 points; Word error rate 8.7%, 8.4 of 25 points; Time to first audio byte 2.09 s, 0.0 of 25 points; Voice consistency 100%, 12.4 of 13 points | 8.7% | 80% | 3.6 / 5 | 100%(among the best) | 2.09 s | $0.065(among the best) |
Open a model to see where it ranks and the stacks it works best in.
Speech-to-Speech models
One model listens, reasons and speaks, so there is nothing to swap and no stages to split. Each is judged on the whole call, with the same calls and the same scoring as every cascade.
- The model matters as much as the architecture: xAI Grok Voice 3.0 completes 87% of tasks, ElevenLabs Realtime v1 Mini 42%.
- xAI Grok Voice 3.0 answers in 1.9 s against 4.2 s for Google Gemini 2.5 Flash native audio.
- Price varies as much as quality: $0.06 per completed task for Amazon Nova 2 Sonic, $0.69 for OpenAI GPT Realtime 2.
Roark score, best first
Whiskers show the 95% interval. The shaded models tie for first: these calls cannot separate them.
| # | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1= (tied) | GPT Live 1 (Sol)OpenAI | 65 / 100±3.8. Task completion 85%, 6.0 of 23 points; Response time 2.3 s, 16.6 of 18 points; Instruction following 4.2 / 5, 8.2 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 87%, 10.2 of 14 points; Time to first word 1.4 s, 3.9 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points(among the best) | 85%(among the best) | 4.2 / 5 | 87%(among the best) | 2.3 s(among the best) | 1.4 s | 77% | 3.1 / 5 | 100%(among the best) | $0.24 |
| 2= (tied) | Grok Voice 3.0xAI | 66 / 100±4.7. Task completion 87%, 8.0 of 23 points; Response time 1.9 s, 18.2 of 18 points; Instruction following 4.5 / 5, 10.5 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 66%, 4.4 of 14 points; Time to first word 0.9 s, 4.5 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points(among the best) | 87%(among the best) | 4.5 / 5(among the best) | 66% | 1.9 s(among the best) | 0.9 s | 94% | 3.0 / 5 | 100%(among the best) | $0.26 |
| 3= (tied) | GPT Live 1 (Luna)OpenAI | 65 / 100±3.5. Task completion 85%, 5.7 of 23 points; Response time 2.3 s, 16.6 of 18 points; Instruction following 4.2 / 5, 8.4 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 86%, 9.9 of 14 points; Time to first word 1.5 s, 3.8 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points(among the best) | 85%(among the best) | 4.2 / 5 | 86%(among the best) | 2.3 s(among the best) | 1.5 s | 93% | 3.1 / 5 | 100%(among the best) | $0.21 |
| 4= (tied) | Grok Voice Think Fast 2.0xAI | 65 / 100±3.7. Task completion 82%, 2.8 of 23 points; Response time 2.2 s, 17.4 of 18 points; Instruction following 4.6 / 5, 10.7 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 82%, 8.6 of 14 points; Time to first word 0.9 s, 4.5 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points(among the best) | 82% | 4.6 / 5(among the best) | 82%(among the best) | 2.2 s(among the best) | 0.9 s | 100%(among the best) | 3.6 / 5 | 100%(among the best) | $0.26 |
| 5= (tied) | Gemini 3.8 LiveGoogle | 53 / 100±4.8. Task completion 78%, 0.0 of 23 points; Response time 2.8 s, 14.6 of 18 points; Instruction following 4.3 / 5, 8.7 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 69%, 5.2 of 14 points; Time to first word 1.6 s, 3.6 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points | 78% | 4.3 / 5(among the best) | 69% | 2.8 s | 1.6 s | 100%(among the best) | 4.1 / 5(among the best) | 100%(among the best) | $0.14(among the best) |
| 6= (tied) | GPT Realtime 2.1OpenAI | 53 / 100±5.7. Task completion 78%, 0.0 of 23 points; Response time 2.6 s, 15.6 of 18 points; Instruction following 3.8 / 5, 5.6 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 75%, 6.8 of 14 points; Time to first word 0.8 s, 4.5 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 99%, 4.3 of 5 points | 78% | 3.8 / 5 | 75% | 2.6 s | 0.8 s(among the best) | 83% | 3.9 / 5(among the best) | 99% | $0.43 |
| 7= (tied) | Ultravox v0.7Ultravox | 48 / 100±5.0. Task completion 79%, 0.0 of 23 points; Response time 2.4 s, 16.2 of 18 points; Instruction following 3.7 / 5, 4.9 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 61%, 3.0 of 14 points; Time to first word 1.6 s, 3.6 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points | 79% | 3.7 / 5 | 61% | 2.4 s | 1.6 s | 94% | 3.6 / 5 | 100%(among the best) | $0.22 |
| 8= (tied) | Gemini 3.1 Flash Live (preview)Google | 48 / 100±5.1. Task completion 80%, 0.0 of 23 points; Response time 2.7 s, 15.1 of 18 points; Instruction following 4.2 / 5, 8.0 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 38%, 0.0 of 14 points; Time to first word 1.5 s, 3.8 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points | 80% | 4.2 / 5 | 38% | 2.7 s | 1.5 s | 100%(among the best) | 4.0 / 5(among the best) | 100%(among the best) | $0.15 |
| 9= (tied) | GPT Realtime 2OpenAI | 48 / 100±6.7. Task completion 76%, 0.0 of 23 points; Response time 2.9 s, 14.0 of 18 points; Instruction following 3.8 / 5, 5.4 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 64%, 3.7 of 14 points; Time to first word 0.8 s, 4.5 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points | 76% | 3.8 / 5 | 64% | 2.9 s | 0.8 s(among the best) | 91% | 3.7 / 5 | 100%(among the best) | $0.69 |
| 10= (tied) | Nova 2 SonicAmazon | 46 / 100±5.1. Task completion 69%, 0.0 of 23 points; Response time 3.0 s, 13.8 of 18 points; Instruction following 4.2 / 5, 7.9 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 48%, 0.0 of 14 points; Time to first word 1.5 s, 3.7 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points | 69% | 4.2 / 5 | 48% | 3.0 s | 1.5 s | 100%(among the best) | 3.5 / 5 | 100%(among the best) | $0.06(among the best) |
| 11= (tied) | Realtime v1 MaxElevenLabs | 47 / 100±7.5. Task completion 56%, 0.0 of 23 points; Response time 2.6 s, 15.6 of 18 points; Instruction following 4.0 / 5, 6.7 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 40%, 0.0 of 14 points; Time to first word 0.7 s, 4.5 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points | 56% | 4.0 / 5 | 40% | 2.6 s | 0.7 s(among the best) | 76% | 3.9 / 5(among the best) | 100%(among the best) | $0.65 |
| 12= (tied) | Realtime v1 MiniElevenLabs | 45 / 100±7.1. Task completion 42%, 0.0 of 23 points; Response time 2.7 s, 15.1 of 18 points; Instruction following 3.8 / 5, 5.1 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 34%, 0.0 of 14 points; Time to first word 0.7 s, 4.5 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points | 42% | 3.8 / 5 | 34% | 2.7 s | 0.7 s(among the best) | 94% | 3.4 / 5 | 100%(among the best) | $0.64 |
| 13= (tied) | GPT Realtime 2.1 miniOpenAI | 44 / 100±6.7. Task completion 70%, 0.0 of 23 points; Response time 2.8 s, 14.5 of 18 points; Instruction following 3.6 / 5, 4.4 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 51%, 0.3 of 14 points; Time to first word 1.0 s, 4.5 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points | 70% | 3.6 / 5 | 51% | 2.8 s | 1.0 s | 84% | 3.9 / 5(among the best) | 100%(among the best) | $0.14(among the best) |
| 14 | Gemini 2.5 Flash native audioGoogle | 36 / 100±5.4. Task completion 77%, 0.0 of 23 points; Response time 4.2 s, 8.2 of 18 points; Instruction following 3.9 / 5, 6.2 of 14 points; Semantic word error rate 1.1% (field median, not measured), 10.6 of 14 points; Tool use 40%, 0.0 of 14 points; Time to first word 3.4 s, 0.9 of 5 points; Readback accuracy 84% (field median, not measured), 2.7 of 5 points; Word error rate 5.9% (field median, not measured), 2.8 of 5 points; Voice consistency 100%, 4.5 of 5 points | 77% | 3.9 / 5 | 40% | 4.2 s | 3.4 s | 100%(among the best) | 3.7 / 5 | 100%(among the best) | $0.08(among the best) |
Open a model for its full report, every figure it was scored on and the calls behind them.
Every stack
The evidence behind the model boards: each combination on its own calls, scored on the same recipe. Open a stack for its full report, every figure it was scored on and the calls behind them.
Roark score, top 15
Whiskers show the 95% interval. The shaded stacks tie for first: these calls cannot separate them.
Each score carries its 95% margin of error. A rank is the best place a stack could hold once every margin is allowed for, so stacks the calls cannot tell apart share one and are listed by the low end of their margin; hover a rank for the worst place it could hold. 85 stacks are level with the leader: their calls cannot tell them apart. Among them, 36 OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol, 22 Anthropic Claude Sonnet 5.5, 19 Google Gemini 3.8 Flash, 4 speech-to-speech, 3 Anthropic Claude Haiku 4.5 and 1 OpenAI GPT-4o mini; 42 AssemblyAI, 20 Deepgram and 19 Speechmatics; 37 Cartesia, 36 ElevenLabs, 7 Rime and 1 OpenAI. A cascade's figures are 25% its own calls and 75% what every other stack shows about its transcriber, language model and voice. Not ranked here for missing data: Speechmatics Linden-1 + OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol + OpenAI TTS-1 HD (no response time or tool use or readback accuracy or voice consistency).
By industry
Each industry ranked on its own calls: the same five callers, its own tasks and tools. A stack has a handful of calls in each, so a cascade is ranked on what its transcriber, language model and voice show across every stack in that industry, and a speech-to-speech model on its own calls there. Pairings show on the main board. Each row reads across: the main board's figure first, then every industry's on the same figure.
No stack matches these filters.
No stack matches
Each industry column is that industry's own board, every row it ranks. A dash is a row the industry does not rank on this figure; the arrow beside an industry opens its full board.
How it works
Every number on this page comes from real phone calls, placed and scored the same way for every stack.
Real calls, four industries, five callers
Roark places real phone calls over the public phone network to a reference agent for each of four industries: rescheduling a clinic appointment, booking an urgent home repair, opening an auto insurance claim and fixing an internet outage. Each agent has its own prompt and tools, identical for every stack. The tasks carry the details real calls trip on: a corrected date of birth, a policy number spelled out, a constraint added halfway through.
Every industry is called by the same five simulated callers: a quiet US English line, a Spanish-accented caller on a city street, an Indian English caller in a busy café, a flustered Southern caller with a baby crying, and a fast caller who interrupts over construction noise. They are equally clear about what they want, so a call fails because of the agent, not the caller. Only the models change, so any difference on the board comes from them.
Each caller rings each industry once for a cascade and four times for a speech-to-speech model. A cascade's figures also draw on its parts, heard in dozens of other stacks; a speech-to-speech model has only its own calls, so it takes more of them.
That makes industries comparable over the same callers, and callers over the same tasks, and the board can be re-ranked by either. One caller within one industry is too few calls to judge, so the board never shows it.
656
stacks
20
calls per stack
13,956
calls scored
Every model, in every combination
9 transcribers, 8 language models and 9 voices are run in every combination with each other, beside 14 speech-to-speech models. A model's own figures pool every stack it runs in, adjusted for its partners in each one, so every model is compared as if it ran with the same partners. A transcriber's figure rests on hundreds of calls with every language model and every voice, not on one lucky pairing.
That measures a model where it actually works: inside a running agent, on live phone audio, through interruptions, corrections and real turn-taking. A test that feeds a model clean audio files or one prompt at a time never sees any of that.
One score, weighted by what matters on a call
Each section ranks on a Roark score. Every figure scores 0 to 100 between two published points: full marks where doing better makes no difference to the caller, zero where the call breaks down. Each then counts at its weight, and the weights follow one order everywhere: whether the caller got what they rang for, then whether the agent got it right, then speed.
A stack, cascade or speech-to-speech, is scored on the outcome and the reply first, then on what each of its components got right on its own calls: the words its transcriber got wrong in a way that changes the meaning, whether its voice read codes and amounts back right and kept one steady voice, and whether its tools were handled. How human a voice sounds is shown on the boards and not scored. A component that leads its section lifts every stack that carries it, by the same recipe for every stack. A figure a stack cannot carry, such as a semantic word error rate for a speech-to-speech model with no transcript, is credited at the field median, so the stack is neither flattered nor punished for it.
On a full sweep each cascade's figure is 25% what its own calls measured and 75% what every other stack shows about its transcriber, language model and voice, fitted across the whole sweep. The split is the same for every stack, so a lucky run does not lead and a stack's score does not move with how noisy its calls were. In an industry a stack has a handful of calls, so a cascade's figure there is what its transcriber, language model and voice show across every stack in that industry's calls, and a speech-to-speech model's is its own calls there. How a particular pairing beats or misses its parts shows on the main board, where each stack has all of its calls. The best overall, best value and best speech-to-speech picks, and the best stack in each industry, are each the one whose score is highest at the low end of its margin of error, so a few lucky calls cannot carry a stack past one whose score rests on hundreds. Stacks that share a rank are listed by score, so the pick can sit below a higher score it cannot be told from, and its reason says how many stacks are level with it.
That order comes from real-world voice agent calls, where getting the conversation right predicts how a call ends more strongly than speed does. The latency points come from the same calls: replying faster than about 2 seconds made no measurable difference, and calls went measurably worse once the agent took more than about 3 seconds to reply.
Stacks and speech-to-speech
| Figure | Weight | Full marks | Zero |
|---|---|---|---|
Task completionscenario_adherence_check | 23% | 100% | 80% |
| An agent that completes fewer than four calls in five is not fit to deploy. On a full sweep, a cascade's figure is 25% what its own calls (20 or more) measured and 75% what every other stack shows about its transcriber, language model and voice, the same split for every stack, so a lucky run does not lead. Where the sweep is too small for that, and for a speech-to-speech model, the figure is the stack's own. In an industry a stack has a handful of calls, so a cascade's figure there is what its transcriber, language model and voice show across every stack in that industry's calls, and a speech-to-speech model's is its own calls there. How a particular pairing beats or misses its parts shows on the main board, where each stack has all of its calls. | |||
Response timeresponse_time | 18% | 2.0 s | 6.0 s |
| In real calls, replying faster than 2 s made no measurable difference, and calls went worse past 3 s. | |||
Instruction followinginstruction_follow | 14% | 5.0 / 5 | 3.0 / 5 |
| Every model scores between 3 and 5 on the judge's 1 to 5 scale, so that is the range. | |||
Semantic word error ratestt_semantic_word_error_rate | 14% | 0.5% | 3% |
| At 0.5% the best transcribers change the meaning of one word in two hundred on phone audio; at 3% one word in thirty sends the agent the wrong way. | |||
Tool usetool_use | 14% | 100% | 50% |
| An agent that mishandles its tools on half its calls cannot be trusted with the systems it runs on. | |||
Time to first wordtime_to_first_word | 5% | 1.0 s | 4.0 s |
| A greeting within 1 s sounds natural; 4 s of silence sounds like a dead line. | |||
Readback accuracytts_entity_readback_accuracy | 5% | 100% | 60% |
| Reading a code, amount or date wrong breaks the task it was for; the weakest voices get two in five wrong. | |||
Word error ratetts_word_error_rate | 5% | 2% | 12% |
| At 2% the voice says what it was given; at 12% one word in eight comes out wrong. | |||
Voice consistencyvoice_consistency_check | 5% | 100% | 80% |
| A voice that changes speaker on one call in five is not one a business can put its name to. | |||
Shown, not scored: Turn budget, Barge-in handlingbarge_in_yield_appropriateness, Human-likenessvoice_human_likeness
Counted only with price factored in: Cost per task
Language model
| Figure | Weight | Full marks | Zero |
|---|---|---|---|
Task completionscenario_adherence_check | 36% | 100% | 80% |
| An agent that completes fewer than four calls in five is not fit to deploy. | |||
Tool usetool_use | 27% | 100% | 50% |
| An agent that mishandles its tools on half its calls cannot be trusted with the systems it runs on. | |||
Instruction followinginstruction_follow | 18% | 5.0 / 5 | 3.0 / 5 |
| Every model scores between 3 and 5 on the judge's 1 to 5 scale, so that is the range. | |||
Time to first tokenllm_time_to_first_token | 18% | 0.50 s | 2.00 s |
| Under 0.5 s is not noticeable; at 2 s the first token alone takes two thirds of the 3 s past which real calls go worse. | |||
Shown, not scored: Prompt cache hitsllm_prompt_cache_hit_rate
Counted only with price factored in: Cost per call
Speech-to-Text
| Figure | Weight | Full marks | Zero |
|---|---|---|---|
Semantic word error ratestt_semantic_word_error_rate | 71% | 0.5% | 3% |
| At 0.5% the best transcribers change the meaning of one word in two hundred on phone audio; at 3% one word in thirty sends the agent the wrong way. | |||
Time to final transcriptstt_time_to_final_transcript | 29% | 1.00 s | 2.50 s |
| The fastest transcribers finish in about 1 s; past 2.5 s the transcript alone uses most of a natural reply time. | |||
Shown, not scored: Word error ratestt_word_error_rate
Counted only with price factored in: Cost per call
Text-to-Speech
| Figure | Weight | Full marks | Zero |
|---|---|---|---|
Readback accuracytts_entity_readback_accuracy | 38% | 100% | 60% |
| Reading a code, amount or date wrong breaks the task it was for; the weakest voices get two in five wrong. | |||
Word error ratetts_word_error_rate | 25% | 2% | 12% |
| At 2% the voice says what it was given; at 12% one word in eight comes out wrong. | |||
Time to first audio bytetts_time_to_first_byte | 25% | 0.20 s | 1.50 s |
| Under 0.2 s is not noticeable; 1.5 s is half the point where calls go worse. | |||
Voice consistencyvoice_consistency_check | 13% | 100% | 80% |
| A voice that changes speaker on one call in five is not one a business can put its name to. | |||
Shown, not scored: Human-likenessvoice_human_likeness
Counted only with price factored in: Cost per call
Factor in price and cost takes 25% of the score; the other weights keep their proportions. Price is scored on a log scale, so each doubling costs the same points.
A figure listed as shown, not scored is on the section’s boards and outside its score. Where a section has not collected a scored figure yet, the others share its weight.
Every call recorded and judged
Every call is recorded. Judge models score each transcript for the outcome and the conversation, and the timings come from the recording. Every figure links to the calls behind it.
Roark is on both sides of every call: it plays the caller, so it keeps the exact text its caller said, and it runs the agent under test, so it sees what the agent’s transcriber heard and what its model wrote for its voice. The transcript and voice figures come from lining those up, with no hand-made transcript in between. Each carries a margin from the synthetic voice or Roark’s transcriber in the loop. Every model faces the same ones under the same conditions, so the figures compare models on the same calls through the same voice and the same ear, though those slips need not fall evenly on each model. The rates will not match a vendor’s figure on a curated set; read them against each other.
An example: one call from this sweep
Speechmatics Linden-1 (own VAD) + OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol + OpenAI TTS-1 HD, 30 October 2026. Highlighted turns are the ones that affected a score. Every stack's report links to its calls.
See how your own agent compares
Roark runs the same kind of calls against your agent, on your scenarios, with the same scoring.
Rank on Roark score
#271of 655 stacks
50 / 100
Leader AssemblyAI Universal-3.5 Pro + OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol + ElevenLabs Turbo v2.5, 70 / 100
Where it ranks
Its models
Task completion
Task completion
How much of the caller’s task the agent completed: the share of the scenario’s checks a judge model found met in the transcript, averaged over calls. Before v1.3, the share of calls judged 4 or better out of 5.
#460 of 662 on the board · best 99%
Flow adherence
How closely the agent followed the intended conversation flow, judged per call. 5 = fully followed.
#100 of 662 on the board · best 5.0 / 5
Instruction following
How well the agent stuck to the instructions in its own prompt. 5 = followed throughout.
#13 of 662 on the board · best 5.0 / 5
Turn-taking
Barge-in handling
When the caller interrupts, how often the agent made the right call: yielding to a real correction, and holding the floor through a filler.
#1 of 347 on the board · best 100%
Incorrect interruptions
How often the agent interrupted the caller when it should have kept listening.
#1 of 662 on the board · best 0%
Overtalk
Share of the conversation where both sides were speaking over each other.
#322 of 662 on the board · best 0.0%
Agent self-cutoffs
Times the agent cut its own sentence off mid-word.
#1 of 662 on the board · best 0.0 per call
Speech-to-Text
Semantic word error rate
The caller's words the agent's transcriber got wrong in a way that changes the meaning, as a judge reads each difference.
#212 of 648 on the board · best 0.0%
Word error rate
The caller's words the agent's transcriber missed, changed or invented, against what the caller actually said.
#224 of 648 on the board · best 1.2%
Text-to-Speech
Readback accuracy
Share of the codes, amounts, dates and phone numbers the agent wrote that its voice read out correctly. One wrong digit is a miss.
#553 of 603 on the board · best 100%
Word error rate
The share of the words the agent wrote that its voice dropped or changed, read back from Roark’s transcription of the recording; the same transcriber hears every voice.
#587 of 648 on the board · best 1.9%
Voice
Human-likeness
How human the agent's voice sounds, scored by an audio model on intonation, rhythm and expressiveness. 5 = hard to tell from a person.
#535 of 660 on the board · best 4.3 / 5
Voice consistency
Share of calls where every line the agent spoke was the same speaker, with no change of speaker, gender or language voice partway. It checks who is speaking, not how they sound.
Not scored by this sweep.
#655 of 660 on the board · best 100%
Latency
Response time
The silence between the caller finishing and the agent starting to speak, measured from the recording on every turn of the call.
#295 of 661 on the board · best 1.85 s
Time to first word
How long the caller waits before the agent first speaks after pickup.
#312 of 662 on the board · best 0.45 s
Latency spikes
Turns where the response took far longer than the rest of the conversation.
#496 of 662 on the board · best 0.0 per call
By industry
| Industry | Task completion | Latency P50 | Barge-in handling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare | 86% | 3.84 s | — |
| Home services | 85% | 3.52 s | — |
| Insurance | 93% | 3.40 s | — |
| Customer support | 94% | 4.06 s | — |
By caller
| Caller | Task completion | Latency P50 | Barge-in handling |
|---|---|---|---|
| US English, quiet line | 96% | 3.68 s | — |
| Spanish-accented English, city street | 88% | 3.88 s | — |
| Indian English, busy café | 94% | 3.38 s | — |
| Southern US, flustered, crying baby | 90% | 3.58 s | — |
| Fast and interrupting, construction outside | 81% | 3.63 s | 100% |
The calls behind the numbers
Customer support
AGENTBrightwave Internet support, this is Alex. What’s going on with your service?
CUSTOMERHi, Alex. I'm calling from a cafe because my internet at home has been down for two hours now. There's a road crew digging up the street outside, so I wanted to ask if that could be the cause. I work from home, so this is a problem for me. I already rebooted the gateway twice and checked every cable. The internet light is blinking orange. Can you check what's happening on your end? My account number is BW883017. Sorry, last digit is one.
AGENTI’ve got you pulled up under account BW883017, on the Brightwave 500 plan. There’s no area outage showing for your address, so this looks specific to your line/equipment. I ran a line test and your signal to the gateway is good, but the gateway had fallen out of registration. I’ve just pushed a remote reset from our side, and it’s now showing as registered and online again. At home, you should see the internet light go solid (not blinking orange) within a couple of minutes, and your devices may take up to two minutes to reconnect. Since you’re at the café right now, here’s what I suggest:
- When you get home, just check that the internet light is solid and try loading a page on a laptop/phone. - If it’s still blinking orange or you have
CUSTOMEROkay. The internet light just went solid white at home. How long until my devices reconnect? And I lost two hours of work? Can you add a credit for the downtime?
AGENTGood—that solid white light means the connection is back and stable. Your devices should usually reconnect within 1–2 minutes on their own. If anything doesn’t: - First, toggle Wi‑Fi off/on on that device, or - Forget/rejoin the network if it still won’t connect. I’ve also added a service credit for the downtime: - Amount: $10.00 - Applied to account: BW883017 - It will show on your next bill.
CUSTOMERI lost two. Hours of work. Can you make it more than that?
AGENTI understand—you’re talking about two hours of actual work lost, not just two hours without service. I can’t reimburse lost productivity, but I can
CUSTOMERGotcha. So, just to. Confirm, the credit is for the downtime only. That's fine. Thanks for your help. Goodbye.
AGENTYou’ve
AGENTgot it—the $10.00 credit on account BW883017 is for the downtime only and will appear on your next bill. Glad we could get you back online. Take care.
Healthcare
AGENTRiverbend Health Clinic, this is Alex. How can I help you today?
CUSTOMERHey. Sorry I'm a little flustered right now. I've got a baby crying in the background. I need to reschedule my dermatology appointment next Wednesday morning. I just got assigned a work shift then, and I can't make it. Can you help me move it? My name's Wade Carter.
AGENTI can help with that. We’ll get it moved. First, I need to verify your account. What’s your date of birth, Wade?
CUSTOMERYeah. Uh, I think it's March 17th, 1948. Sorry. No. 1984. March 17th, 1984. Is that okay?
AGENTThanks, Wade. I’ve got you pulled up: Wade Carter, date of birth March 17th, 1984. I see a dermatology appointment with Dr. Okafor next Wednesday at 9:15 AM at Main Campus, Building B.
I can reschedule that, but I need a bit more info from you
- Do you want to stay with Dr. Okafor, or is any dermatology provider okay? - What times work for you instead? You mentioned you can’t do Wednesday morning—are afternoons okay that day, or would you prefer a different day of the week? Tell me your preferred days and times (for example, “any afternoon after 2,” or “Fridays only”), and I’ll look for slots that fit.
CUSTOMERI'm sorry. I can only come after 3 p.m. any day except Tuesday. Tuesdays don't work for me, after all, because I pick up my daughter. Is it possible to get something Friday after three or Thursday would work, too. If Friday isn't available, I'd like to stay with Doctor Okafor if I can. Is that all right?
AGENTThanks for hanging in there, Wade. You said you can come after 3 p.m. any day except Tuesday and that you’d like Friday after 3 if possible, or Thursday after 3, and you’d like to stay with Dr. Okafor if you can. I checked Dr. Okafor’s schedule starting next Thursday, and here’s what’s available:
- Thursday at 410 PM with Dr. Okafor - Friday only has 11:30 AM, which is before 3 p.m., so that doesn’t meet your schedule. So the one slot that fits everything you asked for is:
- Thursday at 410 PM with Dr. Okafor
Would you like me to move your current appointment (next Wednesday at 915 AM) to Thursday at 4:10 PM?
CUSTOMERYeah that's perfect. Thursday at 4:10 p.m.. Please tell me that's all set. Sorry. I just want to be sure nothing gets mixed up. And, uh, is there any fee for changing the appointment?
AGENTYou’re all set, Wade—nothing’s getting mixed up. I’ve moved your dermatology visit with Dr. Okafor from next Wednesday at 9:15 AM to Thursday at 4:10 PM at Main Campus, Building B. Your new confirmation code is RVB-3M8P2. Please arrive 15 minutes early with a photo ID and your insurance card. About fees: The clinic’s policy is that changes made more than 24 hours before the appointment are free. Changes within 24 hours carry a $40 fee. Since we’ve rescheduled this ahead of time, there’s no fee for this change.
Do you want me to repeat the new date, time, and confirmation code once more so you can jot them down?
CUSTOMERYes, please. Could you repeat all that? I just want to double check everything's right. And, uh, where do I park for the appointment?
AGENTHere it is again, nice and clear: - Name: Wade Carter - Date of birth: March 17th, 1984 - New appointment: Dermatology with Dr. Okafor - Date: Thursday (the one after your original “next Wednesday” appointment) - Time: 4:10 PM - Location: Main Campus, Building B - Confirmation code: RVB-3M8P2 - Check-in: Please arrive 15 minutes early with a photo ID and your insurance card. For parking: There is free patient parking in Lot C, with the entrance on River Road. From Lot C, follow the signs to Building B. Want me to send any of this to you by text or email through the clinic system, or are you okay just keeping it as a note?
CUSTOMERI think I'll just jot it down myself. Thanks. Sorry. One more thing. Does Doctor Okafor accept Aetna insurance? I just want to make sure everything's covered.
AGENTI’m glad you asked—that’s important to know ahead of time. I don’t have access to provider-specific insurance panel details, so I can’t safely confirm whether Dr. Okafor is in-network with Aetna. To be sure everything’s covered, here’s what you should do: 1. Call the clinic’s main line and ask, “Can you confirm if Dr. Okafor is in-network with Aetna for my dermatology visit?” 2. Or call the number on the back of your Aetna card and ask them to check Dr. Okafor at Riverbend Health Clinic by name. You can also ask Aetna to confirm what your copay or coinsurance would be for a specialist dermatology visit. If you’d like, I can help you with a short script of exactly what to ask Aetna or the clinic.
CUSTOMERThank you for explaining that. I'll call and double check just to be safe. That should be all I needed. Appreciate your help. And by.
AGENTYou’re very welcome, Wade. Just to recap the key details for your notes:
- Dermatology with Dr. Okafor
-
AGENTThursday at 4:10 PM
- Main Campus, Building B
- Confirmation codeRVB-3M8P2
- Free parking in Lot C, entrance on River Road. Good luck with the work shift and I hope the visit goes smoothly. Bye for now.
Home services
AGENTCopperline Home Services, this is Alex. What can I help you with?
CUSTOMERHi, Alex. I need help right away. A pipe under my kitchen sink just burst and water is spreading across the floor toward a power strip. I haven't shut the water off yet. Can you send someone?
AGENTFirst, let’s keep you safe and stop the water as much as possible; then I’ll get someone out. 1. Stay away from the power strip and any outlets near the water. - Don’t touch the strip, cords, or any appliances in that area. - If it’s easy and safe to do so, unplug the strip only if the plug and outlet are still dry. If there’s any doubt, leave it. 2. Shut off the water: - Look under the kitchen sink for two small shutoff valves (usually on the pipes going up to the faucet). Turn both knobs clockwise until they stop. - If those valves don’t work or you can’t find them, go to your main water shutoff:
- Often in the basement, garage, utility room, or on an outside wall near where the water line enters the house. - Turn the main valve clockwise until it stops. - Let me know when you’ve got either the under-sink valves or the main shutoff turned off. 3. If water is already very close to or touching the power strip/outlet and you can’t safely unplug anything- Keep everyone away from that area. - If you know where your main electrical panel is and can reach it without walking through water, you may turn off the kitchen circuit or, if needed, the main breaker. Only do this if you can get there with completely dry shoes and flooring. While you’re doing that, I’ll start getting your visit set
CUSTOMEROkay. I'm turning the kitchen shut off valve now. Yeah. The water has stopped. So above the visit, how much will it cost for someone to come out?
AGENTGood job getting the water stopped—that’s the most important part. I don’t have your specific pricing or any discounts in front of me yet. Our system shows general info only (we take card or check on completion, and labor is guaranteed for one year), but your actual visit fee and any after‑hours/emergency rates depend on your customer record and the time slot we book. Let’s do this so I can quote you accurately before we schedule:
1. Are you an existing customer with us, or is this your first time calling Copperline? 2. What’s the best callback number for you? 3. What’s the service address, including unit or apartment number if there is one? Once I have that, I’ll look up your account, check the earliest emergency availability,
CUSTOMERSo I called before. My callback number is 503 550 0139, no. 0193. The address is one 480 Larkspur Avenue, unit 4D. I moved from four B to 4D last month. That's the correct unit now.
AGENTThanks for the details, and I’ve got your updated unit. You’re in our system as a Copperline Care member, so for an emergency plumbing visit:
- Emergency call-out fee for you$99 - What that covers: Licensed plumber to your home, diagnosis, and upfront estimate for any repair work. - Payment: Card or check on completion. Earliest availability for this emergency is:
- Today, 200 PM–4:00 PM arrival window (emergency) There’s also a standard window tomorrow, 8:00 AM–10:00 AM at the standard visit fee of $79, but with a burst pipe I strongly recommend the today 2–4 PM emergency window. Before I book it, can you confirm:
1) You’re okay with the $99 emergency call-out fee for today 2–4 PM, and 2) Is there any gate code or special access info for 1480 Larkspur Avenue, unit 4D? Also, just to double-check, your best callback number is 503-550-0193, correct? Once you confirm, I’ll open the ticket, book that 2–4 PM window, and read everything back to you.
CUSTOMERRight. So yes, I'm okay with the $99 emergency fee for today, 2 to 4 p.m. the building gate code is 2719, and my callback number is (503) 555-0193, that's correct. Can anyone come before two or is 2 p.m. the earliest? So 2 p.m. is the sooner. Yes. Go ahead and book that emergency window. Who will be coming and how will I know they're on the way? Also, please give me the ticket number.
AGENTYou’re all set—I’ve got you booked. Here’s what we have:
- Service address1480 Larkspur Avenue, Unit 4D - Gate code: 2719 - Callback number: (503) 555-0193 - Urgency: Emergency - Issue: Burst pipe under kitchen sink; water spread toward a power strip but is now stopped at the kitchen shutoff valve. - Arrival window: Today, 2:00 PM–4:00 PM - Emergency call-out fee (Copperline Care member): $99, due on completion (card or check). - Ticket number: CPL-58210
If any of that is not correct, tell me and I’ll update it. On your questions
- Is 200 PM the earliest? Yes—2:00–4:00 PM today is the earliest emergency window our system shows for you, and it’s already booked. - Who will be coming? The job is assigned in our system, but I’m not able to guarantee a specific technician by name here. It will be one of our licensed plumbers dispatched on your emergency ticket CPL-58210. - How you’ll know they’re on the way: You’ll get a text to (503) 555-0193 about 30 minutes before arrival from the technician or our system, so you’ll know when they’re headed over. Until the plumber arrives, a few quick safety tips:
- Keep clear of that power strip and any outlets that got splashed. Don’t plug anything in there. - You can put towels or a bucket under the sink if it’s still damp, but leave the shutoff valve as-is so the pipe stays off. If anything changes—like the valve starts leaking or you notice any burning smell or sparking from the electrical side—call us back right away and reference ticket CPL-58210.
CUSTOMEROkay. Got it. Ticket number CPL58210. Everything you read back is correct. Thanks for booking the visit and for the safety tips. Goodbye!
Insurance
AGENTNorthgate Mutual claims, this is Alex. Are you somewhere safe right now?
CUSTOMERYes. I'm safe. I'm just standing next to my car. No injuries. Just wanted to file a claim.
AGENTI’m glad you’re safe and that no one’s hurt. Let’s get your claim started. I’ll need to verify your policy first. 1. What’s your auto policy number? 2. And the policyholder’s last name, as it appears on the policy?
CUSTOMERSure. My policy number is NG4471903. No, sorry, last one is two, and the last name is Ellis.
AGENTThanks, I’ve pulled up your policy ending in 1902 under Ellis for a 2021 Honda CR‑V. Next, I’ll collect some details about what happened:
1. When did the accident happen? 2. Where did it happen? 3. Can you briefly describe what happened? 4. Is your vehicle drivable and safe to operate, or does it need a tow? 5. Do you have the other driver’s information- Their name - Their insurance company (and policy number if you have it) - Their license plate 6. Did the police come to the scene, and is there a report number?
CUSTOMERThe accident happened about 20 minutes ago at SW fifth Avenue and Alder Street. I was stopped at a red light and another car hit the back of my car. The rear bumper is crushed and the rear wheel is rubbing, so I can't drive. It definitely needs a tow. The other driver is Kevin Lund, insured with Pacific Shore. His license plate is 7KX, like X-ray. R 214. I don't have his policy number. Police did not come, so there's no report number.
AGENTI’ve opened a claim for you and arranged a tow. Let me read key details back and then I’ll give you your claim number. Policy verification - Policy number I have: NG4471902 - Last name: Ellis Accident details - When: About 20 minutes ago today - Where: SW 5th Avenue and Alder Street - What happened: You were stopped at a red light and were rear‑ended. Your rear bumper is crushed and the rear wheel is rubbing, so the vehicle isn’t drivable. - Injuries: None reported. - Police: Did not attend; no report number. Other driver - Name: Kevin Lund - Insurer: Pacific Shore - License plate I have: 7KXR214 Tow information - I’ve dispatched Eastside Towing to SW 5th Ave and Alder St. - Estimated arrival: about 45 minutes. - They’re taking your Honda CR‑V to a Northgate partner repair shop at 9th and Morrison. Your new claim - Claim number: NGM-904417 - Assigned adjuster: Priya Shah - Contact: You should hear from Priya within one business day. Please double‑check these for me: 1) Your policy number: NG4471902 — is that correct? 2) The other car’s license plate: 7KXR214 — is that exactly right? If you’d like, I can also check what coverage applies on this policy for this claim.
CUSTOMERYes, my policy number is NG4471902, and the other car's plate is 7KX, like X-ray r 214. That's correct. Can you tell me how much I have to pay? Will I get a rental car while mine's in the shop? And is my premium going to go up because of this?
AGENTThanks for confirming those details. I’ll answer each of your questions based on your policy. First, reading back the key numbers: - Policy number: NG4471902 - Other driver’s plate: 7KXR214 - Claim number: NGM-904417
Now, here’s what your policy shows
1) How much you have to pay (your deductible) - Your collision deductible is $500. - That meansif your repairs are covered under collision and cost more than $500, you’re responsible for the first $500, and Northgate pays the covered amount above that, up to the value of the vehicle. - If the other driver is found at fault and their insurer (Pacific Shore) accepts liability, some or all of that deductible may be recoverable later through subrogation, but that isn’t guaranteed and can take time. Your adjuster, Priya Shah, will walk you through that part. 2) Rental car coverage Your policy includes rental reimbursement: - Up to $40 per day, for up to 30 days, starting from the day the claim is opened (today). - This is to cover a rental car while your Honda CR‑V is in the shop for covered repairs. - Priya will help you either: - Set up a rental through a preferred rental company, or - Reimburse you up to $40/day if you arrange your own, within the limits and documentation requirements. 3) Towing coverage - Towing is covered up to 25 miles. - Your tow to the partner
CUSTOMEROkay.
CUSTOMERPartner, shop at ninth and Morrison is within the coverage limit, so you won't have to pay for that. Got it. But he hit me, so I should not have to pay that deductible. Right. And do you know if my premium is going to go up?
AGENTI understand why you feel that way, especially since you were stopped and got hit from behind. On the deductible: - Right now, based on your policy, collision applies with a $500 deductible. - Even if you weren’t at
CUSTOMERAt fault. Your deductible applies up front. If Pacific Shore accepts responsibility, Northgate will try to recover your deductible from them. If successful, you'll get reimbursed for that. Is there anything you can tell me about whether my premium will go up?
AGENTOn the deductible and fault: - You’re right about how it works: your $500 collision deductible applies up front for your repairs through Northgate, even if you weren’t at fault. - Northgate will then pursue Pacific Shore (the other driver’s insurer). If they accept full responsibility and we recover the money, your deductible can be reimbursed. - Your adjuster, Priya Shah, will handle that process and let you know once there’s an update. About your premium going up: - I don’t have access to Northgate’s rating system or your full rating history, so I can’t say for certain whether your premium will go up or by how much. - Generally, insurers look at things like: - Who is found at fault (based on statements, any reports, and insurer-to-insurer discussions) - Your prior claims and driving record - State rules about how not‑at‑fault accidents can be used in rating Some states and some policies limit or prohibit surcharges for clearly not‑at‑fault accidents, but it’s not the same everywhere, and I can’t see those specifics from here. What will happen next: - Your adjuster, Priya Shah, will review fault, talk with Pacific Shore, and look at your policy and state rules. - She’s the one who can tell you: - How this accident will be classified (at fault / not at fault / partial) - Whether it’s likely to affect your premium under your specific policy and location. If you’d like, I can note on your claim that you specifically want: 1) Updates on recovery of your deductible, and 2) A clear explanation of any possible premium impact when Priya calls you.
CUSTOMERYes. Please note both of those on my claim. I'd like updates about the deductible and a clear explanation if my premium is affected. Is there anything else I need to do right now, or should I just wait for Priya to contact me?
AGENTI’ll add both notes to your claim: that you want (1) updates on any deductible recovery and (2) a clear explanation if this loss affects your premium. Right now, here’s what I recommend
AGENTyou do:
1) At the scene - Since police didn’t come, keep your own record- Take clear photos of: damage to both vehicles, the intersection, traffic lights/signs, and the other car’s plate (7KXR214). - If there are any witnesses, get their names and phone numbers. - Keep the other driver’s info handy: - Name: Kevin Lund - Insurer: Pacific Shore 2) With your vehicle and repairs - The tow is already set to the partner shop at 9th and Morrison. - When the tow arrives, remove any valuables from your Honda CR‑V before it’s taken. - The shop or your adjuster will go over the repair process and estimates with you once the vehicle is checked in. 3) Rental car - You have rental coverage: $40/day up to 30 days from today. - You can wait for Priya to coordinate a rental through a preferred provider, or if you must rent immediately, keep all receipts so Priya can confirm what’s reimbursable under your limits. 4) Documents to keep handy for Priya When she calls, it helps to have: - Your claim number: NGM-904417 - Your policy number: NG4471902 - The other driver’s details and any photos or witness info you gathered. Other than that, you can wait for Priya to contact you (within one business day). If anything changes before then—for example, if you start having pain and need to report an injury, or if Pacific Shore contacts you directly—make a note of it so you can tell Priya. Do you want a quick recap of your key numbers (policy, claim, plate, tow destination) before we wrap up?