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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.

662 stacks published14,070 scored callsPublished at 20 scored calls

Our picks

Roark scoreTask completionMedian responseCost per minute

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.
CascadeSpeech-to-speech
Task completionTool useTime to first wordResponse timeBarge-in handlingCost per task255075100
MeasureCascadeSpeech-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 s2.1 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

90Universal-3.6 Pro84Universal-3.5 Pro82Nova-382Enhanced (realtime)79Linden-171Nova-266Standard (realtime)56Whisper-152Linden-1 (own VAD)
Every transcriber on every figure, sorted by roark score. Column headers sort the table.
#
1Universal-3.6 ProAssemblyAI90 / 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
2Universal-3.5 ProAssemblyAI84 / 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
3Nova-3Deepgram82 / 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
4Enhanced (realtime)Speechmatics82 / 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
5Linden-1Speechmatics79 / 100. Semantic word error rate 1.3%, 50.0 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.99 s, 28.6 of 29 points1.3%0.99 s$0.020(among the best)
6Nova-2Deepgram71 / 100. Semantic word error rate 1.5%, 42.2 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.89 s, 28.6 of 29 points1.5%0.89 s(among the best)$0.023(among the best)
7Standard (realtime)Speechmatics66 / 100. Semantic word error rate 1.7%, 37.5 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.96 s, 28.6 of 29 points1.7%0.96 s$0.031
8Whisper-1OpenAI56 / 100. Semantic word error rate 1.4%, 45.5 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 1.93 s, 10.9 of 29 points1.4%1.93 s$0.025
9Linden-1 (own VAD)Speechmatics52 / 100. Semantic word error rate 2.2%, 23.1 of 71 points; Time to final transcript 0.49 s, 28.6 of 29 points2.2%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.

Cost against qualitySemantic word error rate · Cost per call
$0$0.02$0.04$0.06$0.080.5%1%1.5%2%2.5%Cheap and accurateAccurate, pricierCheap, less accuratePricier and less accurateLinden-1 (own VAD)Linden-1Nova-2Whisper-1Universal-3.6 ProUniversal-3.5 ProStandard (realtime)Nova-3Enhanced (realtime)Cost per call · ← betterSemantic word error rate · better →
Speed against qualitySemantic word error rate · Time to final transcript
0 s1 s2 s3 s0.5%1%1.5%2%2.5%Fast and accurateAccurate, slowerFast, less accurateSlower and less accurateLinden-1 (own VAD)Nova-3Nova-2Universal-3.6 ProUniversal-3.5 ProStandard (realtime)Enhanced (realtime)Linden-1Whisper-1Time to final transcript · ← betterSemantic word error rate · better →

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

66GPT-6.1 Sol61Claude Sonnet 5.551Gemini 3.8 Flash50GPT-4.149Claude Haiku 4.547GPT-4o mini44GPT-5.144GPT-4o
Every language model on every figure, sorted by roark score. Column headers sort the table.
#
1GPT-6.1 SolOpenAI66 / 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 s73%$0.019(among the best)
2Claude Sonnet 5.5Anthropic61 / 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
3Gemini 3.8 FlashGoogle51 / 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)
4GPT-4.1OpenAI50 / 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 points92%4.2 / 5(among the best)48%0.52 s82%(among the best)$0.022
5Claude Haiku 4.5Anthropic49 / 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 points91%4.2 / 5(among the best)47%0.36 s(among the best)–$0.062
6GPT-4o miniOpenAI47 / 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 points90%4.2 / 5(among the best)51%0.45 s(among the best)81%(among the best)$0.002(among the best)
7GPT-5.1OpenAI44 / 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 points89%4.1 / 538%0.59 s74%(among the best)$0.031
8GPT-4oOpenAI44 / 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 points88%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.

Cost against qualityTask completion · Cost per call
$0$0.05$0.1$0.15$0.285%90%95%100%Cheap and reliableReliable, pricierCheap, less reliablePricier and less reliableGPT-4o miniGemini 3.8 FlashGPT-6.1 SolGPT-4.1GPT-4oGPT-5.1Claude Haiku 4.5Claude Sonnet 5.5Cost per call · ← betterTask completion · better →
Speed against qualityTask completion · Time to first token
0 s0.5 s1 s1.5 s2 s85%90%95%100%Fast and reliableReliable, slowerFast, less reliableSlower and less reliableClaude Haiku 4.5GPT-4o miniGPT-4oGPT-4.1GPT-5.1Claude Sonnet 5.5GPT-6.1 SolGemini 3.8 FlashTime to first token · ← betterTask completion · better →

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

77Sonic-3.677v4 Turbo77Sonic-3.573Sonic-371Turbo v2.570Flash v2.568Coda55TTS-139TTS-1 HD
Every speech engine on every figure, sorted by roark score. Column headers sort the table.
#
1Sonic-3.6Cartesia77 / 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
2v4 TurboElevenLabs77 / 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 / 598%0.11 s(among the best)$0.470
3Sonic-3.5Cartesia77 / 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
4Sonic-3Cartesia73 / 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 points6.9%85%3.4 / 599%0.17 s$0.165
5Turbo v2.5ElevenLabs71 / 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 points5.7%(among the best)80%3.4 / 598%0.15 s$0.451
6Flash v2.5ElevenLabs70 / 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 points6%(among the best)80%3.4 / 598%0.12 s(among the best)$0.437
7CodaRime68 / 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 points8.1%83%3.7 / 5(among the best)99%0.18 s$0.116(among the best)
8TTS-1OpenAI55 / 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 points6.1%82%3.6 / 5100%(among the best)1.13 s$0.036(among the best)
9TTS-1 HDOpenAI39 / 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 points8.7%80%3.6 / 5100%(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.

Cost against qualityReadback accuracy · Cost per call
$0$0.2$0.4$0.675%80%85%90%Cheap and accurateAccurate, pricierCheap, less accuratePricier and less accurateTTS-1TTS-1 HDCodaSonic-3Sonic-3.5Sonic-3.6Flash v2.5Turbo v2.5v4 TurboCost per call · ← betterReadback accuracy · better →
Speed against qualityReadback accuracy · Time to first audio byte
0 s1 s2 s3 s75%80%85%90%Fast and accurateAccurate, slowerFast, less accurateSlower and less accuratev4 TurboSonic-3.6Flash v2.5Sonic-3.5Turbo v2.5Sonic-3CodaTTS-1TTS-1 HDTime to first audio byte · ← betterReadback accuracy · better →

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

65GPT Live 1 (Sol)66Grok Voice 3.065GPT Live 1 (Luna)65Grok Voice Think Fast 2.053Gemini 3.8 Live53GPT Realtime 2.148Ultravox v0.748Gemini 3.1 Flash Live (preview)48GPT Realtime 246Nova 2 Sonic47Realtime v1 Max45Realtime v1 Mini44GPT Realtime 2.1 mini36Gemini 2.5 Flash native audio

Whiskers show the 95% interval. The shaded models tie for first: these calls cannot separate them.

Every speech-to-speech model on every figure, sorted by roark score. Column headers sort the table.
#
1= (tied)GPT Live 1 (Sol)OpenAI65 / 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 / 587%(among the best)2.3 s(among the best)1.4 s77%3.1 / 5100%(among the best)$0.24
2= (tied)Grok Voice 3.0xAI66 / 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 s94%3.0 / 5100%(among the best)$0.26
3= (tied)GPT Live 1 (Luna)OpenAI65 / 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 / 586%(among the best)2.3 s(among the best)1.5 s93%3.1 / 5100%(among the best)$0.21
4= (tied)Grok Voice Think Fast 2.0xAI65 / 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 s100%(among the best)3.6 / 5100%(among the best)$0.26
5= (tied)Gemini 3.8 LiveGoogle53 / 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 points78%4.3 / 5(among the best)69%2.8 s1.6 s100%(among the best)4.1 / 5(among the best)100%(among the best)$0.14(among the best)
6= (tied)GPT Realtime 2.1OpenAI53 / 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 points78%3.8 / 575%2.6 s0.8 s(among the best)83%3.9 / 5(among the best)99%$0.43
7= (tied)Ultravox v0.7Ultravox48 / 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 points79%3.7 / 561%2.4 s1.6 s94%3.6 / 5100%(among the best)$0.22
8= (tied)Gemini 3.1 Flash Live (preview)Google48 / 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 points80%4.2 / 538%2.7 s1.5 s100%(among the best)4.0 / 5(among the best)100%(among the best)$0.15
9= (tied)GPT Realtime 2OpenAI48 / 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 points76%3.8 / 564%2.9 s0.8 s(among the best)91%3.7 / 5100%(among the best)$0.69
10= (tied)Nova 2 SonicAmazon46 / 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 points69%4.2 / 548%3.0 s1.5 s100%(among the best)3.5 / 5100%(among the best)$0.06(among the best)
11= (tied)Realtime v1 MaxElevenLabs47 / 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 points56%4.0 / 540%2.6 s0.7 s(among the best)76%3.9 / 5(among the best)100%(among the best)$0.65
12= (tied)Realtime v1 MiniElevenLabs45 / 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 points42%3.8 / 534%2.7 s0.7 s(among the best)94%3.4 / 5100%(among the best)$0.64
13= (tied)GPT Realtime 2.1 miniOpenAI44 / 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 points70%3.6 / 551%2.8 s1.0 s84%3.9 / 5(among the best)100%(among the best)$0.14(among the best)
14Gemini 2.5 Flash native audioGoogle36 / 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 points77%3.9 / 540%4.2 s3.4 s100%(among the best)3.7 / 5100%(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.

Cost against qualityTask completion · Cost per task
$0$0.5$120%40%60%80%100%Cheap and reliableReliable, pricierCheap, less reliablePricier and less reliableNova 2 SonicGemini 2.5 Flash native audioGPT Realtime 2.1 miniGemini 3.8 LiveGemini 3.1 Flash Live (preview)GPT Live 1 (Luna)Ultravox v0.7GPT Live 1 (Sol)Grok Voice 3.0Grok Voice Think Fast 2.0GPT Realtime 2.1Realtime v1 MiniRealtime v1 MaxGPT Realtime 2Cost per task · ← betterTask completion · better →
Speed against qualityTask completion · Response time
1 s2 s3 s4 s5 s20%40%60%80%100%Fast and reliableReliable, slowerFast, less reliableSlower and less reliableGrok Voice 3.0Grok Voice Think Fast 2.0GPT Live 1 (Luna)GPT Live 1 (Sol)Ultravox v0.7Realtime v1 MaxGPT Realtime 2.1Gemini 3.1 Flash Live (preview)Realtime v1 MiniGemini 3.8 LiveGPT Realtime 2.1 miniGPT Realtime 2Nova 2 SonicGemini 2.5 Flash native audioResponse time · ← betterTask completion · better →

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).

Loading every stack

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.

01

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

02

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.

03

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

FigureWeightFull marksZero
Task completionscenario_adherence_check23%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_time18%2.0 s6.0 s
In real calls, replying faster than 2 s made no measurable difference, and calls went worse past 3 s.
Instruction followinginstruction_follow14%5.0 / 53.0 / 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_rate14%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_use14%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_word5%1.0 s4.0 s
A greeting within 1 s sounds natural; 4 s of silence sounds like a dead line.
Readback accuracytts_entity_readback_accuracy5%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_rate5%2%12%
At 2% the voice says what it was given; at 12% one word in eight comes out wrong.
Voice consistencyvoice_consistency_check5%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

FigureWeightFull marksZero
Task completionscenario_adherence_check36%100%80%
An agent that completes fewer than four calls in five is not fit to deploy.
Tool usetool_use27%100%50%
An agent that mishandles its tools on half its calls cannot be trusted with the systems it runs on.
Instruction followinginstruction_follow18%5.0 / 53.0 / 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_token18%0.50 s2.00 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

FigureWeightFull marksZero
Semantic word error ratestt_semantic_word_error_rate71%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_transcript29%1.00 s2.50 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

FigureWeightFull marksZero
Readback accuracytts_entity_readback_accuracy38%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_rate25%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_byte25%0.20 s1.50 s
Under 0.2 s is not noticeable; 1.5 s is half the point where calls go worse.
Voice consistencyvoice_consistency_check13%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.

04

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.

Transcript, verbatim.

Read the full methodology

See how your own agent compares

Roark runs the same kind of calls against your agent, on your scenarios, with the same scoring.

Test your agent

Nova-3 + GPT-5.1 + Sonic-3

Cascade

Rank on Roark score

#305of 655 stacks

49 / 100

Leader AssemblyAI Universal-3.5 Pro + OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol + ElevenLabs Turbo v2.5, 70 / 100

Where it ranks

Roark score with price50 / 100439 of 655LeaderUniversal-3.5 Pro + GPT-6.1 Sol + Coda71 / 100
Task completion91%380 of 656LeaderLinden-1 (own VAD) + GPT-6.1 Sol + TTS-1 HD99%
Tool use33%614 of 632LeaderUniversal-3.6 Pro + GPT-6.1 Sol + TTS-1 HD90%
Time to first word1.3 s496 of 656LeaderUniversal-3.5 Pro + GPT-6.1 Sol + Flash v2.50.5 s
Response time3.7 s342 of 655LeaderGrok Voice 3.01.9 s
Barge-in handlingn/aLeaderWhisper-1 + GPT-6.1 Sol + v4 Turbo100%
Turn budget3.7 s308 of 596LeaderLinden-1 (own VAD) + GPT-4o mini + Flash v2.52.1 s
Cost per task$0.44521 of 655LeaderLinden-1 + GPT-4o mini + TTS-1$0.05

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.

20 calls
91%Completed

#385 of 662 on the board · best 99%

Flow adherence

How closely the agent followed the intended conversation flow, judged per call. 5 = fully followed.

20 calls
4.3/ 5avg

med

4

#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.

20 calls
4.2/ 5avg

med

4

#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.

Not scored by this sweep.

Incorrect interruptions

How often the agent interrupted the caller when it should have kept listening.

20 calls
0.00%avg

p50

0.00%

p95

0.00%

#1 of 662 on the board · best 0%

Overtalk

Share of the conversation where both sides were speaking over each other.

20 calls
0.72%avg

p50

0.46%

p95

2.85%

#391 of 662 on the board · best 0.0%

Agent self-cutoffs

Times the agent cut its own sentence off mid-word.

20 calls
0.00per callavg

p50

0.00 per call

p95

0.00 per call

#1 of 662 on the board · best 0.0 per call

Understanding & effort

Caller effort

How hard the caller had to work: repeating themselves, correcting, re-explaining. 1 = effortless.

Not scored by this sweep.

Repeated-info loops

Times per call the agent re-asked for something the caller had already given.

30 calls
0.67per callavg

p50

1.00 per call

p95

1.00 per call

#180 of 494 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.

20 calls
1.67%avg

p50

0.67%

p95

6.44%

#511 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.

20 calls
3.81%avg

p50

3.41%

p95

8.61%

#491 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.

20 calls
69.3%avg

p50

72.6%

p95

100%

#560 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.

20 calls
11.3%avg

p50

9.95%

p95

28.4%

#600 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.

20 calls
3.5/ 5avg

med

3

#433 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.

20 calls

Not scored by this sweep.

#1 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.

154 turns
3.64savg

p50

3.73s

p95

6.10s

#345 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.

20 calls
1.23savg

p50

1.33s

p95

1.93s

#500 of 662 on the board · best 0.45 s

Latency spikes

Turns where the response took far longer than the rest of the conversation.

20 calls
6.15per callavg

p50

5.50 per call

p95

10.0 per call

#307 of 662 on the board · best 0.0 per call

By industry

IndustryTask completionLatency P50Barge-in handling
Healthcare98%3.89 s—
Home services87%3.35 s—
Insurance91%3.56 s—
Customer support87%3.86 s—

By caller

CallerTask completionLatency P50Barge-in handling
US English, quiet line94%3.33 s—
Spanish-accented English, city street96%3.74 s—
Indian English, busy café91%3.58 s—
Southern US, flustered, crying baby91%3.85 s—
Fast and interrupting, construction outside83%3.88 s—

The calls behind the numbers

Customer support

AGENTBrightwave Internet support, this is Alex. What’s going on with your service?

CUSTOMERHi, Alex. My Internet's been down for about two hours now. I work from home. So been a problem. There's a road crew digging up the street outside. So I'm wondering if that's the cause. I already rebooted the gateway twice and checked all the cables. The Internet light is blinking orange. My account number is BW883017. Sorry. Last digit is 1. Can you check what's going on?

AGENTI see the issue,

CUSTOMERHello?

AGENTThanks for

CUSTOMERUh-huh. Go Okay. So is the roadwork outside causing the outage? And can you check my account? BW883011. To see what's going on,

AGENTI’ve got you. I’m looking at account BW883011 now, and I’ll walk you through what I’m seeing. 1. Roadwork / outage question. - I checked your address for outages: there is no area outage or maintenance showing for your location. - The road crew could have caused a problem earlier (for example, if they nicked a line), but based on the latest test your connection from our network to your gateway now looks good and online. 2. What I just did on your line. - I ran a remote line test: your signal to the gateway was good, but the gateway showed as not registered. - Per the test, I sent a remote reset to your Brightwave BX7 gateway. - After the reset, your gateway now shows “registered and online” on my side. 3. What you should see now. - The Internet light on the gateway should have gone from blinking orange to solid (usually solid white/green, depending on your model) within a couple of minutes. - Your devices may take up to 2 minutes to fully reconnect. Can you check two things right now: - Is the Internet light on the gateway solid instead of blinking orange? - Can you load a website or run a quick speed test on your work computer/phone? Tell me what you see, and if it’s still not working, we’ll keep going from there.

CUSTOMERThe Internet light just went solid white. So that's good. How long until my devices reconnect? And could you issue a credit for the downtime? I lost two hours of work.

AGENTGood—that solid white light means your connection is back up on our side. 1) Device reconnect time. - Most devices will reconnect automatically within 1–2 minutes. - If something doesn’t come back online: - First try toggling Wi‑Fi off/on on that device, or. - Forget/rejoin the Wi‑Fi network if it still won’t connect. 2) Credit for downtime.

CUSTOMERGot

AGENTI’ve

CUSTOMERRight. I'd like a credit for the downtime. What can you offer for the two hours I lost?

CUSTOMERHello?

AGENTI’ve already applied a credit for this. I put a $10.00 service credit on your account BW883011 for the two hours of interruption. You’ll see it as a credit on your next bill. Your connection looks stable now, but if the roadwork causes any more drops today, tell me what you see on the gateway lights and we’ll recheck the line or set up a tech if needed.

CUSTOMERI lost two hours of work. Can you make it more than that?

AGENTI get why you’re asking, especially if you actually lost work time, not just “service time.” On my side, I’m limited to what I can apply directly, and I’ve already given the maximum I’m allowed in one shot for this kind of short interruption: a $10.00 credit on account BW883011, which will show on your next bill. I can’t increase that further myself without making something up, and I’m not allowed to do that. If you want to push for more, the next step would be to contact Billing/Customer Care by phone or chat so a supervisor can review your account and usage history and see if they can go beyond the standard credit. For today: your line looks stable after the reset. If you see the light go back to blinking orange again—especially while the road crew is still out there—tell me and I’ll re-run tests and, if needed, get a tech scheduled.

CUSTOMEROkay. Understood. Thanks for your help, Alex. Goodbye.

AGENTYou’re welcome. Glad we got you back online. Quick

AGENTrecap before you go: - Account: BW883011. - Credit applied: $10.00 service credit, will appear on your next bill. If anything acts up again—especially while that road crew’s still out there—just reach out and mention the recent line reset so we can pick up quickly. Take care.

Healthcare

AGENTRiverbend Health Clinic, this is Alex. How can I help you today?

CUSTOMERHi, Alex. I am having one dermatology appointment next Wednesday morning. But now I have a work shift. I need to move that appointment. My name is Arjun Mehta. Can you help me reschedule?

AGENTI can help with that. I’ll just need a couple details to look up your chart and appointment: 1. Your full date of birth (YYYY-MM-DD). 2. To confirm: you want to keep it with Dermatology, just move it from next Wednesday morning to a different time—what days/times generally work for you instead?

CUSTOMERYes. I want to keep it with dermatology. Just move it. My date of birth is 03/17/1948. Sorry. No. 1984. 03/17/1984. I can only come after 3PM.

AGENTI’ve found

CUSTOMERHello?

CUSTOMERUh-huh. Go ahead.

AGENTThanks for waiting, Mr. Mehta. I’ve found your dermatology visit with Dr. Okafor next Wednesday at 9:15 AM at Main Campus, Building B. You said you can only come after 3:00 PM. Here are the first available options with Dr. Okafor that fit that: - Tuesday at 3:45 PM. - Thursday at 4:10 PM. Would you like to move

CUSTOMERTuesdays do not work after all. Because I pick up my daughter. What about Friday?

AGENTGot it, no Tuesdays. With Dr. Okafor, the only available Friday slot I’m seeing is at 11:30 AM, which is before 3 PM, so it doesn’t meet your “after 3 PM” requirement. The options that do fit “after 3 PM” are: - Thursday at 4:10 PM. Would you like me to move your dermatology appointment to Thursday at 4:10 PM with Dr. Okafor at Main Campus, Building B?

CUSTOMERYes. Thursday at 04:10PM works for me. Please move my appointment to that time.

AGENTYou’re all set, Mr. Mehta. I’ve moved your dermatology appointment with Dr. Okafor from next Wednesday at 9:15 AM to: - Thursday at 4:10 PM. - Location: Main Campus, Building B. - Confirmation code: RVB-3M8P2. Please arrive 15 minutes early with a photo ID and your insurance card. Can I help you with anything else related to this visit today?

CUSTOMERYes. I have a few questions. First, is there any fee for changing the appointment?

AGENTThere’s no fee for the change you just made. Our policy is: changes made more than 24 hours before the appointment are free; changes within 24 hours of the appointment have a $40 fee. Your new visit is next Thursday at 4:10 PM, and you rescheduled well in advance, so there’s no charge. What other questions can I answer for you?

CUSTOMERWhere should I park for the appointment?

AGENTFor your appointment at Main Campus, Building B, you can park in: - Lot C: free patient parking - Entrance on River Road From Lot C, follow the signs for Building B / Dermatology. If you’d like, I can also tell you the clinic’s general hours for that day.

CUSTOMERThat's clear. Thank you. One more question. Does doctor Okafor accept Aetna insurance?

AGENTYes—Dr. Okafor does see patients with Aetna, but insurance can be plan-specific. To be safe, I recommend either: - Calling the number on the back of your Aetna card and asking if “Riverbend Health Clinic / Dr. Okafor” is in-network for your specific plan, or. - Calling our front desk so they can verify your exact Aetna plan details before your visit. Be sure to bring your Aetna insurance card to your appointment next Thursday at 4:10 PM.

CUSTOMEROkay. That's helpful. So just to confirm, my derma four 10 PM, Main Campus, Building B, with doctor Okafo, and the confirmation code is RVV3M8P2. Is that correct?

AGENTAlmost—just a couple of small corrections: - Time: 4:10 PM (you said “four 10 PM,” which is right, just to be clear it’s 4:10 in the afternoon). - Doctor’s name: Dr. Okafor (spelled O-k-a-f-o-r). - Confirmation code: RVB-3M8P2 (the middle letter is “B” as in “Bravo,” not “V”). So your appointment is: - Dermatology with Dr. Okafor - Thursday at 4:10 PM - Main Campus, Building B - Confirmation code: RVB-3M8P2 Anything else you’d like to go over for that visit?

CUSTOMERNo. That's everything. Thank you for your help. Goodbye.

Home services

AGENTCopperline Home Services, this is Alex. What can I help you with?

CUSTOMERHello. Yes. Thank you. I'm calling because a pipe under my kitchen sink has burst. And water is spreading across the floor toward a power strip. I need someone to come quickly to fix it. Can you help with this emergency?

AGENTYes, I can help, and this is an emergency. First, let’s keep you safe

CUSTOMERRight.

AGENTPlease

CUSTOMERUh-huh. Go ahead.

AGENTStay well away from that power strip and any outlets

CUSTOMERUnderstood. I will do that.

AGENTGood. Next, we want to stop the water as much as possible. 1. Do you know where your main water shutoff is (often in a basement, utility room, garage, or near where the water line enters the home), or is there a shutoff valve just under the sink on the pipe? 2. Is it safe for you to reach the shutoff without stepping in water that’s near that power strip or any outlets? If it is safe: - Turn the under-sink valve clockwise to close it. - If that doesn’t stop it, and you can safely reach the main shutoff, turn that clockwise until it stops. If at any point the water is very close to electrical outlets or the power strip and you’re not sure it’s safe, do not go through the water. Instead, tell me: - How close the water is to the power strip now. - Whether you can unplug the power strip from a dry area without touching any water.

CUSTOMERThe water is about two feet from the power strip right now. I think I can unplug it safely from a dry area. Without touching any water. Should I go ahead and do that?

AGENTYes—if you can clearly stay on a completely dry area and reach the plug without the water under you or near the outlet, go ahead and: 1. Unplug the power strip from the wall (don’t touch the wet floor or any wet cords). 2. Then move the power strip and any cords well away from the water. If at any point you’d have to step in water or reach over water to unplug it, stop and do not touch it. Once that’s done,

CUSTOMERAlright. Or

CUSTOMEROkay. What should I do next?

AGENTGood—you got the power

CUSTOMERYes. I have unplugged the power strip and moved it away from the water.

AGENTGreat—that was the right move, thank you for doing that. Next, let’s reduce the water:

CUSTOMEROkay.

AGENTNext step is

CUSTOMERRight. What

CUSTOMERgo ahead.

AGENTNow that the power strip is safe, let’s get the water under control and then I’ll get a technician dispatched. First, the water: 1. Can you safely reach the shutoff valves under the kitchen sink without stepping in any water? - If yes: turn the small valve(s) on the pipe(s) under the sink clockwise until they stop. That may slow or stop the leak. - If the pipe is still spraying hard or there are no under-sink valves, and you can safely get to your main water shutoff (usually in a basement, utility room, garage, or where the water line enters the home), please go turn that off clockwise until it stops. While you work on that, I’ll get your emergency visit set up. From our records, I see: - Name: (tied to customer ID CU-77104). - Service address: 1480 Larkspur Avenue, Unit 4B. - You’re a Copperline Care member. We can send an emergency plumber today between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM. Because you’re a Copperline Care member, your emergency callout fee would be $99, collected by card or check on completion, plus any parts and additional labor if needed. Is: 1. 1480 Larkspur Avenue, Unit 4B still the correct service address? 2. Do you have

CUSTOMERActually, I moved last month. I am now in Unit 4 D. Not 4 B. The address is 1480 Las Avenue, Unit 4 D. That's right. So about the visit, can anyone come before 2PM?

AGENTThanks for updating that—glad you called when you did. First, quick safety check: Are you able to reach the shutoff valves under the sink or the main water shutoff without stepping in any water now? If yes, please go ahead and: - Turn the under-sink valve(s) clockwise until they stop. - If that doesn’t stop the water and you can safely reach the main shutoff, turn the main water valve clockwise until it stops. If at any point you’d have to stand in water to reach a valve, stop and tell me—that’s not safe. On the visit and your address: - I’ve updated your service address to: 1480 Las Avenue, Unit 4D. - I’ve opened an emergency service request: ticket CPL-58210 for a burst pipe under the kitchen sink. Availability: I’ve checked the schedule, and the earliest emergency window today is 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. There’s nothing sooner showing as available, and tomorrow’s first option is a standard window 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM, which wouldn’t be appropriate for this leak. Fees (you’re a Copperline Care member): - Emergency callout today: $99. - Payable by card or check on completion, plus any parts and additional labor if needed. Before I lock this in: 1. Can you confirm you’re okay with the 2:00 PM–4:00 PM emergency window today at 1480 Las Avenue, Unit 4D for the $99 emergency callout? 2. What is the best callback

CUSTOMERYep.

CUSTOMERThe 2PM to 4PM window is fine. That's the earliest. Right? I'll take it. My callback number is (503) 555-0139. No. 0193. Who will be coming, and how will I know when they are on the way?

AGENTGot it, thank you for clarifying the number. You’re all set. Here are the details: - Service address: 1480 Las Avenue, Unit 4D. - Callback number: (503) 555-0193. - Ticket number: CPL-58210. - Appointment: Today, emergency window 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. - Fee: $99

CUSTOMERYep.

AGENTYou’re booked

CUSTOMERThat's

AGENTYou’re all set,

CUSTOMERalright.

CUSTOMEROkay. I got it. Thank you for your help. Goodbye.

AGENTYou’re welcome—glad we could get you in for this afternoon. If the water starts getting worse before we arrive and you can’t safely reach a shutoff, stay clear of any outlets or cords near the water and wait for the technician. Take care, and goodbye.

Insurance

AGENTNorthgate Mutual claims, this is Alex. Are you somewhere safe right now?

CUSTOMERYes. I'm in a safe spot. I'm standing next to my car off the street.

AGENTUnderstood, thanks for letting me know. Is anyone injured or in any pain at all—either in your car or the other vehicle? If anyone is hurt or feels dizzy, confused, or has any pain, please call 911 right away before we continue.

CUSTOMERNo one is hurt. Nobody has any pain or symptoms. It's just the cars.

AGENTI’m glad to hear everyone’s okay. Let’s get your policy pulled up so we can open a claim. Do you have your Northgate Mutual auto policy number handy, and the policyholder’s last name?

CUSTOMERYeah. I have the policy number. It's NG4471903. No. Sorry. Last one is two. The last name is Ellis.

CUSTOMERHello?

AGENTI’m here, thanks for waiting. I’ve pulled up your policy ending in 1902 under the name Ellis. Let’s get the accident

CUSTOMERThat's

CUSTOMERGo ahead.

AGENTThanks. I’ll walk through a few questions to open your claim. 1) When did the accident happen? - Date and time, as close as you can estimate. 2) Where did it happen? - City and state, and the street or intersection or parking lot (for example, “Main and 5th in Springfield” or “Target parking lot on Oak Street”). 3) Please tell me what happened, in your own words. - How the impact occurred,

CUSTOMERIt's

AGENTNo problem,

CUSTOMERabout

CUSTOMERThe accident happened about twenty minutes ago. I was stopped at a red light at SE 5th Avenue and Alder Street. Another car hit the back of my car. The back bumper is crushed, and the rear wheel is rubbing, so I can't drive it. Police did not come.

AGENTThank you, that’s very clear and helpful. I’ll get a claim started, but first I need a couple more details: 1) Today’s date and the city/state you’re in right now (where SE 5th & Alder is). 2) The other driver’s information, as much as you have: - Their full name. - Their insurance company (if you saw their card). - Their license plate number. Also, since you mentioned the rear wheel is rubbing and you can’t drive it, we should arrange a tow once I finish opening the claim. Please have a callback phone number and the exact location of the vehicle (street address or nearest business) ready so I can set that up.

CUSTOMERToday's date is June 7. I'm in Portland, Oregon. At SE 5th Avenue and Alder Street. The other driver is Kevin Lund. He's insured with Pacific Shore. His license plate is 7KX like X-ray, R214. My callback number is 91125610164. The car is at SE 5th Avenue and Alder Street. Right at the intersection. I'm stopped near the curb, close to the corner.

AGENTI’ve got everything I need to get this started, and I’ve opened your claim and arranged a tow. Here’s what we have on file: - Your policy number: NG4471902. - Other driver’s license plate: 7KXR214. If either of those is not right, tell me and I’ll correct it. I’ve opened claim number NGM-904417 for this loss. Your assigned adjuster is Priya Shah; you’ll hear from her within one business day. About the tow: - I’ve dispatched Eastside Towing. - They’re headed to SE 5th Avenue and Alder Street in Portland, by the curb near the corner. - Estimated arrival is about 45 minutes. - They’re planning to take the vehicle to a Northgate partner repair shop at 9th and Morrison. A few quick safety

CUSTOMEROkay.

CUSTOMERRight. I wanted to ask about the deductible. How much do I have to pay? And since he hit me, I shouldn't have to pay that. Right? Also, will I get a rental car? And is my premium going to go up?

AGENTHere’s what your policy shows for this kind of claim: 1) Your deductible - Your collision deductible is $500. - That means if your car is repaired under your policy, the first $500 of covered repair costs is your responsibility; the rest is paid according to the policy. Because you were rear‑ended, your adjuster will also pursue the other driver’s insurance (Pacific Shore). If Pacific Shore accepts full liability and pays for the damage directly, you typically would not pay your collision deductible. If your policy pays first and then we recover from Pacific Shore, your deductible may be reimbursed later. The adjuster will walk you through which route makes the most sense once they review the facts and the other driver’s coverage. 2) Rental car coverage - You have rental reimbursement coverage: up to $40 per day, for up to 30 days, starting from the day the claim is opened, while your car is not drivable or is in covered repairs. - The adjuster or the shop can help set up a rental through a partner company, or you can rent on your own within those limits and submit receipts. 3) Will your premium go up? - I can’t see or predict premium changes or renewal pricing from here. - In general, rear‑end collisions where you’re not at fault are less likely to cause a surcharge, but rating decisions depend on state rules and our underwriting review. Your adjuster can explain how this specific claim is being classified (at‑fault vs. not‑at‑fault) and how that may affect you. Would you like me to go over what happens next with your claim and repairs, or do you have other questions about coverage I can look up?

CUSTOMERNo. That covers what I needed. I've got the claim number, and the tow is on its way. Thanks for your help. Goodbye.

AGENTYou’re welcome. I’m glad you’re safe. Just to recap the key details before you go: - Policy

AGENTnumber: NG4471902. - Claim number: NGM-904417. - Other driver’s plate: 7KXR214. The tow truck should be there in about 45 minutes. If anything changes or you think of more questions later, call Northgate Mutual and give them that claim number. Take care and goodbye.

How these numbers are measured →