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Step 7 · Cost and review is the last step of the setup. Here you choose how fast and in which quality the study runs, review what it is expected to cost, authorize a spend cap, and finish setup so the study becomes Ready to launch. A panel pinned on the right keeps the Estimated cost and Authorization visible while you scroll.

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Voice Pipeline

The voice pipeline decides how the AI listens and speaks.
Voice pipeline options
Each card shows the price per interview minute, the expected total, the cost per complete, and for Live, how many times the Standard cost it is. Live only appears when it is available for your study.

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Concurrency and Pacing

Capacity tier and records in progress

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Capacity Tier

The capacity tier is the calling capacity booked for this study. Each card shows how many calls run at once, the price per minute and the expected time to finish. Higher tiers place more calls at the same time and price the AI part of each call higher. Telephony costs the same on every tier.

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Maximum Records in Progress

The number of records held open at once (for example, waiting for a retry or callback). It is not a cap on simultaneous live calls.
  • Range: 50–10,000. Default: 500.

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Pacing

Pacing is automatic. Dialing is throttled in real time from the live answer and connect rates, so there is nothing to configure.

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Estimated Cost

Estimated cost card
The estimate is all-in: unanswered calls, refusals, break-offs, answering machines and number lookups are included. The rate per interview minute rises with interview length, because the AI re-reads the whole conversation on every turn.
Some records cannot be dialled. If the sample contains numbers in destinations that no carrier serves, the estimate lists them and launch is refused until you remove those records from the sample in Step 4.
A yellow notice such as “This estimate goes beyond what we have measured” means part of the estimate is extrapolated — for example, calls to a country, a language or an interview length that has not been measured yet. The real cost may differ.
For how holds, refunds and credits work, see Costs, Credits and Limits.

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Your Expected Response Rates

By default the estimate uses platform figures. If you know your own response rates for this population, turn on Use my own expected response rates and enter:
Your expected response rates
All six figures are required once the switch is on. The calculation combines all of them, so a partial set cannot be worked out.
The page then shows the dials, contacts, refusals and partials expected per complete.

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Review

The Review card summarizes everything you configured, one tile per step: Study, Questionnaire, AI interview, Sample, Screening and targets, and Calling rules. Each tile links back to its step for editing.
Review of the setup
The badge at the top confirms whether the questionnaire snapshot matches the bound version. Call outcomes are coded to the AAPOR standard shown at the bottom of the card.

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Authorization

Estimated cost summary and authorization

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Authorized Spend Cap

The Authorized spend cap (USD) is one cap for the whole study: the main launch and every sub-sample spend from it. Calling stops once this amount is reached.
  • The minimum is $1.
  • Once set, it cannot be cleared, and it can no longer change after the first dial.
  • The page recommends an amount: the lowest cap that never stops the study early, and the cap that runs it at full speed. Select Use $… to apply it.
  • If the cap is below the high estimate, launch is refused until the cap covers it.
The cap is a limit, not a charge — you pay only for the calls that run.

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Approvals

Tick both boxes to finish setup:
  • I approve this cost estimate — the high figure is reserved from your AI credits when the study launches, and whatever is not spent comes back. The estimate is a projection, not a quote.
  • I understand this is a self-serve study — VoxDash does not review your questionnaire, sample or calling rules. You are responsible for following the rules that apply where you dial.
After approval, the panel shows who approved the cost and when.

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Finish Setup

Finish setup
When every step is complete, the card shows Ready to finish. If anything is missing, it shows Not ready yet and lists the steps to resolve.
1

Select Finish

Select Finish in the footer.
2

The study becomes Ready to launch

The study moves from Draft to Ready to launch. Any sub-sample plans are frozen into prepared runs.
3

Launch

The study page opens with the Launch dialog. See Launch and Readiness.
If you edit an earlier step after reviewing the cost, use Save and update estimate to re-price the study, then review the updated estimate before finishing.