How We Used Data Science to Help You Predict Your Monthly Call Usage

By Natasha Hughes — 2026-02-09T00:00:00.000Z

You Shouldn't Have to Guess How Many Minutes You Need

One of the first questions we hear from prospective customers is: "How many minutes will my team actually use?" It's a fair question. Nobody wants to overpay for minutes they won't use - or get caught off guard by overages.

So we did what any data-driven company would do: we analyzed our real-world call data to find out what actually drives call length, and we turned those findings into a calculator you can use right now on our pricing page.

Here's what we learned.

What We Studied

We examined over a hundred calls placed over a four-month period by a construction company using Updaytr in the field. Their crews called in daily to report on active job sites, and the AI agent captured project updates and delivered organized reports to management.

We looked at everything - call duration, number of projects discussed, speaking pace, time of day, and more - then tested seven different predictive models to find the most accurate way to estimate monthly usage.

The Biggest Surprise: It's Not About How Many Projects You Have

Our initial assumption was that the total number of active projects assigned to a caller would be the best predictor of how long their calls would take. That turned out to be wrong.

The strongest predictor, by far, was the number of projects actually discussed on each call. This makes intuitive sense once you think about it: a crew member with ten assigned projects might only have updates on three of them on any given day. It's those three that drive the call length - not the seven with nothing new to report.

Each project discussed on a call adds roughly 1.3 minutes. So a caller reporting on two projects will typically be on the phone for about four minutes, while someone covering five projects might talk for closer to nine.

Speaking pace plays a smaller role too. Faster talkers tend to have slightly shorter calls, though the effect is modest compared to the number of projects covered.

Most Calls Are Short

The average call in our dataset was about four minutes, and most calls landed in the one-to-two-minute range. Longer calls (ten minutes or more) happened occasionally, but those were tied to callers covering a large number of projects in a single session - perfectly normal for someone managing a heavy workload.

We also noticed that most calls happen in the late afternoon, peaking around 4 PM. This lines up with what you'd expect from field crews wrapping up their day and calling in with updates.

How to Estimate Your Monthly Usage

Based on our analysis, we developed a simple formula:

Monthly Minutes = Daily Minutes per Caller × Number of Callers × Work Days per Week × 4.33

Where daily minutes depend primarily on how many projects each caller typically discusses per call.

Rather than asking you to do that math yourself, we built an interactive calculator into our pricing page. Just enter a few details about your team - number of callers, projects per person, and how many days a week they'll call in, and you'll get an estimate of your monthly minute usage.

What This Means for Your Budget

Our current plan includes 400 minutes per month, and our first customer used roughly 55% of their allotment. For many small-to-midsize teams, 400 minutes provides comfortable headroom. The calculator helps you see exactly where you'll land so there are no surprises.

We're Just Getting Started

This analysis was based on a single customer over four months. As we onboard more companies across different industries, we'll continue refining our models and sharing what we learn. Our goal is simple: give you the tools to make informed decisions about whether Updaytr is right for your team.

Ready to see how many minutes your team would need? Try the calculator →