Understanding audio and video minutes
SimChat measures voice and video usage in minutes:
- Text conversations are unlimited and don't use minutes
- Audio (voice) conversations use audio minutes
- Video conversations use video minutes
Audio and video minutes are tracked separately.
How minutes are used
Minutes are shared across your whole organisation from a single balance for each type. When a learner finishes an audio or video conversation, the time is rounded up to the nearest minute and deducted from your organisation's balance.
The Minutes page shows a card for Audio minutes and one for Video avatar minutes, each with your current Balance and how much has been Used.
Minutes in group video calls
Sending an AI avatar into a Teams, Google Meet or Zoom call uses video minutes in exactly the same way as an in-browser video conversation, however many people are in the call. Two details are worth knowing:
- A meeting session is capped at 30 minutes, so it can never consume more than that
- If the avatar is never admitted to the call, the session is discarded and uses no minutes at all
See Using an AI avatar in a Teams, Zoom or Google Meet call.
Where minutes come from
- Free trial - new organisations start with a one-off allowance of 30 audio and 20 video minutes, so you can try voice and video before committing
- Included minutes - the Starter and Team plans include a yearly minute allowance that you split between audio and video. This is added at the start of each billing period
- Top-ups - you can add more audio or video minutes at any time
Choosing your audio and video mix
On the Starter and Team plans you decide how much of your included allowance is audio and how much is video. Audio and video are traded at 2 audio minutes for 1 video minute. The Starter allowance, for example, can be used as up to 800 audio minutes, up to 400 video minutes, or any mix in between.
- When you upgrade - the Configure your plan page lets you set your mix with a slider before payment. It defaults to a 50/50 split, and the mix you choose is re-applied automatically each time your plan renews. The Minutes page tells you what to expect: "Your plan renews with X audio + Y video minutes"
- Part-way through - to rebalance the minutes you currently hold, use Convert to video minutes or Convert to audio minutes on the Minutes page. Drag the slider to choose how many to trade, then select Convert minutes
Converting is a one-off rebalance of your current balance. It does not change the mix you receive at renewal.
Buying more minutes (Starter and Team)
- Go to Minutes in the sidebar
- Find the Audio minutes or Video avatar minutes card
- Under Buy minutes, choose a pack: 100, 500 or 2,000 minutes
- Complete payment
The minutes are added to your balance straight away. Packs are one-off top-ups - they do not change your plan's yearly allowance or your renewal mix.
If you need to pay by invoice or purchase order, or want a larger package than the standard packs, each card has an email link to arrange it with us.
Enterprise minutes
Enterprise organisations are set up by the SimChat team rather than self-serve. Your access is granted by us, and minutes are added to your balance for you - typically as packages billed by invoice or purchase order.
To add more minutes, contact us or your account manager, or use the invoice link on the Minutes page.
When minutes run low
- When your balance is low, SimChat shows a warning so you can top up in good time
- When a balance reaches zero, learners cannot start new conversations in that mode until you add more minutes
To control how minutes are shared between learners, you can set per-user limits. See Setting per-user minute limits.
Updated on: 07/09/2026
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