We count minutes towards your plan any time you, a team member, or your respondents record or upload a video or audio file.
The good news is that video play isn't counted towards your usage. This means that if your videoask goes viral and racks up millions of views, these views won't count towards your minutes. 🎉 It's only the initial transcoding process (compressing and saving) of the video(s) that you include in the videoask that are counted towards your allowance, as well as any audio or video responses and replies that you and your respondents submit.
For example, let's say you create a videoask with a one-minute video and an open-ended answer type step allowing respondents to get back to you via video, audio, or text. You share the videoask with some of your customers and receive three responses back, each with a one-minute video or audio reply. In total, you'll have used four minutes of your processing time from this conversation.
Your processing minutes will reset each month or year according to your plan type, on the date your subscription began.
For example, if you signed up on December 12 for a monthly plan, your processing minutes will reset on January 12.
Note: Processing minutes are counted by the second. We convert the total count of seconds into minutes (rounded down to the nearest full minute) when displaying your usage in your Plan & Billing area.
Check out our pricing page for more information on how many minutes are included in each plan.
FAQ
What happens if I go over my minutes?
If you exceed your available processing minutes, respondents can still submit video/audio responses to your videoasks. However, you won't be able to view these submissions until you either upgrade your plan to get more minutes or wait for the start of the next billing cycle when your minutes reset.
Each billing cycle, your processing counter will reset based on the date you signed up or subscribed. It's important to note that any unused minutes will not carry over to the next cycle.
If you exceed your allotted minutes during a billing cycle, these overages are not billed as an extra charge. Instead, these overages are deducted from your available minutes in the next billing cycle. This means if you exceed your limit, the extra minutes used will reduce the number of minutes available to you in the following billing cycle.
You can upgrade your plan at any time.
Does storing or duplicating a videoask use up my minutes?
No. We count minutes every time we have to transcode (i.e., compress and save) a video or audio file because that's where we pay the most costs on our end. This means that once the video file has been recorded or uploaded to your VideoAsk account, you can access it from your media library and use it however many times you like.
If I set up steps using the AI Chatbot answer type, do respondents' answers count towards my minutes?
Yes. Respondents' answers to the AI Chatbot will be transcribed and are counted towards your minutes' usage.
What happens if my respondents answer with text, or if I set up a multiple-choice step?
No processing minutes will be used for text, multiple-choice answers, or any other closed-ended answer types. Only video and audio count toward your processing minutes.
Does the live call option count toward my processing minutes?
No. Because we don't save recordings of live calls, no video is transcoded, and therefore the time spent on a live call will not affect your processing minutes' allowance. Also, there's no time limit on our live calls, so no risk of being cut off mid-sentence.
💡Tip: If you want to check how many minutes you've used or change your plan, check out how to manage your plan.