User guide · 5
What a call costs, and where you see it.
Only calls use something that runs out: call minutes. Using the phone's screen, the API, apps, camera and microphone is not counted. Nothing is charged to a card today, because online payment is not switched on.
What counts
Connected time, per started minute.
- Counted: the time a call is
connected, that is, your guest and the persona are in the call. It is rounded up to whole minutes: a call of 25 seconds uses 1 minute, a call of 61 seconds uses 2. - Not counted: waiting for the guest (
ringing), a call nobody joined, a start that was refused, and everything you do with the phone outside calls. - At zero: a running call is cut, and a new one is refused until minutes are added. The phone keeps working.
A real example. The balance before a call:
curl -s -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" $ERIUS_API/minutes{
"tenant": "ca9a4ca3f",
"balance_minutes": 9,
"usable_minutes": 9,
"period_end": "2026-10-26T20:09:39Z",
"unlimited": false,
"expired": false
}After a call that was connected for about half a minute:
curl -s -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" $ERIUS_API/minutes{
"tenant": "ca9a4ca3f",
"balance_minutes": 8,
"usable_minutes": 8,
"period_end": "2026-10-26T20:09:39Z",
"unlimited": false,
"expired": false
}And a call that nobody joined. It was started, stayed ringing for 20 seconds and was hung up. The balance did not change:
sleep 3; curl -s -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" $ERIUS_API/minutes{
"tenant": "ca9a4ca3f",
"balance_minutes": 8,
"usable_minutes": 8,
"period_end": "2026-10-26T20:09:39Z",
"unlimited": false,
"expired": false
}What a new account has
Ten minutes, for fourteen days.
That is today's setting for new accounts. It may change; your own numbers are always the ones /minutes and the dashboard show.
balance_minutesstarts at 10.period_endis 14 days after the phone was created. Minutes that are not used by then expire:expiredbecomestrueandusable_minutesbecomes 0.- The welcome email names the end date of the free trial of the phone itself. No card is asked for, and nothing is charged when it ends.
Where the balance is shown
Three places, one number.
- Dashboard, Home and Calls: "Call minutes", the minutes left and the date they can be used until.
- Dashboard, Plan & billing: the same card, plus what your account includes. While payment is off, the page says "You are not being charged".
- API:
GET /minutes, as above. The fields are explained on the Calls API page.
When the minutes are gone
Calls stop, the phone does not.
The balance at zero:
curl -s -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" $ERIUS_API/minutes{
"tenant": "ca9a4ca3f",
"balance_minutes": 0,
"usable_minutes": 0,
"period_end": "2026-10-26T20:09:39Z",
"unlimited": false,
"expired": false
}A call start is refused with HTTP 402:
curl -s -w "\nHTTP %{http_code}\n" -X POST -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"app":"web"}' $ERIUS_API/device/$ERIUS_DEVICE/calls{
"ok": false,
"error": "no_minutes",
"message": "no call minutes left on this account"
}
HTTP 402Everything else still answers as before, for example a screenshot. The dashboard says "Calls can't start until minutes are added. Everything else on your phone keeps working."
How to ask for more
Open a ticket. We add the minutes.
There is no buy button, on purpose: online payment is not switched on, and we do not send payment links.
In the dashboard: Plan & billing, then Ask for more minutes. It opens a support ticket with the subject filled in. Say how many minutes you need and what for. We answer in the ticket, and the new balance shows up in the dashboard by itself.
Your agent can open the same ticket:
curl -s -X POST -H "X-API-Key: $ERIUS_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"subject":"More call minutes","message":"Please add 60 call minutes to my account."}' \
$ERIUS_API/support/tickets{
"ok": true,
"ticket": {
"id": "ct_73b16cf31403",
"subject": "More call minutes",
"device": null,
"status": "open",
"created": "2026-10-12T20:22:35.974Z",
"updated": "2026-10-12T20:22:35.974Z",
"messages": [
{
"author": "customer",
"body": "Please add 60 call minutes to my account.",
"created": "2026-10-12T20:22:35.974Z"
}
]
}
}Read the answer later with GET /support/tickets. Our reply appears in messages with the author support.
About prices. The pricing page lists preview prices for plans. They are not charged yet and may change before payment is switched on. We will not charge you for anything you have not agreed to in advance.
Billing questions
Ask in the same place.
For an invoice, a refund or a question about your plan, use Billing question on the Plan & billing page. It opens a ticket as well. If you cannot sign in, write to info@eriusphone.com from the address on your account.
Stuck on something?
Open a ticket from your dashboard and we answer there. No key yet? Write to info@eriusphone.com.
Open a support ticket