What is Per-Second Billing?
Per-second billing charges for the exact seconds a call or AI session lasts, instead of rounding each call up to the next minute. It matters most for short calls, where minute rounding can inflate bills.
Also known as: per-second pricing, usage-based billing, no minute rounding
How it works
With minute-rounded billing, a 25-second call is charged as a full minute. With per-second billing it is charged as 25 seconds. The difference depends on call length: the shorter and more numerous your calls, the bigger the gap, which is why it matters for reminders, confirmations and unanswered-call attempts.
What to compare
Check which parts are per second. Platform usage, telephony and any speech or model charges can each be billed differently. Also check for minimum charges per call and whether failed or unanswered attempts bill. A low headline rate with minute rounding can cost more than a higher rate billed by the second.
Example
A campaign with many calls that end after voicemail detection in 8 to 15 seconds is billed for 8 to 15 seconds each under per-second billing. Under minute rounding, the same campaign pays for a full minute on every attempt.
Where this shows up at Vaami
Vaami bills AI usage per second of actual talk time, not rounded up to the minute, and offers bring-your-own-telephony to avoid telephony markup.
See it on a real call.
Hear how a Vaami voice agent handles this on a live conversation in your language and your use case.