Limited Availability
Sam is currently available to an initial group of customers — contact your Customer Success representative to get access.
Once a check-in is live, Sam runs on its own: it identifies the right workers each day, reaches out at the milestone you configured, and holds a real conversation with each worker who joins.
The check-in schedule
Sam runs a sequence of check-ins across a worker's first 90 days, plus an exit interview. Each check-in targets a specific milestone and asks milestone-appropriate questions.
Check-in | When it runs | Purpose |
Pre-First Day | A few days before the start date | Confirm day-one logistics, gauge excitement, catch no-show risk |
Post Day 1 | End of the first day | Quick landing check: logistics, welcome, first impressions |
Post Day 7 | End of the first full week | Training quality, clarity of expectations, team integration |
Post Day 30 | Around the 30-day mark | Settling-in and early retention signals |
Post Day 60 | Around the 60-day mark | Role confidence, manager relationship, growth outlook |
Post Day 90 | Around the 90-day mark | Full experience review, eNPS signal, referral intent |
Exit Interview | Around the worker's final day | Understand why the worker left and capture honest tenure feedback |
Each call runs a few minutes, with shorter early check-ins (roughly 3–5 minutes at Day 1) and longer reviews later (roughly 8–10 minutes at Day 90). During every call, Sam opens with a warm, milestone-appropriate greeting, asks open-ended questions and listens, probes on anything that sounds uncertain or unresolved, answers basic questions it can handle, flags anything that needs a human, and closes on a supportive note.
How Sam reaches workers
At each touchpoint, the daily automation identifies the workers who match that milestone's segment and notifies each of them by email and SMS.
The email comes from the account's sender (for example, [email protected]) and includes a button to start the call, plus a copy-paste login link as a fallback.
The SMS carries the same short link (a
u.fountain.comaddress) with a brief prompt to start the check-in.
Both links open the worker's Fountain worker portal and log the worker in, landing them directly on Sam. If a worker hasn't logged in for a while, they may need to log in again first.
Notifications Respect Business Hours
Workers are notified only during business hours (9am–5pm), based on the account's Preferred office timezone (Settings → Company & EINs).
The browser call experience
When a worker opens the link, they land on the Agent Call screen in their worker portal and can start the call right in their browser, with no phone number needed and nothing to download.
The start screen shows Sam's avatar and the message "Sam is waiting for your call." with the guidance "For the best experience, find a quiet place where you can talk freely. Do not start if you are driving or busy," and a disclaimer: "Sam is an AI assistant that records and transcribes the call to assist your hiring team, but does not make any decisions." A green Start now button (with a microphone icon) begins the call.
Once the worker taps Start now:
The browser prompts them to enable their microphone, and Sam shows Connecting… ("This can take a few seconds").
During the call, the screen shows a Recording… indicator with a running timer, a live threaded transcript with labeled Sam and You bubbles, and Mute and End controls at the bottom.
When the call ends, a confirmation appears ("Thank you! Thanks for chatting. You can close this window now.") with a Show transcript button. Tapping it reveals the full call transcript, with a Hide transcript option.
Workers can also choose to be called on their phone instead. Browser calls carry no telephony cost, include closed captions, and work anywhere in the world without depending on a phone number.
When a call can't connect
If a worker denies microphone permission or the browser call drops, the landing page keeps them from getting stuck:
A Retry call button appears if the call fails to connect.
A Call me instead option lets the worker finish the check-in by phone.
What Sam does after the call
Once a call is complete, Sam automatically extracts structured data from the conversation: a satisfaction score, a milestone experience score, any follow-up actions, and a retention risk flag. This output usually appears 15–60 seconds after the call ends. For where to find and interpret all of this, see Analyze Sam's Results.
Credits and usage
A credit is consumed only when a call is completed, meaning a real conversation took place, whether in the browser or over the phone.
The following do not consume a credit: a voicemail left, a no-answer, a scheduled callback, a worker who has left the role (no full conversation), or an execution that failed before the call was placed.
To estimate how many credits you'll need, multiply your monthly new hires by the number of touchpoints you've enabled by your expected answer rate. For example, 500 hires × 6 touchpoints × a 60% answer rate ≈ 1,800 billed calls per month. Add exit interview completions based on your attrition rate. Voicemails and no-answers don't count.
Usage and billing are managed on the Credits page (Settings → Credits), where you can track usage across products, manage billing information, buy packages, and get invoices.
In-Flight Calls Are Protected
If you run low on credits, calls already in progress are not affected. For credit top-ups or billing questions, use the Credits page or contact your Fountain account team.
Troubleshooting and FAQs
Sam isn't sending notifications or calling my workers.
Sam isn't sending notifications or calling my workers.
Check that the survey is Active (on the Surveys tab; if it shows Paused, reactivate it from the card's ⋮ menu), that the trigger conditions are being met, and that the worker's phone number is in valid E.164 format for the phone fallback path.
The call won't start in the browser.
The call won't start in the browser.
This is most often a denied microphone permission. The landing page automatically shows a Call me instead option so the worker can finish by phone.
The browser call dropped or failed to connect.
The browser call dropped or failed to connect.
The landing page shows a Retry call button along with the phone fallback, so the worker isn't stuck.
Did the worker get an unexpected call?
Did the worker get an unexpected call?
Sam only starts a call when the worker taps the link in their notification. An unexpected call means the link was tapped.
Does Sam record calls?
Does Sam record calls?
Yes, both browser-based and phone calls are recorded.