Call Rail Reporting Different Metrics than GBP Analytics after Call Tracking Implementation

[WillowRose]

Call Rail and GBP Analytics data are showing vastly different phone calls after updating the primary phone number with a Call Rail tracking number - and calls are down overall by 50% MoM. Call Rail reports 10 calls more than GBP Analytics for February, curious if other people who have implemented call tracking on GBP profiles have experienced something similar. Could the GBP data be tracking the secondary, non-Callrail phone number and Callrail tracks the other?

 

[Chris Barnard]

In GBP, calls = The number of times users click on the call button on your Business Profile. Callrail + UTMs is the way to go, trust that.

GBP calls data is from click-to-call actions on mobile devices only, and doesn't factor in the secondary numbers. So calls made from desktop or manually dialing the number are missing and not tracked too.
But wait, that's not all...The GBP calls data also doesn’t correctly account for dropped calls, so even though someone hangs up before you answer - or clicks the button by mistake - that call/click is still counted in your total call volume in GBP.

Could the call volume drop be attributed to something else - rankings, suspension, reporting glitch...etc.?

 

[WillowRose]

In GBP, calls = The number of times users click on the call button on your Business Profile. Callrail + UTMs is the way to go, trust that.

GBP calls data is from click-to-call actions on mobile devices only, and doesn't factor in the secondary numbers. So calls made from desktop or manually dialing the number are missing and not tracked too.
But wait, that's not all...The GBP calls data also doesn’t correctly account for dropped calls, so even though someone hangs up before you answer - or clicks the button by mistake - that call/click is still counted in your total call volume in GBP.

Could the call volume drop be attributed to something else - rankings, suspension, reporting glitch...etc.?

Thank you for this insight! I believe there must be a reporting glitch between the primary phone number that we added and the Google phone number that is displaying. I know the profiles are well-optimized, not suspended, but with the SERP's recent fluctuations it may also be a ranking factor - I plan to dive deeper into this tomorrow. I appreciate your response!