diff --git a/great_ai/remote/call_remote_great_ai.py b/great_ai/remote/call_remote_great_ai.py
index 3bd1a97..93096b2 100644
--- a/great_ai/remote/call_remote_great_ai.py
+++ b/great_ai/remote/call_remote_great_ai.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ def call_remote_great_ai(
     base_uri: str,
     data: Mapping[str, Any],
     retry_count: int = 4,
+    timeout_in_seconds: Optional[int] = 300,
     model_class: Optional[Type[T]] = None,
 ) -> Trace[T]:
     try:
@@ -28,7 +29,11 @@ def call_remote_great_ai(
         pass
 
     future = call_remote_great_ai_async(
-        base_uri=base_uri, data=data, retry_count=retry_count, model_class=model_class
+        base_uri=base_uri,
+        data=data,
+        retry_count=retry_count,
+        timeout_in_seconds=timeout_in_seconds,
+        model_class=model_class,
     )
 
     return asyncio.run(future)
diff --git a/great_ai/remote/call_remote_great_ai_async.py b/great_ai/remote/call_remote_great_ai_async.py
index 94b7713..f357aef 100644
--- a/great_ai/remote/call_remote_great_ai_async.py
+++ b/great_ai/remote/call_remote_great_ai_async.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ async def call_remote_great_ai_async(
     base_uri: str,
     data: Mapping[str, Any],
     retry_count: int = 4,
-    timeout_in_seconds: int = 300,
+    timeout_in_seconds: Optional[int] = 300,
     model_class: Optional[Type[T]] = None,
 ) -> Trace[T]:
 
@@ -24,14 +24,18 @@ async def call_remote_great_ai_async(
         base_uri = f"{base_uri}/predict"
 
     transport = httpx.AsyncHTTPTransport(retries=retry_count)
-    async with httpx.AsyncClient(
-        transport=transport, timeout=timeout_in_seconds
-    ) as client:
-        response = await client.post(base_uri, json=data)
-        try:
-            response.raise_for_status()
-        except Exception:
-            raise RemoteCallError("Unexpected status code")
+
+    try:
+        async with httpx.AsyncClient(
+            transport=transport, timeout=timeout_in_seconds
+        ) as client:
+            response = await client.post(base_uri, json=data)
+            try:
+                response.raise_for_status()
+            except Exception:
+                raise RemoteCallError("Unexpected status code")
+    except Exception as e:
+        raise RemoteCallError from e
 
     try:
         trace = response.json()