The phone rings while you are under a sink
Most calls to a plumbing shop come when your hands are wet. Reception answers your business number, puts a flooded basement through to the on-call phone, books the water heater estimate and takes a message for the rest. It tells every caller it is an automated assistant.
From $149 a month. One number, answered at any hour. Stop any month.
The calls you get
Water coming through the ceiling at 2 am
You write an emergency route with words like 'burst' and 'flooding'. Routes work whether you are open or not, so the line says the office is closed, hears 'burst', and rings the on-call phone. If nobody picks up, it says 'I could not reach anyone there.' and takes a message.
A price for a new water heater
It has no price list of its own. If you wrote an answer about water heaters, it reads that out, and if the caller wants someone to look, it books an estimate visit from your free times.
A landlord booking a repair for a tenant
It books the visit like any other. It does not ask for the unit and the tenant's number one by one. The landlord says them in their own words and they are in the call record.
"Do you have a trip fee?"
It reads the answer you wrote, word for word. It does not make up a number, and it does not haggle.
The supply house about a back order
A route with 'supply house' and 'back order' rings the shop phone, so the counter guy reaches whoever is ordering parts and not a booking menu.
"Where is my plumber? He was due at ten."
The line cannot see your trucks. A route with 'running late' or 'still waiting' rings whoever keeps the schedule. If they are on another call, the customer leaves a message.
What you would write down
What a two-truck shop might type into the console on day one. The words are what callers actually say, and the line checks them before any model gets a turn.
Routes: the words that reach a phone or an answer
| Route | When the caller says | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency |
| Rings the on-call phone, open or closed |
| Supply house |
| Rings the shop phone |
| Running late |
| Rings the office phone |
| Gas |
| Reads your answer: leave the house, then call 911 or the gas company |
| Service area |
| Reads your answer |
Answers in your own words
- Do you have a trip fee?
- Yes. There is a trip fee on every visit, and we take it off the bill if you go ahead with the repair. The office can tell you the amount.
- Do you do water heaters?
- Yes. We repair and replace tank and tankless water heaters. A replacement starts with an estimate visit at your home.
- Are you licensed and insured?
- Yes. Our license number is on our website and on every invoice, and we carry liability insurance.
- Do you work weekends?
- Emergencies, yes, through the plumber on call. Regular jobs are booked Monday to Friday.
Services it can book
- Water heater estimate60 min
- Drain cleaning90 min
- Fixture repair60 min
Nights and weekends
At night the line opens with your greeting, says the office is closed, and asks how it can help. A caller who says 'burst' or 'flooding' is rung through to whoever carries the on-call phone. When the rota changes, change the number on the route.
A dripping tap at 11 pm does not need to wake anyone. The caller books a slot in your normal hours or leaves a message, and the summary is waiting when you start the van.
What to book by phone, and what not
Book by phone: estimates, drain cleaning, fixture repairs, anything that can wait a day or two. List each service with how long it takes. The line offers three free times that finish before you close, no sooner than 45 minutes from now and up to 14 days ahead.
Do not book a burst pipe. Emergencies belong on a transfer route, so a person hears them now and not on Thursday. And a booked slot is a time in your diary, not a truck on its way: the line does not pick a plumber or send anyone.
Price questions, and the words 'charge me'
Almost every plumbing call gets to price. The line only says what you wrote, so write the answers you give a hundred times a week: the trip fee, how estimates work, whether you price by the job or by the hour.
One trap. Before anything else, the line checks the caller's words for money talk. 'What will you charge me' contains 'charge me', so it says 'That one needs a person, not me. I will not agree anything about money on their behalf.' and takes a message. 'Do you have a trip fee' reaches your answer.
Landlords, tenants and other people's jobs
Rental work means the person calling is often not the person with the leak. A landlord can book for a tenant. A tenant who calls to ask about the landlord's booking hears 'I cannot tell you anything about who works here or about somebody else's booking.' and can leave a message for you.
An example call
An example call at 1:40 on a Saturday morning. Northside Plumbing and the caller are made up.
- AssistantYou have reached Northside Plumbing. You are speaking with an automated assistant. Thanks for calling. The office is closed right now. How can I help you today?
- CallerHi, do you work weekends?
- AssistantEmergencies, yes, through the plumber on call. Regular jobs are booked Monday to Friday.
- CallerIt's an emergency. A pipe burst under the kitchen sink and there's water everywhere.
- AssistantOne moment, I am putting you through.
- CallerOkay, thank you.
Where it stops
- It does not dispatch. A booking is a time in the console diary, and you decide who goes.
- It does not quote a job. It reads what you wrote and can book an estimate visit.
- It is not an emergency service. A gas smell is a call to 911 or the gas company, and your answer for 'gas smell' should tell callers that.
- It does not ask for the address as its own question. Callers say it in the message, in their own words.
Questions owners ask
- Can an AI receptionist book plumbing jobs?
- Yes, for work that can wait. You list your services and how long each takes, it offers three free times from your hours, and the caller gets a text with the time. Emergencies should go to a transfer route instead.
- What happens to a burst pipe call at night?
- If the caller's words match your emergency route, it rings the on-call phone at any hour. If nobody picks up, it says it could not reach anyone and takes a message.
- Will customers know they are talking to a machine?
- Yes. Right after your greeting it says 'You are speaking with an automated assistant.' You cannot remove that sentence.
- Can I keep my shop's phone number?
- Yes. You add the number customers already dial and forward it to the line. Until you do, no call is taken.
- Does it send a plumber out?
- No. It does not dispatch or assign jobs. It books a time in the diary, rings a phone on a transfer route, or takes a message.
- How is this different from an answering service?
- It is software, not a room of people, and it says so on every call. It only reads answers you wrote, books from your real free times, and keeps every call as text with a short summary.
Tonight's calls, answered.
From $149 a month.
Set up your line