After-hours answering service
After-Hours Answering Service for Trades and Service Companies
When you close for the night, an AI receptionist picks up instead of voicemail. It routes real emergencies to whoever is on call, books the rest into tomorrow’s calendar and texts you a summary of each call.
Most setups are quoted on a 15-minute call.
How it works
How after-hours answering works
STEP 01
Set your hours and emergency rules
On a 15-minute call we agree the hours it covers, what counts as an emergency for your company and who gets those calls.
STEP 02
Calls forward when you close
Your number stays the same. After hours, or when no one picks up, calls forward to the AI receptionist, which answers in your company’s name.
STEP 03
Wake up to a summary
Emergencies reach your on-call person during the night. Everything else is booked or noted, with a text summary for each call.
What it does, and what it doesn't
What it handles, and what it hands to you
It works from the rules you set. When a call falls outside them, it passes the call or the message to a person instead of guessing.
It handles
- Answers in your company’s name, with the greeting you approve
- Asks your intake questions: name, address, what’s wrong and how urgent it is
- Books into open slots on your calendar, for the job types you allow
- Answers the questions you give it answers to: hours, service area, what you do and don’t do
- Takes a message when the caller doesn’t want to book
- Texts you a summary when the call ends
It hands to you
- Emergencies, by your rules: it transfers the call or texts you straight away
- Callers who ask for a person
- Upset or angry callers
- Prices you’d rather quote yourself
- Anything it isn’t sure about: it takes a message instead of guessing
Three times it picks up
Emergencies for trades
No heat, burst pipes, power out: calls that meet your emergency rules go straight to your on-call tech, with the caller’s details sent by text.
Overflow when the office is busy
When your team is on other calls or out on jobs, it takes the call instead of letting it ring out.
Weekends and holidays
You set the hours it covers, including weekends and public holidays, and change them whenever your schedule changes.
For trades first
Set up most carefully for HVAC, plumbing and electrical companies.
See the AI receptionist →Done for you
What we do for you
You don't get a login and a setup guide. We do the setup for your trade, on HighLevel, and keep tuning it with you.
We write the script
From your services, your service area and the way you talk to customers. You approve every line before it goes live.
We connect your calendar
Bookings land in your calendar, inside the hours and job types you allow.
A text summary after every call
Who called, what they need and what was booked, sent to your phone.
Emergency handoff
You decide what counts as an emergency. Those calls go to you or your on-call tech.
Monthly tuning
Each month we go through the calls with you, fix what it got wrong and add answers to new questions.
Start small
Start with nights and weekends only
Your daytime phones don’t change. The AI receptionist takes calls only after you close and at weekends, where the other option is voicemail.
Read the summaries for a few weeks, then decide whether it should also take overflow calls during the day.
- Your number stays the same; calls forward only after hours or when no one picks up
- Your team keeps answering as normal during the day
- You see every call it took in your text summaries
- You test it yourself before it answers a customer
Price
Most setups are quoted on a 15-minute call.
The quote depends on how many calls you get and how much of the phone you want it to take. You get the price and the terms in writing before you agree to anything.
Get your quote on a 15-minute call →Your numbers
What are after-hours calls worth to your company?
Three numbers from your own phone and your own jobs. Nothing is sent anywhere; the sum runs in your browser.
$ –
of work a month reaching voicemail, by your own figures
This is your arithmetic, not our forecast. It does not say how many of those callers an AI receptionist would book. Bring these numbers to the setup call and we'll look at your real call log together.
Questions
After-hours answering questions
What counts as an emergency?
Whatever you decide. We write the rules with you on the setup call, for example no heat in winter, water coming through a ceiling, or power out to the whole home. Calls that meet them go to your on-call person; the rest wait for the morning.
Who gets the emergency calls at night?
The person or the number you choose. It can transfer the call live, text the details, or both. You can change the on-call person whenever you need to.
Does it cover weekends and holidays?
Yes. You set the hours it covers, including weekends and public holidays.
How is this different from an after-hours answering service with people?
A human after-hours service takes messages from a general script and usually charges by the minute or by the call. This works from a script written for your company, books straight into your calendar and texts you each call.
Bring your current service’s rate to the setup call and we’ll put it next to your quote.
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
Most setups are quoted on a 15-minute call. The quote depends on how many calls you get, how long they run and how much of your phone you want it to handle.
Part of the running cost is usage: the voice AI and the phone line are billed by the minute of talk time, so a quiet month uses less. You get the price and the terms in writing before you agree to anything.
Can I keep my phone number?
Yes. You keep your number and forward calls only when you want to: after hours, when no one picks up, or when the line is busy. Your carrier’s call-forwarding settings do this, and we walk you through them.
Will callers hang up on a robot?
Some will. Others would rather tell someone what’s wrong than leave a voicemail. Anyone who asks for a person gets a message taken or a transfer, by your rules.
That’s one reason we suggest starting on after-hours and overflow calls, where the other option is voicemail.
What if it books the wrong job or the wrong time?
It books only into open slots on your calendar, for the job types and hours you allow. If it isn’t sure what the caller needs, it takes a message instead of booking.
Every booking shows up in your text summary, so you can see it straight away, and anything it gets wrong goes into the monthly tuning.
How long does setup take?
It depends on how many services and rules it needs to know. We agree a go-live date on the setup call, and you test it yourself before it answers a customer.
Is there a contract? What if I want to stop?
We show you the terms in writing on the setup call, before you agree to anything. Ask us anything about them there, including how stopping works.
Next step
Stop sending night calls to voicemail
Book a 15-minute setup call. We’ll agree your hours and emergency rules and quote a setup for your company.
AI Receptionist setup call
Book a 15-minute setup call
Pick a time that suits you. Tell us about your calls and your trade, and you leave with a quote and a plan for which calls it takes first.
Times show in your own time zone. You get a confirmation text and email after you book.
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