Plumbing, HVAC, electrical, cleaning, landscaping and snow removal.
AI call answering and job intake for home-service trades
Plumbing, HVAC, electrical, cleaning, landscaping and snow removal businesses receive their highest-value calls while crews are on site. ReadyOffice answers in your business name, qualifies each request and delivers it to your team ready for scheduling, quoting and invoicing.
Industry challenges
Common challenges in the trades
Field work and phone coverage compete for the same people. These gaps cost trades businesses jobs and cash flow.
- Missed urgent calls
Simultaneous calls during dispatch hours mean urgent requests, such as no-heat or leak calls, go to the next provider.
- Incomplete messages
Voicemails left during site work often lack an address or a usable callback number.
- Delayed quotes
Quotes wait until the end of the day because they require time at a desk.
- Seasonal call surges
Weather events bring a surge of calls from contract customers that the office cannot absorb.
How ReadyOffice addresses them
The AI Receptionist captures and qualifies each call, Sales Follow-up prepares the quote for your review, and Billing & Collections issues the invoice and follows up payment. Each feature shows its availability.
AI Receptionist
- AI ReceptionistIncludedAnswers every call, identifies itself as an AI, takes messages and answers questions from your business profile.
- Missed-call follow-upIncludedWhen a call is missed, the caller receives a text from your business number.
- Urgent call escalationIncludedDissatisfied callers, unanswered questions and high-value requests are escalated by message or transfer, with a text alert.
- Call summariesIncludedA short summary and transcript of every call the assistant takes.
- Automated call-backs to missed callersOn our roadmapThe assistant calls back a missed caller, where they've agreed to it.
Sales Follow-up
- Quote from a callIncludedA draft quote from what the caller asked for, ready for you to check and send.
- Links sent by text during callsIncludedDuring a call, the assistant texts the caller your booking, quote or payment link.
Marketing
- Review requestsIncludedAsk customers for an honest Google review by text or email after a job, when you choose.
Billing & Collections
- InvoicesIncludedInvoices drafted from accepted quotes, with PDFs sent by email.
- Online paymentsIncludedCustomers pay an invoice by card or bank debit from a link.
Daily Reporting
- Morning summaryIncludedMissed calls, unpaid invoices and what's waiting for you, by text or email.
Sample call
A full transcript of how the AI Receptionist handles a typical call. Every call opens by identifying the AI assistant.
Ironleaf Heating and Plumbing and the caller are fictional and used for illustration.
- AI assistant
You've reached an AI assistant for Ironleaf Heating and Plumbing. This call may be recorded to make sure we get your details right. Say 'agent' to reach a person.
- AI assistant
What can I help you with this morning?
- Caller
Our furnace stopped overnight. It's making a clicking sound and won't light. We have a baby at home, so I'd like someone today if possible.
- AI assistant
Understood. I will mark this as urgent for the technician. May I have your name and the service address?
- Caller
Priya Raman, 18 Larch Crescent.
- AI assistant
Thank you, Priya. Do you know the make of the furnace, or approximately how old it is? This helps the technician bring the right parts.
- Caller
It's a gas furnace, maybe twelve years old.
- AI assistant
Thank you. I am sending this to the technician now as an urgent no-heat call. They will call you back at this number shortly to confirm a time today. In the meantime, please do not attempt to relight the furnace.
Summary sent to the business
Urgent no-heat call: Priya Raman, 18 Larch Crescent. Furnace clicking, won't light, about 12 years old. Baby at home, wants service today. Call back to book.
Recommended plan
Standard$149 a month
Most trades businesses start on Standard: it adds the AI receptionist, keeps your existing number, and brings quotes, invoices with online payment and review requests after each job. A solo operator who mainly needs missed calls texted back can start on Starter and move up later.
Compare all plans and pricesRegulatory considerations
Regulatory points relevant to this sector, each sourced from an official government page. This is general information, not legal or tax advice; requirements vary by province.
Contractor licensing differs by province
In Quebec, anyone who carries out construction work for others, or has it done, must hold a licence from the Régie du bâtiment du Québec unless the law exempts them, and the RBQ counts bidding, soliciting customers and advertising as acting as a contractor. This is Quebec's rule; check your own province's before you advertise a new service. [1]
Texting customers after a job
A text that promotes your business, such as a review request or a seasonal tune-up offer, is a commercial electronic message under Canada's anti-spam legislation. You need the customer's consent, your business name in the message, and a working way to opt out: when someone replies STOP, it has to be respected. [2]
GST/HST on your invoices
Once your taxable sales pass $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four calendar quarters in a row, you're no longer a small supplier and must register for the GST/HST and charge it. Billing & Collections applies the correct tax for each customer's province. [3]
Common questions
Can it tell an emergency from a routine booking?
You decide what counts as urgent, for example no heat, no water or a leak. Those calls are flagged and texted to you straight away, or transferred to you with a few words about the caller first. Everything else is taken as a message for your callback.
Will it quote prices to my customers?
No. It drafts a quote from what the caller asked for, using only prices you've entered, and the draft waits for you to check and send. It never guesses a price on the phone.
I already use job management software. Do I need to switch?
No. The AI Receptionist, call summaries and missed-call follow-up work alongside your existing job management software.
Sources
- Work requiring a licence, Régie du bâtiment du Québec. checked
- Texting for good client relations (Canada's anti-spam legislation), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. checked
- When to register for and start charging the GST/HST, Canada Revenue Agency. checked
Last reviewed . Official sources only. If any information has changed, please contact us and we will update it.
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