AI receptionist · plumbing
Plumbing calls arrive while you are under a sink. The receptionist answers from the information you approve, tries the person you choose, and leaves your team a job record instead of a missed-call notification.
From $49/month with 250 AI minutes and one US local number included. Additional AI time is $0.09 a minute on managed plans. See full pricing
A burst pipe, a sewer backup, no hot water on a winter morning. The caller wants to know whether you can come now and what it will cost to find out. The receptionist states your after-hours policy exactly as you set it and tries your on-call plumber first.
Water heaters, repiping, a bathroom remodel. These callers compare two or three companies in one afternoon. The receptionist answers what you have approved about estimates, captures the job and the address, and tells the caller who will follow up.
A dripping faucet, a slow drain, a running toilet. The caller wants a day and a rough price. The receptionist records the request and the caller’s preferred days so your dispatcher can offer a time from the schedule you control.
Suppliers, permit offices, a customer asking for a copy of an invoice. The receptionist takes a message for the office instead of interrupting a crew, and your team reads it between jobs.
Illustrative example A Saturday evening call about a burst supply line. The business, the caller and the policy are invented; the receptionist opens every real call with its AI disclosure.
Thanks for calling Riverside Plumbing. I am an AI receptionist for the team. How can I help?
A pipe under my kitchen sink just split and there is water everywhere. Can someone come tonight?
I am sorry, that sounds stressful. First, is the water still running? If you can find the shutoff valve under the sink or at the main, turning it clockwise will stop it while we talk.
Okay, I found the valve under the sink. It stopped.
Good. Riverside does send a plumber for after-hours emergencies, and the after-hours visit fee is explained before anyone is dispatched. What is the address?
418 Linden Street in Maple Grove.
Maple Grove is in the service area. Let me try the on-call plumber now. Please hold for a moment.
The on-call plumber did not pick up. I have your address and the problem. Can I get your name and the best number to call back, and whether anyone needs to let the plumber in?
Dana Whitfield, this number is fine. I will be home, and the side gate is unlocked.
Thank you, Dana. Your request is now with the team as an emergency with the water shut off. Someone will call you back on this number.
Synthetic example record The team inbox shows an emergency callback: burst supply line under the kitchen sink, water shut off at the fixture, 418 Linden Street, Maple Grove, side gate unlocked, caller Dana Whitfield at the number she called from, transfer attempted to the on-call plumber at 7:42 p.m. and not answered. The on-call plumber returns the call from the record.
Every answer comes from the business information you approve during setup. The receptionist does not guess at prices, areas or policies you have not given it.
An emergency caller at 11 p.m. is deciding between you and the next listing. The receptionist answers immediately, explains your emergency policy as you wrote it, and tries the on-call plumber. If the on-call plumber does not pick up, it can try the next teammates you listed in turn before taking a message, and the message reaches the team right away.
When every plumber is on a job and the office line is busy, the receptionist answers the second and third caller instead of sending them to voicemail. It takes the estimate request or service call in full, so nobody has to call back to ask what the problem was.
Set your holiday hours once. On those days the receptionist plays the closed-hours message you chose, still answers emergencies if your policy allows it, and still captures every other request for the next working day.
How after-hours answering works → What happens when three people call at once →
Water near electrical outlets, a gas smell, a sewage backup: the receptionist uses only the safety wording you approve, such as where the main shutoff is, tries your on-call plumber and marks the request urgent. It gives no safety advice of its own and promises no arrival time. For a gas smell, approve a line that tells the caller to leave the building and call the gas utility or emergency services.
The same table on every receptionist page, because the limits matter as much as the features when you are choosing.
| On a call | Today | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Questions about hours, services, areas and prices | Handled on the call | Answered from the business information you approve. A question you have not covered gets a plain "I do not have that" and a message for your team, never a guess. |
| Reaching a person on your team | Handled on the call | A transfer to one eligible US destination, with the teammates you list tried in turn when the first does not pick up. |
| Closed hours, a busy line and holidays | Handled on the call | Your closed-hours message, a bounded waiting queue with position announcements, and the fallback path you configure when every AI line is busy. |
| Messages and callback requests | Captured for your team | Name, number, the request in the caller’s words and the details you ask for, in your inbox and on your webhooks the moment the call ends. |
| Appointment and estimate requests | Captured for your team | The request, the address and the caller’s preferred times. Your team confirms the time from the record; the receptionist writes no calendar. |
| Emergencies and safety | Captured for your team | Only the safety wording you approve, such as where a shutoff valve is, then the on-call transfer and an urgent request. It gives no medical, legal or electrical advice of its own. |
| Dispatching a crew or promising an arrival time | Not part of the receptionist | Not the receptionist’s job: your dispatcher assigns the work and your team confirms the visit from the record it leaves. |
| Texting the caller afterwards | Not part of the receptionist | It sends no text messages. Requests reach you in the inbox, on your signed webhooks and through the API. |
| Writing to a calendar, a CRM or a dispatch system | Not part of the receptionist | No named connector exists. Results reach other systems through signed webhooks, CSV export and the API. |
| Recording the whole call | Not part of the receptionist | Full-call recording is not part of the receptionist offer. Every call leaves a record of what was asked and what was answered. |
| Languages other than English | Not part of the receptionist | English today. |
| Guaranteed answer rates, response times or outcomes | Not part of the receptionist | Capacity is per plan on shared fleet, not reserved hardware. When every AI line is busy, callers follow the fallback path you chose. |
When a call ends without a transfer, the receptionist leaves your team a request instead of a missed-call notification. For plumbing companies that record holds:
Requests land in the team inbox and on your configured webhooks, with the call record beside them. Read how the receptionist handles a call, see how intake questions are chosen, or see what reaches your team.
Published plans, no quote required. Each managed plan includes one standard US local number; the lower BYO price is for businesses that already run their own Twilio account.
| Plan | AI minutes included | Number included | Your own Twilio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 250 | $49 | $39 plus your Twilio bill |
| Business | 1,000 | $139 | $109 plus your Twilio bill |
| Scale | 2,000 | $269 | $219 plus your Twilio bill |
Example from the rate card 120 calls a month averaging 3 minutes each use about 360 AI minutes after the 30-second per-call minimum. The cheapest managed plan for that month is Starter at $59: the $49 subscription plus $10 of additional AI time. With your own Twilio account the cheapest plan is Starter at $45, plus your carrier bill. Non-AI incoming time, connected transfers, extra numbers and taxes are not in these figures.
Get a supported US local business number without setting up your own Twilio account. Search by city, state or area code during paid setup; actual inventory, the number quote, accepted billing/funding and call qualification determine activation. AI time is metered per second with a 30-second minimum per AI-handled call. Every rate and term is on the pricing page.
No. It captures the job and tries the person you choose. Your dispatcher assigns the job and your team confirms the visit from the record the receptionist leaves.
Only the prices and policies you approve during setup. If you approve a starting price for a water heater replacement, it can say that. If you approve "estimates are quoted on site", it says that instead.
The receptionist answers, walks the caller to the shutoff if that is in your approved information, states your emergency policy, and tries your on-call plumber. If nobody answers, it tries the teammates you listed, then takes the full request and sends it to your team immediately.
No. Keep your existing number and forward it to the receptionist’s number, or use a number from your own Twilio account. Forwarding is set up with your current carrier and is different from porting.
Related reading on this site.
Related reading on this site.
Related reading on this site.
What the calls you miss while working are worth, and how they get answered.
Closed-hours rules, emergency transfers and morning requests.
HVAC phones follow the weather.
An electrician’s phone mixes real danger with routine estimates.
Cleaning companies lose the phone to the job.
Start with your website, review every answer before you pay, and keep your existing number.
