Answering Service for Contractors

Most of a contractor's calls land while your hands are full. Once your cell forwards every call to VettedCalls, here's what happens to them over a normal day on the job.

On the roof or up a ladder

You can't let go to answer, so let it ring. On Pro, it rings for as long as 25 seconds before the caller hears your voicemail greeting, and once they leave a message you get a text alert plus an email with the transcript. On Receptionist, during business hours, it rings for 12 seconds and then the AI receptionist picks up and gets the caller's name and what the job is. Its summary and transcript are in your dashboard's AI call history when you're back on the ground.

Walking a kitchen with a homeowner

You don't want a robocall buzzing while a homeowner shows you where the island goes. Before your phone rings for someone new, they hear a greeting in your business name and say who they are, and an ordinary caller then has to press 1 or 2. A recording can't press anything, so its call ends there. When a real person does get through and you answer, you hear their name and reason before they're put on the line, and you can tell them you'll call back at lunch.

Waiting on a sub or a supplier

Save your subs, your suppliers, the building department and the homeowners on your open jobs as contacts. Saved contacts skip screening and ring you 24/7, so the plumber confirming rough-in isn't asked who's calling. Add them one by one in the dashboard, import a list, or save a number from your call log after it rings.

A storm at 2 a.m.

Storm damage, water damage, fallen tree, leak, broken window and broken door are all on the default priority word list for general contractors (the whole list is in the next section). A homeowner who says one gets through at 2 a.m. the same way they would at noon. If your callers use a phrase that isn't there, like "ceiling came down", add it. You get up to 20 priority words of your own.

Estimates at home after dinner

On Receptionist you set business hours for each day. Once they end, callers who clear screening, and repeat callers from the last 60 days, talk to the AI receptionist instead of ringing you. Saved contacts keep ringing through, unless you've set one to go to the AI after hours. At 7am you get a text with yesterday's numbers, including how many calls the AI answered and how many were priority calls.

A kitchen, an addition or a basement finish starts with a phone call. When you answer one on Receptionist, it's recorded by default, both sides, after the homeowner hears "Connecting you now. This call may be recorded." Each recording comes with a transcript, split into Caller and You lines, and a summary of a sentence or two. It stays in your call log for 90 days, so when you sit down to price the job, the scope they described is there in their own words. You can switch recording off in dashboard settings, and Pro doesn't record. Our call recording page has the details.

Whoever took the first call, you make the callback from your own cell. The VettedCalls number only receives calls, and the texts it sends are automatic notices, so it isn't a second business line.

If you run one trade rather than whole jobs, like siding, decks, drywall or tile, our construction and remodeling page has a section for yours. To see how screening and the AI receptionist compare with a staffed service, read our answering service page.