Property Management Answering Service
New callers are asked who they are before your phone rings. Every call to your cell comes to VettedCalls first. We answer in your business name, put real callers through to you, and ring you right away when a caller says a priority word. On Receptionist, a call you don't pick up goes to an AI receptionist with instructions written for property managers, unless it's a priority call or a saved contact, which go to voicemail.
Get started with VettedCallsHow a tenant's call gets sorted
A property manager's phone carries two kinds of calls that want opposite treatment. A tenant with a leak coming through the ceiling needs you now. A tenant asking when the lease renewal paperwork goes out can hear back tomorrow. In between are prospects who saw a listing, owners shopping for a manager, and vendors calling about a job. Here's the order we check each call in, and where each kind of caller ends up.
-
Have we seen this number before?
A number you marked as spam is blocked. A caller who got through screening in the last 60 days, one of your saved contacts, or someone who finished screening in the last 4 hours skips the greeting. So the tenant who reported a broken dishwasher on Tuesday doesn't have to explain themselves again on Thursday. A number on the spam registry we share across every customer is blocked before it reaches your greeting.
-
Did they say a priority word?
A new caller hears your greeting and tells us who they are and what's wrong. Property management accounts start with priority words like "leak", "lockout" and "no heat" (the full list is further down), on top of the six universal words. A tenant who says there's a leak coming through the ceiling is flagged as a priority call, skips the next step, and rings you right away, for up to 40 seconds, at any hour. When you answer, you hear "Priority call," their name and the topic before they're put through.
The defaults don't include "no water", "sewage backup" or "gas smell". If your buildings get those calls, add them; you can have up to 20 priority words of your own.
-
Everyone else presses 1 or 2
Lease questions, rent questions, move-out dates, a complaint about a neighbor's dog, a prospect asking about a two-bedroom: none of these trip a keyword, so the caller hears one more step. Press 1 connects them and agrees to texts about their inquiry, such as the note they get if you miss them. Press 2 connects them without texts. The call then rings you (unless it's outside your business hours on Receptionist, which the next step covers), and when you answer you hear their name and reason first.
-
If you don't pick up
On Pro, a routine call rings you for 25 seconds and then goes to voicemail. You get a text alert and an email with the transcript. On Receptionist, the AI receptionist takes it: after 12 seconds of ringing during your business hours, or straight away outside them. Its property management instructions have it ask which kind of caller it's talking to (current tenant, prospective tenant, owner or vendor) and list different things to gather for each. A maintenance request comes back to you as a summary and transcript in your dashboard. A prospect who wants to see a unit is asked what days work and told someone will reach out to lock in a time, and you confirm the showing when you call back.
-
What reaches your phone afterward
For urgent issues the AI receptionist has a tool that texts you an escalation. It can also text you a message with the caller's name, number and a summary, though its instructions don't require one on every call, so check the AI call history for the full picture. On Receptionist, a 7am text sums up the day before.
More on that last step is on our AI receptionist page, and the basics of how we answer are on our answering service page.
Maintenance, leasing and you on one number
If you aren't the only one taking calls, Team answering on Pro lets you add up to 4 more people, say a maintenance coordinator and a leasing agent. Each person gets their own Cloud Softphone login and activation link. When a call connects, every login rings at once and the first to answer gets it, so an 11 pm lockout reaches whoever is up. When someone leaves, remove them from the Team page in your dashboard.
Each person you add is $10 a month, and everyone shares your plan's minutes. Pro and Receptionist have one login each. See the plans, or find mortgage brokers, home inspectors and appraisers on our professional services page.
Priority Passthrough
Priority Passthrough lets customers who say one of your selected priority words ring straight through to you, regardless of the time of day. Every account starts with six priority words: urgent, emergency, help, asap, right now, today.
An account set up for property managers also has these trade priority words, on by default:
- leak
- flooding
- no heat
- no AC
- lockout
- broken lock
- tenant emergency
- fire
You can add up to 20 of your own in the dashboard, and the trade defaults stay on. When a caller says one, the AI flags it as a priority call. It skips the text question and rings you right away, for up to 40 seconds, in or out of business hours, on every plan.
Miss a priority call and it goes to voicemail, on Receptionist as well as Pro. You get a text alert. The caller isn't texted, because a priority call skips the press 1 question.
Common calls for property managers
Each one tagged by how soon it needs you.
- Tenant lockout emergency
- Major leak / flooding in unit emergency
- No heat in winter emergency
- Fire / smoke / gas leak in unit emergency
- Broken lock / door: unit not securable soon
- No AC in extreme heat soon
- Tenant maintenance request routine
- Owner inquiry soon
- Prospective tenant soon
- Lease question from current tenant routine
- Rent payment question routine
- Move-out coordination routine
- Complaint about another tenant routine
The work it knows about
On Receptionist, the AI receptionist answers with instructions written for property managers. They cover this work:
Owner services
- Property listing and marketing
- Tenant placement and screening
- Lease drafting and renewal
- Rent collection
- Monthly owner statements
- Maintenance coordination
- Annual property inspections
Tenant services
- Maintenance request handling
- Lease questions and updates
- Move-in / move-out coordination
- Rent payment portal
What it asks callers
The AI receptionist gets the caller's name and reason, confirms the callback number by its last four digits, and asks what days work. Its instructions for property managers list more to gather:
- Property address and unit number
- Caller type
- For maintenance: what is wrong, when did it start, anyone in immediate danger
- For owner inquiry: how many properties, location, current management situation
- For prospective tenant: which property, move-in timeline, # of occupants
- For lease/rent question: nature of question
- Lease end date if known
Sample replies
A few of the example replies in the AI receptionist's instructions for property managers.
What the AI receptionist won't do
- It doesn't book appointments. It asks what days work, and you confirm the time when you call back.
- It doesn't ask callers for their email.
- If a caller asks whether it's an AI, it neither confirms nor denies.
- It confirms the callback number by its last four digits.
The AI receptionist comes with the Receptionist plan. Pro has no AI receptionist, so a call you miss on Pro goes to voicemail. Receptionist is coming soon, and Pro is available now.
Questions about VettedCalls for Property Managers
Will a tenant's lockout call ring me after hours?
Yes. "Lockout" and "broken lock" are both property management defaults, so the call is flagged as a priority call and rings you right away, for up to 40 seconds, whatever the hour and whatever your plan. If you miss it, it goes to voicemail.
Can a tenant report a maintenance problem to the AI receptionist?
On Receptionist, yes, when it's a call you don't pick up and it isn't a priority call. The AI gets the tenant's name and reason, confirms their callback number by its last four digits and asks what days work, and its property management instructions add questions such as what's wrong and when it started. The summary and transcript are in your dashboard. On Pro, the tenant leaves a voicemail instead.
Should I save my owners and vendors as contacts?
If you want their calls without the greeting, yes. Once saved, an owner or a vendor skips screening and rings you 24/7. Numbers in your phone's own contact list aren't saved contacts until you add them: type them into the dashboard, import them, or save one from your call log.
Can leasing calls ring one person and maintenance calls another?
No. With Team answering, every login rings at once when a call connects, and whoever answers first gets it, whatever the call is about.
Related trades
The AI receptionist has instructions written for 58 trades and professions, plus a general set for everyone else. Here are a few of them.