Roofing 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 roofers, unless it's a priority call or a saved contact, which go to voicemail.
Get started with VettedCallsThe week after a storm
The leak calls come first. "Roof leak", "water through ceiling", "hole in roof", "tree on roof" and "tarp" are all default priority words for roofers. A homeowner who says one rings you right away, no matter the hour or the plan, without the press 1 or 2 question about texts in between.
Then the inspection calls. "Hail damage", "wind damage" and "storm damage" are defaults too, and the trade defaults stay on even after you add priority words of your own. So a homeowner who wants a hail inspection for their insurance claim rings you as a priority call as well, for up to 40 seconds. Miss it and it goes to voicemail, on every plan, instead of to the AI receptionist. If you're up on roofs all day, read your email between jobs: each voicemail lands in your inbox as a full transcript, with a link to hear the recording (see voicemail to text).
Then the same people call again. Anyone who got through screening, or left you a voicemail, within the past 4 hours isn't screened again. Anyone who pressed 1 or 2 stays on your verified list for 60 days, and each new call from them restarts the count. Their second and third calls ring you with just a beep instead of a name and reason (after hours on Receptionist, callers on the 60-day list go to the AI receptionist instead). On Pro, repeat calls from the same caller within 10 minutes send you one missed-call alert.
And the calls that aren't homeowners at all. A robocall has two checks to get past before it can ring you: our spam registry, which blocks a number once it has 10 counted flags, and the press 1 or 2 step, where a recording that presses nothing is hung up on.
Minutes in a busy month
A storm month runs up more minutes than a quiet one, so here's how they're counted.
- Pro includes 800 voice minutes a month. Receptionist includes 1,500 voice and 250 AI minutes.
- AI minutes are the time the AI receptionist spends with callers. Voice minutes are counted separately.
- Calls are billed in whole minutes, rounded up, so even a short call counts as one minute.
- Spam we block and callers who hang up during screening count the same way, usually one minute each.
- Go past what's included and extra voice minutes are $0.07 each, extra AI minutes $0.25.
- Your included minutes start fresh every billing month. On an annual plan, each month is counted from your signup day, and overage is billed monthly at those same rates.
Plan prices and the side-by-side comparison are on our pricing 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 roofers also has these trade priority words, on by default:
- roof leak
- water through ceiling
- tarp
- storm damage
- wind damage
- hail damage
- tree on roof
- shingles ripped off
- hole in roof
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 roofers
Each one tagged by how soon it needs you.
- Active leak with water coming through ceiling emergency
- Storm damage: tarp needed before more rain emergency
- Tree fell on roof emergency
- Shingles ripped off, opening exposed emergency
- Hail damage inspection soon
- Wind damage assessment soon
- Suspected leak routine
- Full roof replacement quote routine
- Skylight install or repair routine
- Chimney flashing repair routine
The work it knows about
On Receptionist, the AI receptionist answers with instructions written for roofers. They cover this work:
Roofing
- Leak repair and diagnosis
- Full roof replacement
- Flat / TPO / EPDM roof
- Storm and hail damage
- Wind damage repair
- Skylight install and repair
- Roof ventilation
- Chimney flashing repair
Related work
- Gutter integration and replacement
- Fascia and soffit repair
- Insurance claim assistance
- Emergency tarping
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 roofers list more to gather:
- Service address
- Roof type if known
- Approximate age of the roof
- What happened
- Whether they've filed an insurance claim
- For active leaks: where in the house water is coming in
Sample replies
A few of the example replies in the AI receptionist's instructions for roofers.
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 Roofers
Can my crew leads answer storm calls from their own phones?
Add them with Team answering on Pro. Add up to 4 more people for $10 a month each. Everyone's phone rings together and you share the minutes. Each person gets their own Cloud Softphone activation link, and whoever picks up first has the call. If a crew lead moves on, remove them from the Team page in your dashboard.
Can I save the insurance adjusters I work with so they ring straight through?
Yes. Once an adjuster has called you, save the number from your call log, and from then on their calls skip screening and ring you 24/7.
What does a homeowner hear if I miss their call about a leak?
Your voicemail greeting, which asks them to leave a quick message with their name and what they need. They can talk for up to 120 seconds. If they said a priority word, like "roof leak" (a default for roofers), they skipped the press 1 question and get no text back. You get the text alert either way.
Does the AI receptionist answer when I'm on a roof during the day?
On Receptionist, yes, for ordinary calls. In business hours, if you haven't answered after 12 seconds, the AI receptionist takes the call. A missed priority call or saved contact gets your voicemail instead. On Pro there's no AI receptionist, so the caller gets your voicemail.
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.