An AI receptionist for trades call-outs
You are under a sink when the phone rings. The agent answers, takes the job, and puts a real emergency straight through to your mobile.
The problem on a busy day
A tradesperson on a job cannot answer with wet or dirty hands, and the next customer simply rings the next number on the list. Most calls can wait an hour for a call-back; a few cannot.
What the agent does
- Answers in your business name whenever you do not pick up.
- Takes the job: what is wrong, the address, how urgent it is, the best time to come, name and number.
- Puts real emergencies (the reasons you choose, such as a burst pipe or no power) through to your mobile; everything else becomes a call-back.
- Tells callers the right emergency number for the country (999 in the UK) when it is a danger to life.
- Starts from the trades (home services) starter pack.
It answers only from the facts you save. If it does not know, it takes a message; it never invents prices, times or availability. If a caller asks whether it is an AI, it says so and never claims to be a person.
How a call can go
Agent: Hello, Clark Plumbing, how can I help?
Caller: Water’s coming through my kitchen ceiling.
Agent: That sounds urgent. Have you been able to turn off the water at the stopcock?
Caller: Yes, just now.
Agent: Thank you. I’m putting you through to Dan now. If we get cut off, he has your number.
An illustration of how a call can go, written by us. It is not a recording of a customer’s call.
Setting it up
- Create a Receptionist workspace and give it your website. It can read the site into a draft of your business facts for you to check.
- Choose the starter pack for your kind of business. It adds the usual reasons people call, the questions to ask before a booking and FAQ questions with blank answers for you to fill in. It never overwrites what you wrote.
- Save your opening hours as a weekly timetable, with one daily break and your closed days.
- Keep your own number: dial the forwarding codes shown on screen on your own phone, then press “Test my forwarding”.
- Write an opening message that says it is an AI assistant (in the EU this has been required since 2 August 2026), then switch it on. Every call, booking request and message appears in the app, and a morning report arrives at 08:00 London time when there were calls.
What it does not do
- It does not give quotes or prices you have not saved.
- It does not diagnose faults: it collects the details for you.
- It puts calls through only for the emergency reasons you choose, and only to a number you save.
What it costs
Receptionist: your first month is free with no card; then Solo £39 or Business £79 a month (exact allowances are confirmed before activation). Outbound calling: 21p per connected minute from prepaid credit, £7 free to start. Tax may be added where applicable.
Try it before you set anything up
On the FoxEra Calls homepage you can talk to one of our agents in your browser for 60 seconds. No account, no phone number, nothing to install.
Frequently asked questions
Will it put every call through to me?
No. Only calls that match the emergency reasons you set, and only when you have saved a put-through number. Everything else is a message or a booking request.
Does it work at night?
Yes. Set your forwarding to cover all calls, or only the ones you miss.