AI answering service for plumbers, electricians and HVAC

Which calls does a home service business miss?

The phone rings when you're under a sink, up a ladder or driving to the next job. Those are often the calls worth the most: a homeowner with water coming through the ceiling, a landlord who needs an electrician this week, someone collecting quotes for a new furnace. Plenty of them come after 6 pm and on weekends, when pipes burst and heating fails, and a caller who hears voicemail tends to try the next number on the list.

Plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, cleaners and locksmiths all get the same calls:

• Emergencies: a burst pipe, no heat in January, a breaker that keeps tripping, someone locked out.
• Prices and quotes: “How much to replace a water heater?” or “Do you charge for an estimate?”
• Service area: “Do you come out to Riverside?”
• Booking: an estimate, a repair visit, a seasonal tune-up, a move-out clean.
• Existing jobs: “Is the tech still coming today?”

What does an after-hours call sound like?

Here's a call at 9:40 pm to a plumbing company that set Digui up with a Call transfer tool and an on-call number:

• Caller: “Water is coming through my kitchen ceiling. Can someone come tonight?”
• Digui: “That needs someone tonight. Can I have your name and address?”
• Caller: “Dana Reyes, 14 Oak Street.”
• Digui: “Thanks, Dana. I'm passing you to our on-call plumber now, and they already have your address and what's happening.”

What happens after the transfer?

The on-call plumber gets the call with a summary, so Dana doesn't repeat herself. If nobody picks up, the call comes back to the receptionist, which takes a message instead. In the morning, the call is in Logs with its summary and full transcript.

Everything it said came from the company's website and its instructions: if you want callers told to shut off the main valve first, write that in its prompt.

What does Digui do on the call?

• Answers from your website and documents: your services, the towns or zip codes you cover, hours, call-out fee, financing or warranty. Here's what it knows.
• Books an estimate or a visit into Google Calendar or Outlook, with the caller's name, phone number and the problem in the event, or into Calendly or Square if that's where you schedule. It only offers times that are free.
• Transfers emergencies to your on-call tech, only to the numbers you list and following the rules you write: for example, “no heat or active leaks go to the on-call number, everything else is a message”.
• Emails messages to your office with Gmail, so a quote request or a question about an existing job reaches whoever runs the schedule.
• Speaks the caller's language and switches mid-call if they do, so a Spanish-speaking homeowner gets the same answers as everyone else.

How do I set it up for my company?

• Type your website on the homepage. In about half a minute you can call your receptionist for free, from your browser or a real phone.
• Sign up and read its prompt. Add what your website leaves out: every town you cover, what counts as an emergency, and what it must never promise, like an exact arrival time.
• Upload your price sheet or service-area list (PDF, Word or text, up to 10 MB) so it can look them up during calls.
• On Professional or Business, add tools: Call transfer with your on-call numbers, a calendar for visits and Gmail for messages to the office. Here's how to set one up.
• In Install, verify your business number and turn on call forwarding to the Transfer to number. You keep your number, and you can forward only the calls you don't pick up.

Does it work with Jobber, Housecall Pro or ServiceTitan?

Not today. Digui doesn't read or write jobs, customers or invoices in field-service software, and it can't see your dispatch board or where your trucks are. The apps it works with today are Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Gmail, Shopify, Square and call transfers.

If your day runs in Jobber or Housecall Pro, Digui can take the caller's details and email them to the office, where someone creates the job. If you'd rather it work inside your app, ask for it under Bring your own tool or API.

How much does it cost?

Starter is $99/month for 200 phone minutes and 1 receptionist: it answers questions and takes messages you read in Logs, but it has no tools, so no bookings, emails or transfers. Professional is $249/month for 500 minutes and 3 receptionists, with appointment booking, calendar integrations and call transfers: the plan you need for on-call emergencies. Business is $499/month for 1,000 minutes and 10 receptionists, for example one per trade or location. Minutes past your plan's are $0.25 each.

The demo is free, with no account or card. Every plan is on pricing. Comparing options? Read what an AI receptionist is and how Digui compares with Smith.ai.

What won't it do?

• Diagnose a problem or give a firm price for work nobody has seen. It gives the prices on your website and books an estimate.
• Act as an emergency service. For a gas smell, sparks or water near outlets, it says what your prompt tells it to, such as leaving the house and calling the gas company or 911.
• Move or cancel a visit already in your calendar. It takes the request and passes it to your office.
• Text or WhatsApp confirmations yet: SMS and WhatsApp are coming soon.