The phone answered, every time, by something that knows your prices

The chore

One phone number, and whoever’s nearest answers it. Every call means putting the tool down, wiping your hands, and answering the same handful of questions: how much for this, what are your hours, can I bring it in. Miss the call and they ring the next place.

What runs now

It answers the phone and the texts. It knows your opening hours, your price list and your rules, and it says them the way you’d say them. A simple job gets booked straight in, with a name and what they need, and the customer gets a confirmation text. Someone who asks for a person, or sounds like they need one, gets put through. After hours, it still answers, and still books.

The screen above is the monitor: every conversation as it happens, with bookings and hand-overs marked. You can look at it, but you don’t have to.

1. Hi are you open saturday
2. Hi! Yes, we're open Saturday 8am to 12pm. Drop-offs are fine any time in those hours.
3. Car is making a grinding noise when i brake. can you look at it
4. We can. I can't say what it is over text, but we can check it. What day suits you to drop it in?
5. Thursday
6. Thursday it is. What name should I put on the job card?

What changed

Whole days of putting tools down, gone. Texts answered in seconds instead of at knock-off. Bookings that used to live on a notepad land on the job board by themselves. And the things it must never do, like promise a finish date, quote something that isn’t on the list, or diagnose a fault over the phone, it never does, because those rules are in the code, not in a chat prompt.

What it took

A phone number for it to answer on, your price list and hours written out, and a couple of weeks of listening to real calls and tightening the wording. Running cost was about sixty-five dollars a month in phone fees.

Want to see how it's built? The full write-up is in the builds:read the guide.