Here's what that looks like on an ordinary day, and how to set it up so it asks the questions you'd ask.
A normal Wednesday, by phone
Say you run a two-person plumbing business in Lower Hutt.
At 8.15 you're under a sink in Naenae with a torch in your teeth. Someone rings about a hot water cylinder that's dripping from the valve. The AI takes the address, asks whether water's pooling anywhere, and books a call-out for Thursday morning in a slot that was actually free.
At 10.40 you're on the motorway. A property manager rings about a tenant's blocked toilet. That one's a message, emailed to you with the address and a contact number, because you've said property managers get a call back from you personally.
At 1.05, halfway through a pie, a caller says the word flooding. That call is marked urgent and put straight through to your mobile.
At 3.30 someone wants a quote for a bathroom renovation. The AI books a site visit for next week, using the half hour you've set for quote visits.
You didn't miss any of them, and you only actually answered one.
The five kinds of call a trade gets
It helps to name them before you set anything up.
| Kind of call | Example | What you want to happen |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency | Burst pipe, no power, sparks, a burning smell | Put through to you, or marked urgent with the address taken |
| Call-out | Leaking tap, tripping circuit, hot water playing up | A visit booked into a free slot |
| Quote | New switchboard, bathroom reno, an extension | A site visit booked, or a message with details |
| Existing customer | "You were here last week and..." | A message to you, or put through if it's urgent |
| Everything else | Suppliers, sales calls, wrong numbers | A message, so it doesn't interrupt you |
If you don't do gas work, or you only take commercial electrical jobs, say so. The AI can only follow rules you've actually written down.
How does an AI phone for plumbers spot an emergency?
You give it the words. Your AI phone starts with a list of urgent words for trades (burst, flood, no power, gas leak, emergency) and you add your own. When a caller uses one, the call is marked urgent so it shows first in your dashboard, and you can choose to have those calls put through to your mobile.
For anything dangerous, tell it what to say. It can pass on instructions you've written, like turning the water off at the mains, or telling someone who smells gas to get out of the house and ring the emergency number. It isn't an emergency service and shouldn't be set up to act like one.
The questions worth asking
Ask the AI to ask what you'd ask. For most plumbers and sparkies that's:
- What's the problem, in the caller's own words?
- Where's the job? The suburb tells you if it's in your patch.
- Is it a house, a rental or a business, and who owns the property?
- Is anything dangerous happening right now?
- What's the best number to ring back on?
With those answers, the call is useful even if you never speak to the caller before you turn up. Every call is recorded and transcribed with a short summary, so you can read it between jobs instead of listening to it in the van.
Booking site visits and call-outs
Connect your Google Calendar and the AI can book routine work while the caller is still on the line. It checks your calendar and your working hours, offers only times that are genuinely free, and confirms the time out loud before hanging up.
Two habits make it work for trades. Give each kind of visit a realistic length, because a quote visit and a fault-finding call-out aren't the same size. And keep your calendar honest: block out big jobs, travel days and the week you're at the bach, so a gap in the calendar really means you're free.
There's more detail in booking appointments by phone with an AI.
Talking about prices
People will ask what it costs. You decide what the AI says. Some tradies are happy to give a call-out fee or an hourly rate. Plenty prefer "every job's different, we'll quote once we've seen it." Put your answer in what the AI knows and it'll stick to it. If you don't want prices mentioned at all, say that.
Setting it up
- Paste your website into prepaid.ai. It builds a profile of your services, area and hours. Read it and fix what's wrong.
- List the suburbs you cover, and what to say to someone outside them.
- Check the urgent words and add any for your trade.
- Choose whose phone rings for emergencies. Yours, and a workmate's if you're a team.
- Connect Google Calendar.
- Talk to it in your browser. Be a caller with a burst pipe, then someone after a new kitchen quote.
- Pick a plan. Your local number comes with it.
A prepaid plan runs 30 days with a local number, the AI answering and minutes included. Lite is US$29 with 100 minutes and Standard is US$79 with 350. Every plan is on the pricing page, and there's a 7-day free trial with no card. The pages for plumbers and electricians have ideas specific to each trade.
A number for the van
Your plan includes a local number, and that's the one your AI answers. In the US and Canada it's ready in minutes. In New Zealand, Australia and the UK the carrier checks your details first. Put it on the van, the quotes and your Google listing, and let it take the calls while your hands are full.
Where it stops
It won't quote a job it hasn't seen unless you give it a fixed price. It doesn't take card payments over the phone. It answers in English. Nights and weekends work the same way with different rules, covered in after-hours calls for trades.
FAQ
Will it pretend to be me?
No. It says it's an AI at the start of every call. Callers can still ask for you, and you decide whether those calls are put through or taken as a message.
Can it handle two calls at once?
Yes. Each plan answers several calls at the same time: 2 on Lite and 5 on Standard.
What if the caller is outside my area?
Tell the AI your area. It can explain that you don't cover that location and take a message if you want one.
Can my apprentice or office manager see the calls too?
Yes. You can invite people from your team to the dashboard, where every call has its recording, transcript and summary.
What happens after hours?
The same AI answers, and you can give it different rules for nights and weekends, as described above.
