STRAIGHT ANSWERS
"I don’t want a robot answering my phone." Neither do your customers. Here is what the voice does and does not do
Nobody wants to call a roofer after a storm and get a machine that cannot understand "the water is coming through the ceiling." That worry is right, and it is the reason the voice is built the way it is, and the reason the cheapest plan has no voice at all. Here is what it says, what it does, what it never does, and how to hear it before you decide.
A note on what this is. The voice is on the Crew and Fleet plans only. Solo has a text back and a person. Nothing here asks you to put a voice on your phone; it tells you what the voice is if you choose it.
THE SHORT ANSWER
What does the voice say first?
That it is automated, and that the call is recorded. Not buried, not after a menu. First sentence. Then: "Prefiere español o inglés?" A caller who wants a person can say so and the call goes to your cell. Nobody is tricked into thinking they reached a person, which is also what the law and the carriers expect.
What does it do well?
- Takes the name, the address and what is wrong, in the language the caller chose.
- Books a real slot on your calendar, not a callback. The caller hangs up with a time.
- Answers the questions you wrote for it: your hours, your area, whether you do that kind of job.
- Sends you the whole call as text, so the tech reads it before he drives.
What does it never do?
Quote a price, unless you wrote a fixed one for it, like "our service call is $89." It never estimates a repair. It never argues. It never handles an emergency by itself: the words that mean urgent in your trade, "water coming through the roof," "no power in the whole house," "I smell gas," send the call to your cell with the address already taken. The post on what an automated voice should do on a contractor’s phone has the full list.
When is the objection right?
When your customers are mostly repeat and referral, they call your cell, and you answer. A voice would add nothing. That is what the Solo plan is for: a text back on the calls you miss, and no voice. Most one-truck companies should start there.
When is it wrong?
When the alternative to the voice is voicemail. A roofer three weeks after a storm gets more calls than any crew can answer. Between "an automated voice that takes the address and books Tuesday at 2" and "a voicemail nobody leaves a message on," the caller picks the first one every time, because it is the one that gets them a roofer. The robot is not competing with you. It is competing with your voicemail.
Hear it first. On the call we ring your own phone with it, in both languages. If you would not want your mother to reach it, you do not buy it.
Questions we get asked about this
Does the voice pretend to be a person?
No. Its first sentence says it is automated and that the call is recorded. A caller who wants a person says so and the call goes to your cell.
Can it give my prices?
Only a fixed price you wrote for it, like a service-call fee. It never estimates a repair, because that is your job and getting it wrong costs you the customer.
Is there a plan without the voice?
Yes. Solo comes without the voice. A missed call gets a text back within a minute and a person calls back. You can add the voice to Solo for $49 a month. It comes with Crew, and you can turn it off there too.
Related
Want to hear it on your own phone?
Book a 30-minute call. We ring your phone with the voice, in Spanish and in English, and you decide whether it belongs on your line. If it does not, Solo has no voice and we will say that is the right plan.