An AI receptionist for electricians that sorts the outage from the outlet and follows up the big quotes
An electrician's phone mixes two very different calls: the homeowner with half the house dark, and the one pricing an EV charger or a panel upgrade. Here's how the AI handles both, and what it deliberately won't do on an electrical call.
Ballpark prices by phone and text, and the Quick Quote page, work when you turn on the estimator in Settings (included on Elite, a $20/month add-on on Basic and Pro). With it off, Alex books the visit instead of giving a price.
Where electricians actually lose the job
Electricians lose calls where every trade does, in the crawlspace and the attic, with both hands busy and a phone that won't stop buzzing. But the cost is lopsided. A missed "half my house has no power" call is a customer who hires whoever answers tonight. A missed "we're thinking about an EV charger" call is a four-figure job that goes to the company with the better website.
The quotes are where the rest of the money leaks. Panel upgrades, service changes, generator installs and whole-house surge protection are considered purchases; the homeowner gets two or three bids, waits on a utility schedule or a rebate, and quietly picks someone. Nobody in a small shop has time to follow up on every one of those between service calls. And after hours, an answering service takes a message it can't act on, while a per-minute service with a small allowance charges you most in the storm week when the phone never stops.
What the AI does on a electrical contractor call
The AI answers as your company, in about two rings, on every call at once, day or night. It asks what a good dispatcher asks: what's happening, whether it's the whole house or one area, whether a breaker has tripped or won't reset, whether there's a burning smell, heat or sparking, whether the utility has been called for a full outage, and the address. For project calls it asks what they're planning (panel upgrade, EV charger, generator, remodel wiring, lighting, service change), the age of the home and panel if they know, and their timeline.
What happens next follows your rules. On a call that matches your emergency list, Alex, the AI receptionist, gets the name, address and what's happening and tells the caller it's connecting them. Your on-call phones ring in order, up to three: each gets a text briefing first, and the electrician hears a spoken briefing and presses 1 to take the call. If nobody answers, the caller leaves a message and every on-call phone gets "MISSED EMERGENCY" and the transcript by text. If a caller brings up smoke, fire, sparking wires or a downed power line, Alex tells them to call 911, and you can add your own line for emergency callers, like calling the utility first. It never troubleshoots, and it never tells anyone to open a panel. Routine calls and estimates are booked into open time on your Google Calendar after a free/busy check. If you run more than one truck, jobs per window can match your truck count, or each booking can go to a free electrician automatically with a calendar invite and a briefing text.
It doesn't quote electrical prices by phone. A caller who asks what a panel upgrade costs hears that it depends on the panel, the service and the permit, and gets an estimate booked. A caller who asks what it costs to come out gets the service-call fee you entered, hears that the repair is quoted on site, and gets the visit booked. It recognizes repeat customers by caller ID, declines calls outside your service area politely, and screens out robocalls.
What happens after the call
Every estimate that doesn't close on the spot goes into a follow-up text sequence at 24 hours, 3, 5 and 10 days, written for the electrical conversation. For example: "Any questions on the panel quote? Happy to walk through the permit timeline." The texts stop the moment the customer replies. If a caller says "we're getting other bids" or "that's more than we expected," the AI switches to a recovery script instead of ending the call. Missed calls get a text back within seconds. Booked jobs get a reminder the day before.
Every number you publish is tracked as its own lead source, so the dashboard shows which channel produced booked jobs: LSA, the builder referrals, the truck wrap, or the EV-charger landing page. On Elite, outbound campaigns work your past-customer list for the next job, such as generator maintenance, surge protection, or a panel check on homes you wired years ago.
A week on the phone, electrical contractor edition
This is an example of how the system handles a week, not a customer's results.
Wednesday, 8:50 pm. A caller says the kitchen and two bedrooms are dead and one breaker won't reset. That's an emergency on your list, so Alex tells him it's connecting him. The on-call electrician's phone gets a text briefing (address, symptoms, breaker won't reset, no burning smell), then rings, and the electrician presses 1 to take the call. At the same time a second caller wants a quote on a Level 2 EV charger; the AI books an estimate for Friday at 10.
Friday's EV charger estimate ends with "we're waiting to hear about the rebate." The sequence starts that night, and on day 5 the customer replies: "Rebate came through, when can you install?" The next Monday, a builder's office calls about rough-in on a remodel. The AI books a site visit and notes the builder as the lead source.
What AI Front Desk Helper does besides answer the phone
Answering the phone is the entry point, not the product. Here is the rest of what runs once a contractor is on AI Front Desk Helper:
- Booking that respects your calendar. Alex checks your own Google Calendar and offers real open times, so it never books a slot you're already on a job for. Jobs per time slot, arrival windows, appointment length, same-day booking and service days by ZIP code are all settings. Reschedules and cancellations move or remove the event.
- Crews, not just one calendar. Optional auto-assign books each job to a free crew member in turn, using their own calendar and work days, and adds them to the event. Repeating visits (weekly, every two weeks, monthly) can be paused for one customer or for the season.
- After-hours emergencies. You write what counts as an emergency and list up to three on-call phones. Alex rings them in order with a text briefing, and the tech presses 1 to take the call. Emergency texts and website chats alert the same phones, and a tech can reply CALL to be connected.
- Photos by text. Customers can text a photo to your number. Alex saves it to their card, forwards an emergency photo to the on-call phones, sends your Quick Quote link for a job it can price, and offers a visit for anything else.
- Straight answers on price. With the estimator turned on, for junk removal, window cleaning, pressure washing, house cleaning, pest control, garage doors, pool service, flooring, concrete, window installation, stump grinding and lawn care, Alex gives a ballpark from your own price sheet and says the crew confirms on site. Trades that price on site can set a service call fee, and Alex answers financing and insurance questions from what you set. No number you didn't give it.
- Instant online quotes. A branded quote-and-book page for your business (yours looks like quote.yourcompany.com) where customers get a ballpark and pick a time, day or night. Built in for painting, roofing, siding, fencing, gutters and the twelve trades above, and switched on with the estimator (included on Elite, a $20/month add-on on Basic and Pro).
- Estimate follow-up that doesn't quit. Text sequences at 24 hours, 3, 5 and 10 days on every quote that hasn't closed, written like a contractor, stopping the moment the customer replies.
- Objection detection. "Too expensive" or "need to think about it" triggers a recovery script instead of a polite goodbye.
- Outbound campaigns. AI calls and texts to your past-customer list for seasonal reactivation, win-backs and referral asks. You set the campaign; it dials.
- Google Business Profile, handled. Every new review gets an owner reply drafted for you; profile posts can be drafted, approved and scheduled weeks ahead; a profile health audit shows how you stack up against nearby competitors.
- Revenue coaching by lead source. Every phone number is tied to where it came from (Angi, LSA, Facebook, referral, yard sign), so the dashboard shows which marketing produces booked revenue and which to cut.
- Customer DISC profiles. Every caller and texter gets a buying-style read (D, I, S or C) from what they actually said, with a confidence flag, so you walk into the estimate knowing how to sell to them.
- Franchise HQ. One rollup across every location for multi-unit operators.
- Reseller program. Agencies can offer the whole system under their own brand. How it works.
- Optional add-on: AI Rep Coach. Records in-home estimates and coaches the people who sell, with manager review and team analytics. Sold separately, per seat.
Setup for a electrical contractor
One onboarding call. We load your services (service calls, panels and service changes, EV chargers, generators, remodel and new-construction wiring, lighting), your emergency list and on-call phones (up to three, rung in order), anything extra to tell emergency callers, your service-call fee, your service area, and your calendar. If you run more than one truck, add your electricians in Crew Management and decide whether bookings are assigned automatically. Forward your existing number or port it. Most shops are live within the week.
A straight answer about where this comes from: AI Front Desk Helper was built and tested inside my painting company. Electrical runs on the same service-call setup we built for HVAC and plumbing: triage by your emergency list, on-call alerts, calendar booking and follow-up. There's no electrical price sheet; beyond your service-call fee, Alex books estimates instead of quoting. We don't have results from electrical contractors to publish yet, and we won't make them up.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $297/mo | 24/7 AI call answering, missed-call text-back, lead capture and CRM sync, call transcripts. |
| Pro | $497/mo | Everything in Basic plus Google Calendar booking with free/busy checks, SMS follow-up sequences (24h / 3d / 5d / 10d), website AI chat widget, appointment reminders, Facebook Messenger. |
| Elite | $997/mo | Everything in Pro plus outbound AI campaigns (win-backs, seasonal reactivation, referral asks), AI revenue coaching by lead source, Google review response writer, objection detection, referral autopilot, franchise HQ rollup. |
Annual billing is two months free. Call minutes included every month: 500 on Basic, 1,200 on Pro, 3,000 on Elite (extra minutes $0.30). No setup fee, month to month.
Which plan for a electrical contractor
Most electricians belong on Pro. Calendar booking, reminders and quote follow-up are the three things that change the week, and panel and EV-charger quotes are where follow-up pays for itself. Elite is worth it once you have a past-customer list and real marketing spend. That's where outbound campaigns, review replies and revenue by lead source come in. Basic covers after-hours answering and lead capture only.
Questions electricians ask
How does it decide what's an electrical emergency?
You write what counts in your own words (partial outage, a breaker that won't reset, burning smell, sparking), whether it applies only when the office is closed or any time, and up to three on-call phones in order. Alex never asks "is this an emergency?"; it decides from what the caller describes and asks one question if it's unclear. Emergencies ring your on-call phones with a text briefing first, and the electrician presses 1 to take the call.
Will it give safety instructions?
If a caller brings up fire, smoke, sparking wires or a downed power line, Alex tells them to call 911. Beyond that it only says what you give it, like calling the utility first. It doesn't troubleshoot and never tells a caller to open a panel or reset equipment.
Can it quote a panel upgrade or EV charger over the phone?
No. Electrical prices depend on the panel, the service and the permit, so Alex books an estimate. If you enter a service-call fee, it can tell a caller what it costs to come out. It follows up on every quote that doesn't close.
We run three trucks. Can it assign jobs?
Yes. Add each electrician in Crew Management and turn on auto-assign. Each booking goes to someone working that day who's free in that window, with a Google Calendar invite and a briefing text.
Does it work with ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro?
Not directly. Bookings go to Google Calendar, and new leads and bookings can go to other software through Zapier or a webhook. If you're a ServiceTitan shop that dispatches from the board, read the ServiceTitan comparison first; their Virtual Agent may fit better.
Fifteen minutes. We call your business line, run a real electrical contractor call, and show you what happens after it. You decide.
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