An AI receptionist for garage door companies that answers the broken-spring call at 6 am
A broken spring at 6:45 am with a car stuck inside is the most urgent call a garage door company gets, and that caller hires whoever answers. Here's how the AI handles it, how it books the routine repairs, and what it won't do.
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 garage door companies actually lose the job
Garage door customers don't shop long. The door won't open, they're late for work, and they call down the search results until someone answers. Angi puts the average repair at $265, with spring replacement at $180 to $350 (Angi, "How Much Do Garage Door Repairs Cost? [2026 Data]"). A single missed call is small. The pattern isn't: a tech on a ladder with a torsion bar in his hands misses several a day, and the company that answers gets the repair, the next door replacement and the review.
The bigger tickets leak slowly. A new insulated door or a full opener upgrade is a considered purchase, and the homeowner gets two or three quotes. Nobody on a small crew has time to follow up on every one between service calls.
What the AI does on a garage door company 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 (won't open, won't close, loud bang, cable off, door crooked, opener dead, remote not working), whether a car is stuck inside, whether the door is stuck open, and the address. For install calls it asks single or double door, the style they want and their timeline.
Then it follows your rules. Calls you define as urgent, like a trapped car or a door stuck open after dark, go to your on-call phones. The first gets a text briefing (caller, address, what's happening), then rings; the tech hears the briefing and presses 1 to take the call. No answer, Alex rings the next phone, up to three in order. If nobody picks up, the caller leaves a message and the transcript reaches every on-call phone by text within about a minute. Emergency texts and website chats alert the same phones, and the tech can reply CALL to be connected to the customer from your business number. Alex never promises an arrival time. You decide what the AI tells callers about safety, for example not to try to open a door with a broken spring. It never gives repair instructions and never tells anyone to touch a spring or cable. Routine repairs book into open arrival windows on your Google Calendar, and jobs per window can match your truck count. With auto-assign on, each booking goes to a free tech with a calendar invite and a briefing text.
Then it does what a voicemail can't: it gives a ballpark. It reads from your price sheet and says it like a dispatcher would: "Replacing both springs on a single-car door usually runs about two hundred to three fifty. The tech confirms the exact price on site before starting." The sheet covers spring replacement (torsion or extension), cables, a door off its track, opener repair, tune-ups, new openers by drive type, and new doors by size and material. Two-car doors and window rows adjust the range. It never gives a firm price, and it never skips the "confirmed on site" line.
Some jobs never get a phone price, and the AI knows which: bent panels or a door that fell, panel replacement (it has to match the door), wood, carriage-house, glass and custom doors, and commercial or roll-up doors. Those get a visit booked instead.
Callers who find you online can do the same on your website: the Quick Quote asks which spring, what size door, or which opener, shows a range, and lets them pick a time. Customers can also text a photo of the door. Alex saves it to the customer card, sends your Quick Quote link for a job it can price, offers a visit for anything else, and forwards a photo that comes with an emergency to your on-call phones.
What happens after the call
Every new-door or opener quote that doesn't close on the spot goes into a follow-up text sequence at 24 hours, 3, 5 and 10 days ("Any questions on the insulated door? We can hold that price through the end of the month.") and stops when they reply. Missed calls get a text back within seconds. Booked repairs get a reminder, and repeat customers are recognized by caller ID.
Every number you publish is tracked as its own lead source, so you can see which one produced booked jobs: LSA, Google, the truck wrap or the builder you do new construction for. On Elite, outbound campaigns offer a tune-up to customers you repaired a year or two ago, and every Google review gets a reply drafted.
What it doesn't do: diagnose the door, order parts, or take payment. It gets the right tech to the right driveway.
A week on the phone, garage door company edition
This is an example of how the system handles a week, not a customer's results.
Wednesday, 6:40 am. A caller heard a bang last night and now the door won't open, with her car inside and a 7:30 meeting. That's a trapped car under your rules, so the on-call tech gets a text briefing and a call: address, loud bang, door won't lift, car inside. He presses 1 and he's talking to her. At the same time a second caller wants a quote on a new double door. The AI books an estimate for Thursday at 2.
Thursday's estimate ends with "we're getting one more quote." The follow-up starts that night. On day 5 he replies: "Your price was fair, let's do it." That afternoon a property manager calls about two doors that won't close at a rental. The AI books both for Monday morning and notes the property manager 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 garage door company
In Settings, pick Garage Doors as your trade. That loads the garage door price sheet. Turn on the estimator in Settings, and Alex uses it on calls and texts and the garage door Quick Quote goes on your website. Click See the prices the AI quotes to read the exact sheet. It starts from 2026 national prices (higher in high-cost states, lower in low-cost ones), and you move each service up or down by percentage until it matches what you charge. Apply the recommended scheduling (two-hour arrival windows, same-day with two hours' notice), then add your techs in Crew Management and turn on auto-assign, or set jobs per window to your number of trucks. Add up to three on-call phones in order, a supervisor if you want one, what counts as urgent in your own words, and what to tell callers about safety. Forward your existing number or port it.
A straight answer about where this comes from: AI Front Desk Helper was built and tested inside my painting company. The garage door price sheet and Quick Quote were added in September 2026. Everything on this page is what the system does today; we don't have results from garage door companies 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 garage door company
Most garage door companies belong on Pro. Booking into arrival windows, reminders and quote follow-up all live there, and a same-day repair business runs on booking. Basic answers every call and captures the lead but doesn't book. Elite adds tune-up campaigns to past customers, review replies and revenue by lead source, worth it once you have a real list and real ad spend.
Questions garage door companies ask
Will the AI give prices over the phone?
Yes, with the estimator turned on, by phone or text, as a range from your price sheet, never a firm number. Springs are priced by type, openers by drive type, and new doors by size and material, and Alex always says the technician confirms the price on site before starting.
Where do the prices come from?
From a price sheet you control. It starts with 2026 national prices (for example, both springs on a single-car door at $200 to $350 in a mid-cost area), and you adjust each service by percentage to match your rates. You can open the exact sheet Alex reads at any time.
What won't it quote by phone?
Bent panels or a door that fell, panel replacement, wood, carriage-house, glass or custom doors, and commercial or roll-up doors. Those callers get a visit booked instead of a number.
How does it decide what's urgent?
You list what counts in your own words: a car trapped inside, a door stuck open at night, or anything else you choose, and whether it applies only when the office is closed or any time. Alex never asks the caller if it's an emergency; it decides from what they describe. Your on-call tech gets a text briefing, then a call, and presses 1 to take it. No answer, it rings the next phone, up to three in order.
Will it tell callers how to fix the door?
No. It only says what you tell it to, for example not to try to open a door with a broken spring. It never gives repair instructions.
We run four trucks. Can it assign jobs?
Yes. Add each tech in Crew Management and turn on auto-assign. Each booking goes to someone working that day who's free in that window.
Fifteen minutes. We call your business line, run a real garage door company call, and show you what happens after it. You decide.
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