What is an AI answering service for contractors?+
An AI answering service for contractors is a 24/7 phone assistant that answers inbound calls in your business name, asks trade-specific intake questions, captures job details, and routes the call into your on-call workflow. OnCrew is built for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. Starter pricing is $49/month for 100 included calls.
How does AI answering work?+
When a customer calls your business number, the call is forwarded to OnCrew. The AI answers in under one second using a real-time voice engine (Retell AI), greets the caller using your company name, and runs a trade-specific intake script. It classifies whether the call is an emergency or a routine request and routes the call accordingly - booking an appointment into your Google Calendar for routine requests, or alerting your on-call technician by SMS for emergencies. The entire interaction is recorded, transcribed, and pushed to your OnCrew dashboard.
Is AI answering better than a human answering service?+
For home service contractors, an AI answering service offers measurable advantages: sub-second pickup with no hold queue, 24/7/365 coverage with no staffing gaps, consistent quality (no tired operators), trade-specific training that recognizes 'gas leak' versus 'thermostat question,' and a flat monthly rate instead of per-minute billing. Smith.ai's contractor plan currently starts around $300/month with per-call overage at $11.50, and Ruby Receptionists starts at $299/month for 50 receptionist minutes. OnCrew is $49/month for 100 included calls. AI is not a perfect substitute for a human operator on nuanced sales conversations, so OnCrew lets contractors route specific call types to a human if they prefer.
Can AI handle emergency triage for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical?+
Yes. OnCrew's AI is trained on contractor emergency vocabulary across 13 supported trades. It recognizes urgency signals - burst pipes, gas leaks, sewage backups, no-heat in winter, power outages, sparking outlets, active roof leaks, carbon monoxide alarms - and routes them to your on-call workflow instead of scheduling a routine appointment. For confirmed emergencies, the OnCrew dispatcher sends an SMS alert with the customer's name, address, problem summary, and call recording within about 90 seconds.
Is AI answering legal in all 50 states?+
Yes. AI answering services are legal in all 50 United States. OnCrew complies with federal TCPA rules and state-level call recording laws by following two-party consent in every jurisdiction - the AI announces that calls are recorded at the start of each conversation. OnCrew does not place outbound robocalls or solicit cold leads; it only answers inbound calls placed to the contractor's published business number, which is fully compliant under FCC and state telecom rules. Contractors are responsible for ensuring their published phone number and call-forwarding setup comply with their state's telemarketing rules.
Does AI answering integrate with ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, or Jobber?+
OnCrew offers native Google Calendar sync today. For ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, and QuickBooks, OnCrew provides assisted setup - the OnCrew team configures the bridge between OnCrew and your CRM during onboarding using webhooks, Zapier, and email-to-CRM routing. Native API integrations for ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, and Jobber are on the public roadmap for Q3 2026. A webhook export lets contractors with custom systems pipe call data anywhere.
How much does an AI answering service cost for contractors?+
OnCrew's AI answering service for contractors starts at $49/month for the Starter plan (100 included calls), $149/month for Pro (400 included calls), and $349/month for Multi-Truck (1,000 included calls). Overage calls are $0.99 each. This is materially below traditional live answering services. For comparison, Smith.ai's contractor pricing pages currently quote $300/month plans with per-call rates around $11.50 (and per-minute legal plans around $2.40/min), and Ruby Receptionists starts at $299/month for 50 minutes. OnCrew is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Can an AI answering service alert on-call techs for emergencies?+
Yes. When OnCrew classifies a call as an emergency, the AI gathers the address, the nature of the issue, the customer's callback number, and the contact preference, then alerts your on-call technician via SMS in about 90 seconds. The technician acknowledges with a one-tap reply, and OnCrew logs the full transcript, audio recording, and dispatch state in your dashboard. Escalation rules let you route a second alert if the first technician does not acknowledge within a window you configure.
What trades does OnCrew support?+
OnCrew supports 13 home service trades: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, garage door, locksmith, appliance repair, pest control, septic, water damage restoration, handyman, landscaping, and pool service. The AI is trained on trade-specific terminology, emergency types, and service workflows for each industry.
How does OnCrew compare to Smith.ai for contractors?+
Smith.ai is a horizontal AI receptionist that serves law firms, dentists, and many other industries. Their contractor pricing tier currently starts around $300/month with per-call overage at $11.50 (and per-minute legal plans around $2.40/min on separate SKUs). OnCrew is built exclusively for contractors, starts at $49/month for 100 included calls, includes contractor-specific emergency triage routing, and is operated by a founder who has worked the trades. OnCrew provides more included calls at a lower price with contractor-specific intelligence.
How does OnCrew compare to Ruby Receptionist for contractors?+
Ruby Receptionist is a live human answering service starting at $299/month for 50 receptionist minutes. OnCrew is $49/month for 100 complete calls with no per-minute charges, answers in under one second with no human hold queue, and is specifically trained on contractor emergencies. Ruby uses human receptionists with generic scripts that are not tuned for trade-specific urgency or dispatch protocols.
Does OnCrew work after business hours?+
Yes. OnCrew works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year - including nights, weekends, and holidays. There is no staffing gap, no hold queue, and the call is not sent to voicemail. This matters for contractors because the majority of high-value emergency jobs (no heat, flooding, power outage) come in after standard business hours.
How long does it take to set up OnCrew?+
Most contractors are live with OnCrew in 24 to 48 hours. Setup involves a short onboarding call where the OnCrew team gathers your business name, trade, service area, hours, intake script, and on-call roster. The OnCrew team configures the AI agent, and you forward your existing business line to your new OnCrew number - no hardware, no software installation, and no technical expertise required.
What integrations does OnCrew support?+
OnCrew offers native Google Calendar sync today. Assisted-setup workflows are available for ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, and QuickBooks. Native APIs for the three field-service platforms are on the Q3 2026 roadmap. A webhook export lets contractors pipe call data into any custom system, including Zapier.
What does the OnCrew 30-day money-back guarantee cover?+
Every OnCrew subscription is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If OnCrew does not work for your business in the first 30 days, you can request a full refund of your subscription fees. The guarantee covers the OnCrew platform fee on Starter, Pro, and Multi-Truck plans. See the trust page for full terms.
Can I use OnCrew alongside an existing answering service?+
Yes. Many contractors use OnCrew as a first-line AI receptionist for 24/7 coverage and route specific call types (large commercial bids, complex insurance claims) to a human service. You can configure OnCrew to transfer calls to a human number when the caller requests a person, when the topic falls outside the AI's confidence range, or based on time-of-day rules.