Masonry Answering Service FAQ
Quick answers on what a masonry answering service is, what it costs, what it takes down, how a call gets flagged urgent, and what happens after the call.
What is a masonry answering service?+
A masonry answering service, or brick repair answering service, answers your business line when you cannot pick up, so a homeowner with crumbling mortar or a property manager with a cracked wall reaches a conversation instead of voicemail. OnCrew is the AI receptionist version for masonry, brick and stone companies: Sarah answers 24/7 in your company name, takes the caller's name, callback number, service address and the work in their own words, flags the call urgent when the caller says it cannot wait, and sends your team the details by text and email with the transcript and recording.
Is there an AI answering service for masonry contractors?+
Yes. OnCrew is an AI receptionist, a masonry contractor virtual receptionist that runs on software instead of a remote person, built to replace a live answering service on a masonry company's line. It answers 24/7 in your business name, runs the same intake on a Sunday night as on a Tuesday morning, takes estimate requests, repair calls and messages from general contractors and suppliers, flags urgent calls on the caller's own word, and texts your team the caller's name, number, address and need within seconds of the call ending (measured median on oncrew.ai/trust), with the transcript and recording by email. It does not estimate the job, quote a price or schedule your crew; a person on your team still makes those decisions. Starter is $49 a month for 60 included minutes, $0.99 per minute after, with a 14-day free trial and no card to start.
How much does an answering service for masonry contractors cost?+
OnCrew is $49 per month for 60 included minutes, $149 for 200, and $349 for 500, then $0.99 per minute. At full use that is about $0.82 a minute on Starter, $0.75 on Pro and $0.70 on Multi-Truck. Hang-ups before anyone speaks, recognized robocalls and calls from your team's listed numbers are not counted. Starter was built for the owner who also lays the brick: there is no minimum team size, and the same plan covers nights, weekends and holidays with no surcharge. As the company grows, Pro and Multi-Truck add phone numbers, alert recipients and live transfer destinations. Live answering services price by the minute or by the call. Their own pricing pages list PATLive at $49/mo plus $2.99 per minute, Ruby at $250/mo for 50 minutes and Smith.ai at $300/mo for 30 calls (PATLive and Smith.ai checked October 16, 2026; Ruby checked October 2, 2026).
How does the AI decide a masonry call is urgent?+
On the caller's own word. Masonry is not one of the four trades with a built-in urgent list (HVAC, plumbing, electrical and roofing); a masonry company signs up as Multiple trades unless it is also one of those four, so Sarah treats a call as urgent when the caller says the matter is urgent or an emergency, or describes something that clearly cannot wait for a routine callback. There is no masonry emergency list making that call for them, and no built-in script for a leaning, cracked or damaged wall; you can add your own instructions for those calls in your notes. If anyone is in immediate danger (fire, smoke, a medical emergency), she tells the caller to call 911 first. On an urgent call she takes only the name, the callback number, the address and what is happening, and the request is flagged so your team sees it first.
What details does it take on a masonry call?+
The caller's name, best callback number, service address, the issue in their words, whether the location is a home or a business, how urgent it is, and a preferred time. If your notes list more to collect on routine calls, for example whether the work is brick, block or stone, the rough size of the job, or whether the caller can email photos, she asks for each one, one short question at a time, and skips anything the caller already said. When a caller wants to send photos, she takes their email address and says your team will reach out so they can reply with the pictures; she never gives out an email address for your company. Everything lands in the transcript and summary your team gets when the call ends.
Can it take calls from general contractors and suppliers?+
Yes. A general contractor calling about a job, a supplier calling about an order or a delivery, or a customer checking on a start date gets the short message path: their name, a check that the number they are calling from works for a callback, and a one-sentence note on what the call is about, with no service address or preferred time asked. Sarah cannot see your schedule or job board, so she never gives a start date or a job status; she takes the message and your team calls back. A property manager calling about a building they look after is a customer, so that call gets the full intake. If the caller says it is urgent, or describes something that clearly cannot wait, the call is flagged urgent.
What happens after the call?+
While your office is open, Sarah tells the caller the details are going to the team right away and someone should call back shortly. After hours, a routine caller hears that the office opens again at the next opening and the team will have everything first thing; an urgent caller hears that the team is alerted the moment the call ends and someone calls back as soon as they can. If your notes say there is no after-hours service, she marks the call urgent for when the office opens instead. She never promises an exact callback time unless your notes give one. You or your on-call contact gets a text with the caller's name, number, address and need, and the email with the transcript and recording goes to every address on your alert list.
Does OnCrew send a crew or give the caller an arrival time?+
No. OnCrew triages and alerts; the dispatch decision stays with your team. Sarah will not say a crew is on the way, quote a price your notes do not give, or commit to an arrival time or a start date. She takes the details, flags the urgent ones, and a person on your team decides who calls back, when the estimate visit happens and when the crew goes out.
What happens when a caller insists on a real person?+
With live transfer off, the default, Sarah says the team is out on jobs (or, after hours, that the office is closed). She asks what the call is about and takes the details, with a note that the caller asked for a live person. If you switch live transfer on, she offers to connect the caller to the people you list. In the default handoff, if nobody picks up within about 25 seconds, or the ring time you choose, Sarah comes back on the line and takes a message; with the direct handoff the caller stays on that phone, voicemail included.
Does it answer Spanish-speaking callers?+
Calls are handled in English by default. Spanish (Latin American) is a setting you switch on in your dashboard at no extra charge. English and Spanish are the languages Sarah speaks today. If many of your callers speak Spanish, test it on your own line before you forward everything.
Can Sarah book appointments, or only take the request?+
Both, depending on a setting. By default Sarah takes the request: the caller's name, callback number, service address and the problem, sent to you by text and email when the call ends, and your team sets the time. If you connect Google Calendar and switch on booking, then for routine jobs she offers the next open times inside your business hours and puts the one the caller picks on your calendar, telling them your team will confirm before then. Emergencies are never booked; they go to your team right away.
Will callers know they are talking to an AI?+
Sarah answers in your company name and takes the call the way a receptionist would. If a caller asks whether she is a person, a recording, or an AI, she answers honestly in one breath: she is the automated assistant that takes down what they need, and a live person from your company calls them back. Then she asks what she can pass along. She never claims to be a person.