AI Voice Agent for Trades
The AI voice agent built for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing call lines
An AI voice agent for trades picks up your business phone, runs a trade-specific intake the way a dispatcher would, classifies urgent calls in real time, and routes the call to your on-call channel. OnCrew is purpose-built for the four trades, with per-call pricing from $49 a month and a 14-day free trial.
What is an AI voice agent for trades?
An AI voice agent for trades is an AI phone receptionist trained on the call patterns of HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. It picks up the business phone line live, has a real conversation with the caller, runs a trade-specific intake (the same questions a dispatcher in that trade would ask), classifies emergencies in real time, and routes the call to the on-call channel. Unlike a general-purpose AI receptionist, the trade logic is baked into the product instead of configured by the customer.
How the AI handles each trade
The intake questions match what a dispatcher in that trade would ask, not a generic receptionist script.
HVAC
The AI asks about thermostat behavior, air-handler symptoms, who is in the home, and whether the call is no-heat in winter or AC failure on a heat-advisory day. Urgent flag fires on gas-smell or no-heat in extreme weather.
Read the HVAC guidePlumbing
The AI asks about water height, whether it is clean water or sewage, where the main shutoff is, and whether a fixture is actively leaking. Urgent flag fires on burst-pipe, sewer-backup, no-hot-water in winter.
Read the Plumbing guideElectrical
The AI asks about panel location, burning smell, what tripped, what changed recently, and whether the EV charger or HVAC compressor is involved. Urgent flag fires on sparking outlets, burning smell, or no-power in extreme weather.
Read the Electrical guideRoofing
The AI asks about active leaks, ceiling condition, recent storms, what came down, and whether the customer can see daylight. Urgent flag fires on active leak during rain or storm-damaged roof.
Read the Roofing guideHow the AI voice agent handles a contractor call
The exact flow that picks up the call when your crew cannot.
- 1
Caller dials your business number
Keep your number. Forward your line full-time, after-hours only, or on overflow. The AI voice agent picks up when your crew cannot.
- 2
AI greets in your business name
The caller hears a clear, conversational greeting in your business name. The AI runs a trade-specific intake: trade, address, problem, what changed, who is in the home.
- 3
Urgent vs routine triage in real time
The AI classifies trade-specific emergencies as the call is happening. Urgent calls route immediately to your on-call channel: SMS, Slack, Telegram, or email. Routine calls queue for normal follow-up.
- 4
Your team takes it from there
Intake plus full transcript lands in your alert channel. A human on your team decides next steps and calls back. The AI does not promise dispatch times or quote jobs.
Why contractors choose an AI voice agent built for trades
Trade logic in the model, not in your config
General-purpose AI receptionist platforms give you an agent and ask you to write the rules. An AI voice agent for trades has the rules pre-built. The intake questions match what a dispatcher in that trade would ask.
Real-time urgent classification at 3am
The AI does not depend on an operator on duty interpreting the script. The same trade-specific urgent rules fire at 3am as at 3pm. A no-heat in winter, a gas smell, an active leak, a sparking panel with burning smell, a storm-damaged roof all route the same way every time.
Per-call pricing matches contractor call mix
Emergency intake runs five to nine minutes; routine quote requests run two to three. Per-call pricing covers both at a flat rate. Per-minute pricing is fair when calls are short and predictable; contractor calls are neither.
Structured handoff to the channel your team already uses
Caller name, address, problem, trade-specific urgency cue, and full transcript land in SMS, Slack, Telegram, or email. No new dashboard to log into. The on-call tech reads the alert on the channel they already monitor.
Sub-week setup, no scripted onboarding
Most contractor shops are live within days. Keep your existing business number. Pick forwarding rules. Configure greeting and urgent-call rules. Start the 14-day free trial.
Voice-first design for inbound phone lines
Some platforms bundle voice with SMS, WhatsApp, email, and outbound campaigns. That breadth has its own value. For a contractor whose primary inbound channel is the ringing business phone, voice-first architecture is simpler to set up and operate.
Trade-specific vs general-purpose AI voice
The most important design choice in AI voice for a contractor shop is whether the AI is pre-tuned for the trade or whether the customer has to configure it. General-purpose AI receptionist platforms are flexible by design: you write the prompts, choose the intake questions, set the urgency rules, and integrate the handoff. That flexibility is real value for businesses with strong internal ops.
An AI voice agent for trades makes the opposite choice. The trade questions, the urgency rules, and the handoff format are pre-built into the product for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing. The customer does not write the trade logic. For most contractor shops, that is the faster on-ramp and the better fit.
Per-call pricing on contractor phone lines
Per-minute pricing is fair when calls are short and predictable. Contractor emergency intake is neither. A real emergency call runs five to nine minutes from greeting to confirmation: the caller is describing a problem, the AI is asking the dispatcher questions, and the structured handoff is built call by call. Per-call pricing at $0.99 overage covers a 60-second wrong number and a 9-minute slab-leak intake at the same flat cost. Storm seasons stop compounding the bill the way per-minute does.
Real-time urgent triage out of the box
The hardest part of after-hours phone coverage for a contractor is getting the urgent calls to the right person fast. A voicemail captures the call but does not route it. A live receptionist routes it but only as well as the script is written and the operator on duty interprets it. An AI voice agent for trades classifies trade-specific emergencies in real time: no heat in winter, gas smell, active leak, sparking panel with burning smell, storm-damaged roof. The urgent flag fires the same way at 3am as at 3pm, and the alert lands in the channel your team already monitors.
When a generic AI receptionist still wins
If your shop runs more than the four trades, if you need a single platform that handles voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and email together, or if outbound automation is as important as inbound answering, a general-purpose AI receptionist or multi-channel AI communication platform is the broader fit. A vertical-focused AI voice agent for trades is built for a narrower job.
For HVAC, plumbing, electrical, or roofing shops where the primary need is a real conversation on the phone line with a trade-aware intake and real-time urgent routing, the trade-specific design wins.
Published per-call pricing
Three plans tied to contractor call volume. Pick the one that matches your shop.
OnCrew Starter
100 included calls/mo
$49/mo
+ $0.99/call overage
OnCrew Pro
400 included calls/mo
$149/mo
+ $0.99/call overage
OnCrew Multi-Truck
1,000 included calls/mo
$349/mo
+ $0.99/call overage
For the wider category breakdown, read the contractor answering service cost breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
What is an AI voice agent for trades?
An AI voice agent for trades is an AI phone receptionist that picks up your business line, has a real conversation with the caller, runs an intake tuned to your trade (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, or roofing), and routes the call. The trade-specific part is the value: the AI knows to ask about thermostat behavior on a no-heat call, water height on a sewer backup, burning smell on a sparking panel, and storm damage on a roof leak. A general-purpose AI receptionist works for any business; an AI voice agent for trades is tuned to four trades specifically.
How is an AI voice agent for trades different from a generic AI receptionist?
A generic AI receptionist gives you a configurable agent that you adapt to your workflow with prompts and rules. An AI voice agent for trades is pre-tuned for the four trades it serves: the intake questions, the urgency rules, and the dispatch handoff are baked into the product. You do not write the trade logic; it ships in the model. For contractor phone lines, the narrower scope means deeper fit.
Does the AI voice agent handle emergencies in real time?
Yes. OnCrew classifies trade-specific emergencies as the call is happening (no heat in winter, gas smell, active leak, sparking panel with burning smell, storm-damaged roof) and routes urgent calls directly to your on-call channel: SMS to the on-call tech, Slack message to dispatch, Telegram alert, or email. Routine calls queue for normal follow-up.
What does an AI voice agent for trades cost?
Pricing for AI voice agents for trades varies. OnCrew publishes three plans tied to contractor call volume: Starter $49/mo for 100 calls, Pro $149/mo for 400 calls, Multi-Truck $349/mo for 1,000 calls, with $0.99 per-call overage. Other AI voice agents range from $99/mo flat (multi-vertical) to per-seat enterprise pricing in the low hundreds per month. Per-call pricing is friendliest to contractor call patterns because emergency intake can run five to nine minutes.
Will the AI sound human enough for my callers?
Modern AI voice agents are clear and conversational. OnCrew uses a tuned voice that runs a trade-aware intake the same way a dispatcher would. Most contractor callers report the experience as a normal phone call. For businesses where a live human voice on every answered call is core to brand, a live receptionist service is still the better fit; for everyone else, the AI captures the intake and your callback closes the relationship.
Can I keep my number and forward calls only after hours?
Yes. Keep your existing business number. Forwarding rules either route calls to the AI voice agent full-time or only after-hours and on overflow. Most contractors are live within days.
Keep researching
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