How much does a painter answering service cost?+
OnCrew's painter answering service 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. Traditional live painter answering services typically run $200 to $500 a month base plus per-minute or per-call fees, and most do not run a painting-specific intake. OnCrew is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Is an AI answering service better than a human receptionist for a painting business?+
An AI answering service for a painting business answers in under one second, runs the same trained intake script on a Saturday at 8 PM as on a Tuesday at 10 AM, and never puts an estimate shopper on hold. A general-purpose live receptionist usually does not ask the questions a competent painter would - interior vs exterior, square footage, ceiling height, prep condition, paint grade, HOA color restrictions, lead-paint year-built flag. OnCrew lets painters route specific call types (large commercial bids, insurance restoration claims, complex HOA approval workflows) to a human service for a hybrid setup. A human estimator is still better for the on-site walkthrough.
How does OnCrew handle lead-paint EPA RRP disclosure callbacks?+
OnCrew is configured during onboarding to flag any inbound call about a home built before 1978 as a potential lead-paint EPA RRP disclosure path. When a caller mentions an older home, a pre-1978 build year, or paint chipping on exterior trim, OnCrew captures the year built, the surfaces being repainted, and the homeowner's child-and-pregnancy status, then routes the call to your EPA-certified RRP estimator with a flag in the call summary. OnCrew does not give regulatory advice on the call - it captures the disclosure-relevant facts and lets your certified renovator handle the legal-disclosure portion in person.
Does OnCrew handle HOA color-restriction calls for residential repaint jobs?+
Yes. OnCrew is configured to ask about HOA, condo association, or planned-community color restrictions on any residential exterior or full-elevation repaint call. The intake captures the HOA name (when the homeowner knows it), the approved-palette status (already approved vs needs approval vs unknown), the timeline window the HOA review will take, and a callback preference. The call summary flags HOA-pending jobs so your estimator does not book a paint date before the color approval comes through.
Does OnCrew handle commercial painting calls as well as residential?+
Yes. OnCrew can be configured during onboarding to recognize commercial painter accounts (after-hours office repaints, retail tenant build-outs, property-management dispatches, warehouse coatings, HOA common-area refresh) and route those calls into a separate workflow - typically with a different on-call roster, a longer intake script, and an after-hours scheduling preference. Most painting shops run a residential-primary line, so commercial branching is opt-in during setup and tuned to your service mix.
Does OnCrew integrate with ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, or Jobber for painting shops?+
Housecall Pro connects from Integrations in the OnCrew dashboard on a Housecall Pro MAX plan: after each real call the caller lands there as a customer and a lead tagged OnCrew, with the call summary, callback number and service address. Jobber, ServiceTitan, any other estimating or field-service platform, and Housecall Pro plans without API access receive the same call record through the webhook export (Zapier, Make, or a custom endpoint), which you connect yourself with Zapier or our team sets up with you. QuickBooks is not integrated. Google Calendar appointment handoff is live as well.
Does an AI answering service work on weekends and during weather emergencies for painters?+
Yes. OnCrew works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. For painters, the high-value windows are weekend estimate shopping (most homeowners price three painters on a Saturday morning), storm-damage exterior repaint inquiries after a major rain or hail event, and after-hours commercial scheduling when a property manager calls between 6 PM and 8 PM. There is no staffing gap and the call is not sent to voicemail. Weather-dependent jobs (exterior prep, top-coat windows) are flagged in the intake so your estimator can schedule around the forecast.
Can OnCrew route an estimate request to a specific estimator or crew lead?+
Yes. During onboarding OnCrew is configured with your estimator roster and routing rules - typically by zip code, by job size, by interior vs exterior, by commercial vs residential, or by a round-robin. When an inbound estimate request matches a rule, OnCrew emails the right estimator in about 90 seconds with the address, the project type, the square-footage range, the timeline, the transcript, and a one-tap link to listen to the call recording. Every address on the routing rule gets it at the same time.
What is OnCrew's trial and cancellation policy for painter answering?+
OnCrew ships with a 14-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee on Starter, Pro, and Multi-Truck plans. There is no annual contract - you can cancel any time from the dashboard. If OnCrew does not work for your painting business in the first 30 days, request a full refund of your subscription fees. See the terms page at oncrew.ai/terms for full guarantee terms.
What is a painter answering service?+
A painter answering service is a 24/7 phone assistant that answers inbound calls in your shop's name, asks painter-specific intake questions (interior vs exterior vs commercial, square footage, ceiling height, prep condition, paint grade, timeline, HOA color restrictions, lead-paint year-built flag), books on-site estimates into your calendar, and routes the call into your estimator workflow. OnCrew is built for residential, commercial, and HOA-restricted repaint shops. Starter pricing is $49/month for 100 included calls.