AI answering service for contractors
OnCrew is an AI receptionist that does the job of a contractor answering service: it answers your phone 24/7 in your company's name, runs a trade-specific intake, separates emergencies from routine requests, and texts and emails your on-call team about 90 seconds after the call. $49 a month for 100 included calls.
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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, and captures job details before routing the call into your on-call workflow. OnCrew is built for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. It separates emergencies (no heat, burst pipe, sparking outlet) from routine requests, texts and emails your on-call team within about 90 seconds, and files recordings and transcripts in your dashboard. Starter pricing is $49/month for 100 included calls, with $0.99 per-call overage and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- 24/7 coverage. Nights, weekends, holidays.
- Lead screening and qualification. Name, address, callback number, trade need, urgency.
- Trade-specific emergency triage. Emergency vocabulary across 13 trades.
- Scheduling and intake handoff. When a Google Calendar is connected, routine requests go there for your team to confirm, or, with booking switched on, into open slots you set. Housecall Pro connects from your dashboard on Housecall Pro's own MAX plan, and Jobber and ServiceTitan get one record per call through the webhook export, with no booking onto their schedule.
- On-call alerts. Text and email, typically within about 90 seconds of the call ending, with transcript and recording.
- Transparent transcripts. Every recording and transcript in your dashboard.
- Pricing truth. $49 / $149 / $349 a month with $0.99 overage. No per-minute billing.
Try it on a real call first
Hear the AI answer before you forward a single call
Talk to Sarah in your browser right now, or start the trial and test her on your own number. Starter is $49/month with 100 included calls after the trial, then $0.99/call overage.
Free. No signup, no card. Your browser asks for the mic, then Sarah answers.
14-day free trial·No credit card to start·30-day money-back guarantee
How an AI answering service works for contractors
A real-time voice engine and a language model hold an actual conversation with each caller: not voicemail, not an IVR menu. Place a test call from your own phone before you forward your line.
Customer calls your number
Same number they always have. OnCrew picks up in your business name.
AI triages the call
A burst pipe from a dripping faucet, a no-heat call from a filter change.
On-call tech alerted in ~11s
Emergencies text and email the on-call team the caller's name, number, address and problem, with the transcript and recording. Routine calls land in your dashboard and, when connected, on your calendar, in Housecall Pro, or in Jobber or ServiceTitan through the webhook export.
Measured on real customer calls in the last 30 days: median 11 seconds from the call ending to the owner's alert text going out.
What counts as urgent, by trade
HVAC: Urgent when there is no heat in freezing weather, no cooling in extreme heat, a carbon monoxide concern, or smoke, a burning smell or sparking from equipment.
Plumbing: Urgent for a burst pipe, active flooding, a sewage backup, no water to the home, a leak the caller cannot stop, or a gas water heater concern.
Electrical: Urgent for sparking outlets or panels, a burning smell from wiring, exposed live wires, partial or full power loss, or a breaker that will not reset.
Roofing: Urgent for an active leak during or after rain, storm or hail damage, a tree or debris through the roof, or a sagging ceiling.
Name, callback number, service address, the issue in the caller's own words, home or business, urgency and preferred time on every customer call. The AI does not commit a tech, an ETA, or a dispatch. It captures the call and hands clean context to your team.
Who uses AI answering services?
HVAC, plumbing, electrical and roofing shops whose one line takes emergencies, routine requests and bid calls. General contractors, builders, remodelers and subs get the same intake with different callers: a bid walkthrough request is captured with project type, address, rough timeline and the caller's own description and lands with your estimator instead of paging the emergency rotation; a sub or supplier calling about a delivery or a site question leaves the company, the job reference and the question for your PM.
What it does not do: OnCrew does not prepare bids or takeoffs, process payments, coordinate permits, dispatch crews, assign technicians, or commit to arrival times. If you already staff a 24/7 in-house dispatcher, need a licensed person on the line, or never want a caller to hear an AI voice on first contact, a live service fits better and we will say so.
Best AI answering services for contractors: 2026 shortlist
Anyone shopping an AI answering service for contractors is choosing between six things: OnCrew, generalist AI receptionists, AI plus human hybrid answering services, voice AI platforms and agent builders, traditional live call centers, and voicemail or forward to mobile. The one that holds a contractor line does trade-specific intake, has a real on-call alert path, and prices in included calls. OnCrew starts at $49/month with $0.99 overage.
Best AI answering service for contractors: what to compare
Buyer rubric: Contractor-specific triage, meaning trade-specific emergency intake with safety branches for gas smell and carbon monoxide; transparent AI identity and disclosure when the caller asks; Included-call pricing vs per-minute billing, the pricing model risk and the overage each extra call adds; setup time and configurability; the on-call alert path; and where recordings, transcripts and dashboard review live. Ask whether coverage is truly 24/7/365 and who is allowed to commit your crew's time. Walk away from a script that treats a smoke smell, a flooding kitchen and a thermostat question the same way, and from anyone who promises a visit before your team has confirmed it. Go deeper before you pick a provider.
Best AI answering service for contractors: category shortlist
Trade-aware AI answering service for contractors is the featured category. OnCrew in this shortlist: $49 Starter, $149 Pro, $349 Multi-Truck, $0.99 overage. Smith.ai, checked against its own pages on 2026-09-22: AI Receptionist free for 25 calls a month then $3.00 a call, or $150/mo for 75 calls ($2.00 a call); human receptionists from $300 a month for 30 calls at $11.50 per call after.
Categories compared: Trade-aware AI answering service for contractors (OnCrew); General voice AI platforms (per-minute, you script it); Lead-qualification suites (per-lead fees, no staffed line); AI plus human hybrid answering services (per call or per minute); Voicemail and forward to mobile (free, you lose the call).
Need the deeper side-by-side? Read the 2026 buyer's guide for contractors.
What it costs next to the alternatives
Starting price
- OnCrew
- $49/mo (100 calls)
- Smith.ai
- $300/mo for 30 calls (receptionists); AI: free for 25 calls, $150/mo for 75
- Ruby
- $250/mo (50 min)
- Traditional
- Varies by vendor
Past the included amount
- OnCrew
- $0.99/call
- Smith.ai
- $11.50/call (receptionists); AI: $2.50/call past the $150 plan, $3.00 past the free one
- Ruby
- Rate not listed on its pricing page; plans go up to $1,725/mo for 500 min
- Traditional
- Varies
What is billed
- OnCrew
- Calls where the AI talks with a caller; hang-ups on the greeting are not counted
- Smith.ai
- Calls
- Ruby
- Receptionist minutes
- Traditional
- Minutes or calls
Recording and transcript
- OnCrew
- Every call, in your dashboard
- Smith.ai
- $0.25/call add-on (receptionists); included (AI)
- Ruby
- AI-powered transcripts listed on its pricing page
- Traditional
- Ask the vendor
Frequently asked questions about AI answering services
How much does an AI answering service cost for contractors?+
OnCrew is $49/month for Starter (100 included calls), $149/month for Pro (400 calls), and $349/month for Multi-Truck (1,000 calls), with $0.99 per overage call and a 30-day money-back guarantee. For comparison, Smith.ai receptionists start at $300/month for a 30-call allotment ($11.50 per call after), its separate AI Receptionist is free for 25 calls a month ($3.00 per call after that) or $150/month for 75 calls ($2.00 a call, then $2.50 per extra call), and Ruby starts at $250/month for 50 minutes, all checked against their published pricing pages on September 22, 2026.
Does OnCrew replace my team or my dispatcher?+
No. OnCrew replaces voicemail, not your team. It answers, captures, triages, alerts, and summarizes; it does not dispatch crews, assign technicians, quote jobs, process payments, or commit to arrival times. Urgent calls reach your on-call team by text and email.
Do I need 24/7 coverage or just after-hours?+
It depends on where calls go unanswered. If the office phone is covered 8 to 5, after-hours-only forwarding closes the gap. If the line rings out at 2pm as often as 2am, forward full-time. You set the rule at your carrier or VoIP layer: full-time, after business hours only, or overflow when nobody answers within a set number of rings. Callers keep dialing the same number, pricing is the same in every mode, and there is no after-hours or holiday surcharge: nights, weekends and overflow run on the same $49, $149 or $349 plan with $0.99 per call after the included volume.
Will callers know they are talking to an AI?+
Some will, and that is fine. OnCrew answers in your business name, sounds natural, and identifies itself as an AI assistant when asked. The caller hears a real conversation, gets the issue acknowledged, and ends the call knowing your team will follow up. Every greeting tells the caller the call is recorded, and a business in a state where one side of a call can consent may limit that notice to callers from states that require it.
Does it work with Jobber, ServiceTitan, or Housecall Pro?+
Yes, in two ways. Housecall Pro connects from your OnCrew dashboard. It needs Housecall Pro's MAX plan (their tier, not an OnCrew plan). Each real caller lands there as a customer and a lead tagged OnCrew, with the call summary, callback number and service address. Jobber, ServiceTitan and other tools get one record per real call (summary, callback number, service address and a link to the call) through the webhook export. Connect it yourself with Zapier, or we set it up with you at no extra charge. It does not book onto your Jobber or ServiceTitan schedule. Google Calendar sync is live. QuickBooks is not integrated.
Do I have to change my phone number or carrier?+
No. OnCrew sits behind your existing business number by call forwarding, so callers keep dialing the number on your trucks and your Google profile. If your number lives in an app that cannot forward calls (Sideline, Index or TextFree), you can move it to OnCrew instead and we handle the port. To test it, start the 14-day trial with no card, forward one call, and listen to the recording in your dashboard, or call (818) 578-4783 and Sarah can set your line up with you on the call.
Does it work with my office phone system?+
Yes. OnCrew takes the calls your existing line does not pick up, so your number and your phones stay as they are. It takes forwarded calls from a cell (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile), a landline (Verizon, AT&T, Spectrum, CenturyLink) and office systems and VoIP services such as Verizon One Talk, Nextiva, 8x8, Dialpad, Ooma Office, GoTo Connect, Grasshopper, Zoom Phone, Comcast Business Voice, RingCentral, Google Voice and Vonage. Your setup page shows the exact step for your system; on an office system it is a forwarding setting, not a keypad code.
Can it transfer a caller to a person?+
Yes, when you switch it on in Settings. A caller who asks for someone on your list is connected to that person's phone, and a caller whose need matches a listed person's area can be offered that person. In the default handoff, if nobody picks up within about 25 seconds, or the 45 or 60 seconds you choose, Sarah comes back on the line and takes a message; with the direct handoff, the caller stays on that phone, voicemail included. Plans include 4 live transfer destinations on Starter, 6 on Pro, and 16 on Multi-Truck.
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.
Does it text my callers?+
Only with SMS Follow-Ups on in your dashboard (new accounts start with it on). The caller gets one confirmation text after the call, and a caller who hangs up before speaking gets one text inviting a reply. Texts come from OnCrew's texting number with your company name, replies are forwarded to your phone, and there is no text conversation.
Stop rolling emergency calls to voicemail
OnCrew answers 24/7 for $49 a month. Live in minutes. 30-day money-back guarantee.
14-day free trial · 30-day money-back guarantee · Cancel anytime