What is an HVAC answering service?+
An HVAC answering service answers your business phone when you cannot pick up so callers reach a real conversation instead of voicemail. OnCrew is the AI version: it asks HVAC-specific questions, captures the address, and alerts your on-call tech on urgent calls.
How much does an HVAC answering service cost?+
OnCrew is $49 per month for 100 included calls, $149 for 400, and $349 for 1,000, then $0.99 per call. At full use that is $0.49 a call on Starter, $0.37 on Pro and $0.35 on Multi-Truck. Live answering services price by the minute or by the call: on 2026-09-22 PATLive published $49 a month plus $2.99 a minute, Ruby 50 minutes for $250 a month, and Smith.ai 30 calls for $300 a month.
What is an HVAC AI answering service?+
It is an AI receptionist for an HVAC company: software that answers the shop's line 24/7 in the company's name, asks HVAC intake questions, sorts urgent calls (no heat in freezing weather, no cooling in extreme heat, a carbon monoxide concern, smoke or a burning smell from equipment, HVAC-related water damage, or sparking) from routine ones, and sends the on-call tech the caller's name, number, address and problem by text, with the transcript and recording by email. OnCrew is that AI receptionist for HVAC contractors: $49 a month for 100 included calls, $0.99 per call after, and a 14-day free trial with no card. A person on your team still makes the dispatch, pricing and arrival-time decision.
Is there an AI answering service for HVAC technicians?+
Yes. OnCrew is an AI receptionist for HVAC contractors: it answers the calls that get away while the crew is on the job, runs HVAC intake, treats no heat in freezing weather, no cooling in extreme heat, a carbon monoxide concern, smoke or a burning smell from equipment, HVAC-related water damage, or sparking as urgent, tells a caller who smells gas or has a carbon monoxide alarm to leave the area if it is safe and call 911 first, and texts the on-call tech the caller's name, number, address and problem, typically within about 90 seconds of the call ending. Hear it answer on the demo line at (818) 578-4783, or start the 14-day trial with no card and forward one call to it.
Is there a free answering service available?+
Voicemail is free, but it has no triage, no transcript and no on-call alert. OnCrew is not free, but every plan starts with a 14-day free trial that does not ask for a card, so you can forward your after-hours calls, read the transcripts and cancel anytime if it is not a fit. After the trial, Starter is $49 a month for 100 included calls, there is no setup fee, and a call that ends before anyone speaks is not counted against the plan.
What is an after-hours answering service?+
An after-hours answering service picks up your business line once the office closes: nights, weekends and holidays. With OnCrew those calls are answered in your company name by the AI receptionist. A routine caller hears that the team will have their details first thing at the next opening; an urgent caller (no heat in freezing weather, no cooling in extreme heat, a carbon monoxide concern, smoke or a burning smell from equipment, HVAC-related water damage, or sparking) hears that your team is alerted the moment the call ends, you or your on-call tech 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. Forwarding can be after-hours only, so daytime calls keep ringing your office, and nights, weekends and holidays run on the same plan with no surcharge.
Is OnCrew an HVAC virtual receptionist?+
Yes. OnCrew works as an AI HVAC virtual receptionist: it answers in your shop name, runs HVAC intake, and alerts your on-call tech on real emergencies. A live virtual receptionist is a remote human billed by the minute or by the call; OnCrew runs the same conversation 24/7 on a monthly plan.
Is OnCrew an AI dispatcher for HVAC?+
No. OnCrew triages and alerts; the dispatch decision stays with your team. It flags the urgent call and pages your on-call tech with the transcript, and a human still decides whether to roll a truck.
Can I forward only after-hours calls?+
Yes. Most HVAC shops start with after-hours and weekend forwarding and add daytime overflow later. Forwarding is set on your existing line, so your number stays the same.
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.
Does it work with my on-call rotation?+
Yes. Your number stays the same, since forwarding is set on your existing line, and alerts follow your Team page: each person has their own phone, email and the kinds of calls they hear about, and texts to your team are a setting you switch on. Mark a row as an on-call slot, a rotating number your dispatchers keep current, and they can swap in whoever is on call that week without touching anything else. You can also have urgent calls text only your on-call slots.
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.