After-hours calls for tradies: catch the emergencies, sleep through the rest
How to separate a burst pipe from a dripping tap at 10pm, get woken only when it matters, and still book the routine jobs for the morning.
Evening and weekend calls are where trade businesses win and lose the most work. The emergencies pay well and customers remember who picked up. The routine ones can wait until morning, but only if the caller knows someone will ring back. The hard part is telling them apart without answering every call yourself.
Decide what counts as urgent
Write your list before anything else, in plain words. For a plumber it might be:
- Water coming through a ceiling, or a burst pipe that will not stop
- No water to the whole house
- Sewage overflowing inside
- Gas smell (tell them to call the gas emergency line first)
For an electrician: sparking, burning smells, no power to a house with medical equipment, or a switchboard that is hot. Everything else is routine: a dripping tap, a light that flickers, a quote for a new bathroom.
Ask the questions a good receptionist would
The call is only useful if the right questions are asked: what is happening, is the water or power off, where is the property, how do we get in, is anyone at risk. An AI receptionist set up for trades asks these on every call and writes the answers down, so you are not ringing back to ask them again.
Get reached only when it matters
This is where most after-hours setups fail: they either wake you for everything or bury the emergency in a voicemail. The better pattern:
- Urgent job: you get a text straight away with the job, the address and the caller's number.
- You reply with one number: 1 you will ring them, 2 you are on the way, 3 first thing tomorrow. The receptionist tells the caller your answer while they are still on the line, or texts it to them.
- No reply in the minutes you choose: it rings you, reads you the job and takes your answer.
- Routine job: it books the first slot in your calendar for the morning and texts the caller the time. You sleep.
That is how Aroha handles calls for tradies. You choose what counts as urgent and how many minutes to wait before it rings you.
Tell the caller what happens next
A caller at 10pm with water on the floor needs three things: to know someone has the job, when they will hear back, and what to do meanwhile (turn the water off at the mains, turn the power off at the switchboard). A good receptionist says all three.
Price it properly
Emergency call-outs are worth charging for. Tell callers the after-hours call-out fee on the phone so there are no surprises, and book routine work at normal rates for the morning. Our guide on what a missed call costs a trade business shows why answering them is worth it.
Questions
Can it put an emergency caller straight through to me?
Yes, if you switch it on. It rings your mobile with a short brief and connects the caller when you press 1. If you do not answer, it takes a proper message and texts you.
What if I am already on a job?
Reply to the text with 3 (first thing tomorrow) or a short message, and the caller hears it straight away.
Does it work with my own number?
Yes. Forward the calls you miss to it and your phone still rings first. See keep your number or get a new one.