Short answer: An AI receptionist for contractors answers your phone when you can't, takes the caller's details, and either books the job or leaves you a clean message. Tools in this directory that offer one include Avoca, Hatch, ServiceTitan, Jobber, Roofr and WaveSales; the table below compares them using only what their vendors publish.
What it costs (published prices only)
AI receptionist pricing published by each vendor, checked Nov 2, 2026
I'm Daniel Massaad. I built a solar company from $0 to $60M, and the phone problem never went away: techs under a sink, crews on a roof, CSRs slammed at lunch, and a homeowner with a burst pipe who will call the next shop if nobody picks up. Every vendor now sells an "AI receptionist for contractors" or an "AI receptionist for trades." Most of what you read is a demo video. I built Trades AI Use Cases because I wanted the opposite — real shops, named tools, and a link to the public source so you can judge it yourself.
This page is a plain guide to what that category actually looks like in the field, with links into the entries and tool pages already on this site. Nothing here is a paid placement. Vendor case studies are labeled as vendor-reported.
What an AI receptionist actually does
Strip the marketing and you're left with a voice (or chat) agent on your main line, overflow, or after-hours. It answers, takes details, books into your schedule when it can, and hands off to a human when it can't. Some tools stop at a clean message. Others book the job, offer a membership, or fire a follow-up text. The useful question isn't "is AI cool?" — it's whether missed and after-hours calls are already costing you jobs.
Owner-operator Frank Galvin of Frankie's Plumbing in San Diego can't answer emergency calls mid-job, so Jobber's AI Receptionist picks up, takes the caller's details and leaves him a clear message to return between jobs. "The AI takes a message. It jots down the information very well... we're able to get their business, and we don't lose any money," he says. The case study also credits Jobber's quoting, scheduling and payment tools as the company grew from about $100K to an estimated $800K a year.
My Plumber Plus, a large residential plumbing and HVAC company (about $129M revenue and 356 employees per the case study), used to push overflow calls to a third-party service with long holds. It now routes overflow to Avoca's AI Responder, which picks up within seconds and books jobs. Avoca reports zero hold time for overflow callers, 1,000+ calls handled since launch, and a 17% higher booking rate than the old overflow process.
High Ground (about 150 employees across NJ, NH and ME) started with AI only on overflow and after-hours calls in place of voicemail. It then moved AI to the front line one day a week, then two, then all five, with warm transfers to CSRs for escalations. The company reports AI now handles 75% of inbound calls, the abandon rate fell from 10% to 2%, AI books 81% of bookable calls, $250K-$300K a year in CSR costs were avoided without layoffs, and outbound SMS campaigns bring in $100K-$250K a month.
Hatch, ServiceTitanVendor case studyHatch · Dec 2025
The Aire Serv HVAC franchise in Sevierville, TN swapped its third-party live answering service for Avoca's AI on after-hours calls. The AI follows the brand's call standards, books jobs directly and offers maintenance/subscription plans when relevant. Avoca reports after-hours bookings went from 58 to 208 over the comparison period (a 90% after-hours booking rate) and that 41% of eligible callers signed up for a plan.
Brothers had call abandon rates near 30%, and callbacks could take 10+ hours. The team set up ServiceTitan's AI Virtual Agent around its real capacity, zones, technician skill sets and job types so it only books what the business can deliver. ServiceTitan reports 600+ jobs booked by the agent, $1.33M in attributed revenue and a 67% drop in the abandon rate (to about 5%). "Since November, we've recovered over a million dollars worth of revenue," says lead systems administrator Tyler Frydenlund.
Los Angeles HVAC company Brody Pennell (200+ employees) replaced four separate front-office vendors in 2025 with one AI platform covering voice, web chat and scheduling, speed-to-lead on social leads, outbound text/direct-mail campaigns, estimate follow-ups and membership renewals. According to Avoca, the booking rate rose from 65-70% to 90%, Facebook/Meta lead conversion went from about 15% to 25%, and the call-center manager got back roughly three hours a day of manual call review.
Want the full customer-service feed? Filter the homepage by thecustomer service task, or browseplumbing and HVAC.
Tools that show up in these stories
We don't rank or endorse tools. These are the products named in the entries above, each with its own page on this site:
Jobber — AI Receptionist that takes a message while you're mid-job (Frankie's Plumbing).
Avoca — AI front office for overflow, after-hours and full front-line answering (My Plumber Plus, Aire Serv, Brody Pennell).
Hatch — AI on the phones plus outbound SMS, stepped from overflow to front line (High Ground).
ServiceTitan — AI Virtual Agent that books against real capacity and zones (Brothers Plumbing).
WaveSales — AI voice agent for solar lead booking (related pattern; see the Independent Energy Hawaii entry).
AI receptionist for trades vs. a live answering service
A lot of shops already pay a third-party answering service. The AI pitch is usually: pick up faster, book into your real schedule, follow your script, and cost less per call than a BPO. Whether that holds for your shop depends on call volume, how messy your bookable job types are, and whether you have a human who can take warm transfers. The entries above are the proof points people cite — read the sources, then decide.
AI agents answer calls, texts and web chats and book jobs around the clock; SMS/call follow-up campaigns; call scoring for managers. Describes itself as a ServiceTitan certified app.
HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing
Not published in our directory entry; check the vendor
Answers calls 24/7, screens spam, books into the team calendar, logs summaries and transcripts on the job card, can quote via Roofr’s Instant Estimator.
Roofing
Roofr published $99/month ($85 billed yearly) with 200 minutes, as of Oct 19, 2026
Handles inbound voice calls and web leads and assigns the right technician to each call; outbound campaigns for unsold estimates.
Home services
Not published in our directory entry; check the vendor
—
Every cell comes from the tool's page in this directory, which was checked against the vendor's own website. Not a ranking or endorsement; features and pricing change, so confirm with the vendor.
How to choose an AI receptionist for your contracting business
Built into your software or standalone? If you already run Jobber, ServiceTitan or Roofr, their built-in receptionist sees your calendar. Standalone tools like Avoca, Hatch and WaveSales say they integrate with CRMs and scheduling systems; confirm yours is on the list.
Where are calls being missed? After-hours, lunch-hour overflow, or the whole front line. Most shops in our entries started with overflow or after-hours (My Plumber Plus, Aire Serv) before moving to the front line (High Ground).
Warm transfer. Make sure angry, commercial or out-of-script callers reach a person.
Texts and follow-up. If speed-to-lead on web leads matters as much as the phone, look at tools that also text and call leads back (see Homer Home Service).
Get pricing in writing. Jobber and Roofr publish receptionist prices; most others quote. See AI receptionist pricing and ask for per-minute or per-call terms in writing.
FAQ
What is an AI receptionist for contractors?
A voice (and often text) agent that answers your business line, takes the caller's details, and either leaves you a message or books the job into your schedule, handing off to a person when it can't help.
Can an AI receptionist book jobs, or only take messages?
Both exist. Jobber's AI Receptionist is described as answering calls and taking messages; ServiceTitan's AI virtual agent, Avoca, Hatch and Roofr's add-on are described by their vendors as booking appointments.
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
Jobber lists its Receptionist as a $29/month add-on (included on its Plus plan) and Roofr lists its AI Receptionist at $99/month ($85/month billed yearly), per their pricing pages checked Nov 2, 2026. WaveSales publishes credit-based plan sizes but shares dollar prices on a call; Avoca, Hatch, ServiceTitan and Probook don't publish prices on the pages we checked. See our AI receptionist pricing page for sources.
Is an AI receptionist better than an answering service?
It depends on your call volume and whether the AI can book into your real schedule. Shops in our entries mostly started with overflow or after-hours calls, then expanded. Read the linked sources and decide for your shop.
Will customers know they're talking to AI?
Some vendors build in disclosure: WaveSales, for example, lists automatic AI disclosure among its features. Rules on AI calls and texts vary by state and by whether the call is inbound or outbound, so check with your own counsel. This isn't legal advice.
Does an AI receptionist book into Jobber or ServiceTitan?
Jobber's Receptionist is built into Jobber and its pricing page says it can book jobs in your calendar. ServiceTitan's AI virtual agent books inside ServiceTitan, and Avoca describes itself as a ServiceTitan certified app. For standalone tools, check the vendor's integration list for your exact software.
Which AI receptionist do roofing contractors use?
Roofr sells an AI Receptionist add-on that answers 24/7, screens spam and books appointments; Hatch and WaveSales also list roofing among the trades they serve.
Free newsletter
Get new AI receptionist and phone use cases
When we add another sourced example of contractors putting AI on the phones, it shows up in one short email. Free.