AI reception for plumbers and heating engineers in Milton Keynes
The calls you miss with your hands in a boiler
A burst pipe doesn't wait for you to finish the job you're on. Most plumbing calls arrive between seven in the morning and nine at night, and a good share of them are the caller's second or third attempt at finding somebody who picks up.
Set up in days · month to month, no lock-in · Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Towcester, Newport Pagnell, Bletchley and Olney
The problem
What it actually looks like for plumbing and heating businesses in Milton Keynes.
Enough volume that missing calls is a business model problem rather than a bad afternoon, and enough competition that it shows up in the takings.
- You're under a sink with both arms wet and the phone goes. By the time you've dried off and rung back, they've called the next name on the list.
- Boiler season starts and the phone doesn't stop, which is exactly when you have the least time to answer it.
- The out-of-hours calls are the valuable ones. They're also the ones you're least likely to take.
None of that is a discipline problem. You can't be on the tools and on the phone at the same time, and no amount of trying harder changes that. It's a coverage problem, and coverage is a thing you can buy.
What we build
What Ellie does for a plumber or a heating engineer.
Ellie is one of the Front Desk Team, the AI receptionist we build for plumbing and heating businesses. Ellie answers your phone, in your business's name, using what you've told us about how you work.
- Answers on the first ring, in your business's name, any hour you tell her to.
- Works out fast whether it's an emergency, a repair or a quote, and says so in the message she sends you.
- Books the ones that can wait straight into your diary, with the address and what's wrong with it.
- Texts you immediately when somebody has water coming through a ceiling, so you decide, not an answerphone.
- Takes the postcode first, every time, so you know before you ring back whether it's even in your patch.
The worry is always that she'll quote a price you'd never have quoted. She doesn't. She takes the job details and books the visit, and the number comes from you when you've seen it.
The evidence
The one number worth knowing.
411 Locals monitored 85 small businesses across 58 industries for 30 days and found that 37.8% of calls were answered by a live person. The same share went to voicemail. Nearly a quarter got nothing at all.
A BT Business study of 1,515 firms put the average value of a single missed call at around £1,200, and found that callers try twice at most before going somewhere else. About a fifth try once.
Those are the two numbers we use, and they're both from named studies you can go and read. We deliberately don't quote the bigger ones that circulate in this industry. The claims about what missed calls cost UK business every year don't trace back to a primary source, and we won't sell you something on a statistic we can't stand behind.
Coverage
Where we cover.
Ellie doesn't care where she is, so the coverage question is really about your patch. Businesses using her around Milton Keynes typically work Buckingham, Towcester, Newport Pagnell, Bletchley and Olney as well, and she takes the postcode at the start of every call, so you know before you ring back whether it's a job you'd travel to.
Fair questions
Questions plumbers and heating engineers ask.
Will she quote for a job?
No. She gathers what the job is, where it is and how urgent it is, then books you in or passes it straight to you. Pricing stays with you.
What about a genuine emergency at 2am?
She's told which situations can't wait. Those get a text to your phone the moment the call ends, with the address and the caller's number. If anybody is in danger she tells them to ring 999 first.
Does it use my existing number?
Either. You can divert your existing line to her when you're busy or after hours, or she can have her own number that you advertise. Most plumbers start with a divert on no-answer.
What does it cost?
Catch is £149 a month plus £250 to set up. Book is £299 a month plus £500. Front Desk+ starts at £450 a month. All prices exclude VAT, and it's month to month, so if she isn't earning her place you stop.
How long does setup take?
Days, not months. We need your service list, your hours, what she may and may not say, and where the bookings go.
Hear her
Try her before you decide.
You don't have to take our word for how she sounds. Ask her something on this page, or leave your number and she'll ring you back so you can hear a real conversation handled.