Use cases / Lead Capture

24/7 AI Receptionist for Missed & After-Hours Calls

In short: Office is closed or dispatch is busy; emergency callers hit voicemail and call the next company. This workflow uses Vapi/Retell/Synthflow + ServiceTitan/Housecall Pro/Jobber + Twilio to fix it, and it is rated easy to set up.

Trades
HVAC, Plumbing, Roofing, Electrical
Category
Lead Capture
Difficulty
Easy
ROI lever
Recovered jobs / speed-to-lead
Tools
Vapi/Retell/Synthflow + ServiceTitan/Housecall Pro/Jobber + Twilio

Workflow

  1. Forward after-hours/overflow to AI number.
  2. Prompt: greet, identify emergency vs routine, collect name/address/issue, offer 2 real slots.
  3. Create customer+job in CRM, text dispatcher for emergencies.
  4. Send caller SMS confirmation + transcript to office.

Starter prompt

You are the after-hours and overflow phone receptionist for [Company], a [trade] company serving [cities]. Greet callers, ask whether this is an emergency, and collect name, callback number, service address, and the problem in their words. If they mention gas smell, sparking, smoke, or active flooding, tell them to leave the area and call 911 or their utility, then page the on-call tech immediately. For routine requests, offer only the open slots provided to you and confirm one. End by reading back the details and telling them a confirmation text is coming. Output a 5-bullet summary for dispatch. Never invent prices, availability, stats, or outcomes; if you don't know, say so and hand off to a human.

What to measure

Example (illustrative): If you miss 20 calls/week and book 4 extra jobs at $450 avg ticket, that's ~$7,200/mo in recovered gross revenue before costs - track your own missed-call and booking rate.

Safety note: any customer-facing AI should hand gas smells, sparking, smoke, or active flooding to a human or emergency services right away. Last updated 2026-10-20. How we pick and check use cases.

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