By Jad Salman · · All guides
Search for call handling software and most of what comes back is built for call centres. Queues, wallboards, agent dashboards, "omnichannel". None of that helps a plumber with one van and one mobile who keeps missing calls while his hands are in a boiler.
For a tradesperson, call handling means something simpler. When you can't pick up, the call still gets dealt with properly, and you find out what happened without ringing anyone back. This guide covers what to check before you sign up for anything, whether that's an app, a human answering service or an AI receptionist.
Start With What Actually Happens to Your Calls
Before you look at any product, spend a week noting what happens when you miss a call. Who was it? Did they leave a voicemail? Did you get them back, and did you get the job?
Most trades find the calls fall into a few groups:
- New customers wanting a quote or a visit
- Existing customers checking on a job or rearranging
- Urgent jobs, like leaks, no heating or no power
- Suppliers, other trades and the odd letting agent
- Sales calls and spam
Good call handling deals with each of those differently. A new enquiry needs details taken and ideally a slot booked. An urgent call needs flagging straight away. Spam needs filtering so it doesn't land in your messages at all. If a product treats every call the same, it'll save you less time than you think.
The Main Types of Call Handling for Trades
There are roughly four options, and they suit different firms.
Voicemail and Missed Call Texts
The free option. Your network's voicemail, maybe with an auto-text that says you'll call back. It's better than nothing, but plenty of callers won't leave a message, and the ones that do still need a callback. We compared it properly in AI receptionist vs voicemail.
Call Handling Apps
Apps and virtual numbers give you things like business hours, call routing to a second phone and transcribed voicemail. Handy if you have a partner or office person who can pick up, but there's still nobody answering when you're both busy.
Human Answering Services
A UK call handling service puts a real person on the line. They're good at sounding warm and dealing with awkward callers. Many are message-first, though, so you still end up phoning people back. Check whether they can book into your diary and what happens outside their staffed hours.
AI Receptionists
An AI receptionist answers every call, takes details, checks the caller is in your area and books a slot or passes on a full message. It's the AI call handling option, and it's where most new trades software is heading. The good ones sound natural and say clearly that they're an AI. We covered the AI receptionist vs answering service question in more depth.
Ten Things to Check Before You Sign Up
Whatever type you're looking at, these are the questions worth asking.
1. Can It Book, or Only Take Messages?
This is the big one. A message still leaves you doing the callback at 8pm. If it can book, ask how. Does it use your real availability? Can you block out days? Can you set job lengths, so a boiler service and a bathroom quote aren't booked into the same half hour?
2. How Does It Handle Emergencies?
Ask exactly what happens on an urgent call. Can it flag a job as urgent and text you straight away? Will it tell someone who smells gas to ring the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999, or someone in danger to ring 999? Anything that fumbles this isn't fit for a trade business.
3. Does It Check Your Service Area?
If you cover a 20-mile radius around Leeds, you don't want bookings from Sheffield. Good call handling asks for a postcode and checks it before booking anything.
4. What Do You Actually Receive?
Ask to see a sample. The best summaries give you the name, number, address, job type, how urgent it is and what was agreed, in one text or email. A transcript you have to read through is better than nothing but slower.
5. Does It Tell Callers It's an AI?
If you're using AI call handling, the caller should know. It's the honest thing to do and keeps you on the right side of UK consumer law. Our guide on whether it's legal to use AI to answer business calls goes through the detail.
6. Where Does the Call Data Go?
Calls contain names, addresses and phone numbers, so UK GDPR applies. Ask whether calls are recorded, how long recordings and transcripts are kept, and whether the provider will sign a data processing agreement. A provider that can't answer that plainly is a warning sign.
7. How Do Calls Reach It?
Most trade call handling works by diverting your existing mobile when you don't answer, so you keep your number. Check it works with your network and phone. Our call forwarding guide has the codes for iPhone, Android, EE, Vodafone and O2.
8. Can You Ring It Yourself First?
Any decent provider will let you hear it before you pay. Ring the demo, play an awkward customer, ask something off-script. If it falls over with you, it'll fall over with a real caller.
9. What's the Contract?
Look for a monthly rolling plan you can cancel, and be wary of long minimum terms or setup fees for something that's mostly a divert. Find out what happens if you go over your included calls or minutes in a busy month, because winter is when you'll need it most.
10. Who Sets It Up?
Some trades software is self-serve: you get a login and a blank settings page. Others set it up for you, with your prices, areas and job types. If you're on the tools all day, a managed setup is usually worth more than extra features you'll never configure.
How to Compare Cost Fairly
Prices are hard to compare because providers charge in different ways. Some charge per call, some per minute, some a flat monthly fee with an allowance. Take your rough monthly call count from that week of notes and work out what each option would really cost in a normal month and a busy one.
Then weigh it against the work you're losing. One extra boiler repair or bathroom quote a month often covers the cost of call handling on its own. We worked through the numbers in how much a missed call costs a plumber.
Where Slotby Fits
Slotby is an AI receptionist for British tradespeople. It answers when you can't, tells callers it's an AI, books jobs into your diary or takes a full message, and texts you a summary. We set it up for you. You can ring the demo line on 07476 959334, and current plans are on the pricing page. If you're a plumber, the plumbers page shows how it works for your calls.
It won't suit everyone. If you need a human on every call, a good answering service is the better fit. If you're a one-van trade losing work mid-job, it's worth ten minutes of your time.
Questions? Get in touch and we'll get back to you, or email hello@slotby.co.uk.