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HVAC & plumbingAfter-hours AI call-back for HVAC and plumbing
Podium reports that 40% of home-service calls come in after hours. A furnace does not quit at 2 pm. AI Speed to Leads emails every web lead in seconds, then has Lily, our AI assistant, call back in about a minute, sort the no-heat from the tune-up, and book the visit on your dispatch calendar.
Outbound call-back on web leads is live now. Inbound answering is the AI receptionist. Texting is coming after carrier registration.
The after-hours lead is the one that calls your competitor next
of home-service calls come in after hours, according to Podium's home-services division.
Podium, home servicesof 70 million tracked business calls went unanswered in an Invoca analysis.
Invoca, via JustCall missed-call statisticshigher odds of reaching a lead when the first call is made at 5 minutes rather than 30.
Lead Response Management study, 2007 (vendor data)more likely to qualify a lead when a company responds within the first hour.
Harvard Business Review, 2011Emergency triage, the way your dispatcher does it
Safety first, then urgency, then booking. Lily follows your dispatch rules and never gives repair instructions.
- Do you smell gas, see water actively flooding, or have sparks or smoke? If yes, Lily tells them to leave or shut the main and call the utility or 911, then pages your on-call.
- What's happening: no heat, no cool, no hot water, a leak, a clog, or a tune-up? Sets the category.
- How long has it been going on, and is anyone at risk? Infants, elderly, medical equipment, extreme outdoor temps.
- What's the address, and do you own or rent? Renters are asked for the landlord's approval path.
- Roughly how old is the system, and who installed it? Flags warranty and membership customers.
- Have you had anyone look at it yet? Second-opinion jobs are scripted differently.
- Is tonight an emergency for you, or is first thing tomorrow OK? Customer chooses; your rates for each are stated if you want them to be.
- Will an adult be home, and are there pets or gate codes? Then Lily books the slot.
A / B / C scoring, HVAC and plumbing example
| Tier | What Lily heard | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| A | No heat below freezing, no cool above 90, active leak, no hot water, or sewer backup; in service area; valid mobile. | Booked on the first emergency or morning slot. Dispatcher and on-call tech alerted by phone. Recording attached. |
| B | Working but noisy, tune-up, estimate for replacement, "whenever you have time". | Booked on a regular slot if one is open, otherwise summary to the office for a morning call. |
| C | Out of area, a brand or service you do not handle, a parts request, or asked not to be called. | Polite email with your info and hours. No booking. Opt-outs blocked instantly. |
Your thresholds. Membership customers can be tagged A automatically from the CRM.
Two different problems, one assistant
A service company loses leads two ways: the web form nobody calls back, and the phone nobody picks up. This page is about the first. Lily calls every consenting web lead back in about a minute, 8 am to 8 pm in the customer's time zone, and emails the rest instantly with a promise of a morning call. The second problem, inbound calls at 9 pm, is the AI receptionist: Lily answers, triages and books the same way. Run one or both.
6:48 pm, no heat
Inside quiet hours. Lily calls at 6:49, pages the on-call tech, books tonight.
11:20 pm, water heater leak
Email at 11:20 with "shut the cold supply valve above the tank" from your script. Call at 8:00 am. Booked 9:30.
Sunday 2 pm, AC tune-up
Lily calls, books Tuesday afternoon, mentions the maintenance plan if you want her to.
More: after-hours lead response, missed-call text back (coming).
Booked jobs land in your dispatch board
One webhook from your website, Google Local Services, Angi, Yelp and Facebook. Jobs and call notes go back to the customer record. All integrations.
ServiceTitan
Customer and job created from Lily's call, with the summary in the job notes and the booking on the dispatch board.
Housecall Pro
Lead becomes a customer and a scheduled job. Recording link in the notes.
Google Local Services
LSA message leads parsed and called when the lead has given contact consent.
Zapier, HubSpot, GoHighLevel
Already routing leads through an automation tool? We connect there.
Three depths, quoted on a 15-minute call
Instant Reply
Email every lead in seconds with your safety line, score A / B / C, alert the on-call on Tier A.
What's includedAI Qualifier
Plus Lily's call-back in about a minute, your triage questions, booking on your dispatch calendar, recordings.
What's includedDone For You
Plus monthly script tuning from real calls and HVAC or plumbing lead generation from Eye To Ad Media.
What's includedConsent-only, says it's an AI, quiet hours respected. Compliance, speed to lead explained, AI appointment setting.
Straight answers
Will Lily dispatch a tech at night without a human?
Only if you set it that way. Most companies have Lily book the emergency slot and page the on-call tech and dispatcher, and a person confirms. You can require a human confirmation for any booking after a set hour.
Does Lily give repair advice?
No. She reads your safety lines (gas smell, shut the main valve, breaker off) exactly as you wrote them and nothing more. She does not diagnose or suggest fixes.
Can Lily quote your after-hours rate?
Yes, if you want her to. Many companies have her state the emergency fee and the morning alternative so the customer chooses knowingly. Pricing you do not give her, she does not invent.
Does this replace our answering service?
For web leads, yes: the form is answered and called back without a human. For inbound calls, the AI receptionist does the answering. Companies that run both usually drop the answering service, but we suggest a month of overlap first.
See it on your own leads.
15-minute call with a real person. Or have Lily, our AI, call you first.