An AI receptionist for tradesmen
When you’re under a sink or up a ladder, the phone still rings. Tansivo answers it, finds out what the customer needs, and books the quote visit into your diary, so the job doesn’t go to whoever picked up first.
What it does when a customer rings
- Answers from what you’ve told it: the work you do, the towns you cover, whether you do evenings and weekends, and your call-out policy.
- Books quote visits into your Google Calendar, after checking the slot is still free, and never in the past.
- Won’t make up a price or a date. If you haven’t given it a price, it says you’ll confirm one.
- Lets the caller interrupt, and waits while they pause to think or read out a postcode.
- Keeps a recording and transcript of every call in your console, and a list of the questions it couldn’t answer, so you can add the answers.
A call, start to finish
Agent: Hi, you’ve reached Hart Plumbing. Mark’s on a job, how can I help?
Caller: The tap in our kitchen won’t stop dripping, and the cupboard underneath is getting wet.
Agent: Sorry to hear that. What’s the postcode?
Caller: LS6 2AB.
Agent: That’s in Mark’s area. He has Thursday at 10 or Friday at 2 free for a look. Which suits you?
Caller: Thursday’s fine.
Agent: Booked for Thursday at 10. Mark will give you a price when he’s seen it.
You write the greeting and the instructions. The business and the call are made up.
What it can’t do
- Put an urgent caller through to you mid-call. You can have it give out your mobile for emergencies instead.
- Send text messages.
- Speak languages other than English; those are in testing.
- Write jobs into job-management software. It can add each caller to a Google Sheet or post to a Slack channel.
What it costs
No monthly fee. A call costs 10 credits for every started 30 seconds. Fifteen two-minute calls a week come to about 130 minutes a month, or 2,600 credits, which fits inside the $20 pack. Prices are in US dollars, and the phone number is billed by Twilio, on your own account. New workspaces get 100 free credits to try it.
How that compares with subscription receptionists · All prices
Setting it up
- Create an agent and tell it about your work, the areas you cover and your hours.
- Connect your Google Calendar so it can book visits.
- Connect a number from your Twilio account and pick this agent to answer it. How to connect a number.
- Put the number on your van and website, or ask your phone provider about forwarding the calls you don’t answer.
The same agent can answer your WhatsApp Business messages and a chat on your website.