An AI receptionist for plumbing and HVAC companies
When you're under a house, or the phone rings at nine at night, VVOXA answers your company's number with your company's name. It books the routine service calls, puts the leaks and no-cool calls through to whoever is on call, and writes up everything else for the morning.
$1,000 setup, then $500 a month. First month free. No per-minute charges. See pricing
By VVOXA in Cape Coral, Florida. Updated . Questions? Email Matt, our founder, at info@vvoxa.com.
A Sunday night, and water coming through the wall
You're off for the night and your phone is on the kitchen counter. The call is forwarded to VVOXA. Here's how it goes.
A sample call, written out
Harbor Plumbing & Air (sample)
Denise C. · (239) ••• ••18
Sun 9:14 PM
Urgent
Why they called
Water spraying from the wall behind the washer, after hours
What VVOXA did
Told her to turn off the main water first, took her name, street and number, and put the call through to the on-call plumber
Ringing
SamHarbor Plumbing and Air, this is Sam. How can I help?
CallerHi, there's water spraying out of the wall behind my washer and it won't stop.
SamOkay. First, if you can get to it, turn off the main water shut-off valve.
CallerMy husband's doing that now. Can somebody come out tonight?
SamI'm going to put you through to the on-call plumber. Can I get your name first, in case we get cut off?
CallerDenise Carter.
SamThanks, Denise. And what street are you on?
CallerSoutheast 8th Terrace, in Cape Coral.
SamGot it. Is this the best number to call you back on?
CallerYes.
SamPutting you through now. Stay on the line.
Putting you through
A sample call, written out to show how VVOXA handles it. The business and the caller are made up for this page.
Two things in that call are on purpose. Sam gives the shut-off step first, because VVOXA is instructed to say it before anything else whenever water is pouring in. And Sam gets a name, a street and a number before putting the call through, so if the line drops, your plumber still knows who to call back.
Calls it handles for you
Most calls to a plumbing or AC company aren't emergencies. These are the ones VVOXA can finish on its own, from the facts you give it.
New service calls.
A slow drain, a running toilet, an AC that's on but not keeping up. It takes the address and what's wrong, then books an open time or takes the request for you to confirm.
"Do you come out to my area?"
It answers from the list of towns and areas you give it. It can't check an address on a map, so when a caller is near the edge, it takes the address and marks the call for you.
Your trip or diagnostic fee.
If you have a fixed service-call fee, or an after-hours fee, it says it. That's the only kind of price it gives.
Customers who need to move a visit.
It takes the details and the times that suit them, and marks the call. You move the booking in your calendar.
Hours and holidays.
Open Saturday? Closed on the Fourth? It answers from your hours, and tells after-hours callers when someone will actually call them back.
Maintenance plans and equipment.
What your plan includes and costs, or whether you work on tankless heaters and mini-splits, if you've told it.
It knows your repeat customers. VVOXA recognizes a caller who has rung before by their phone number, so it doesn't ask the same questions twice.
Calls it puts through to you
You choose which calls should reach a person right away, and the number it rings. A typical list for a plumbing and AC company looks like this.
Water that won't stop. A burst supply line, a leaking water heater, water through a ceiling. It gives the shut-off step first, then puts the caller through.
Sewage backing up into the house.
No cooling on a hot day. You decide whether that means every no-cool call in July, or only some, such as a home with a baby or an older person in it. The rest it can book for the first open time.
No heat on a cold night. For companies where that call comes in.
Anyone who asks for a person. It doesn't argue. It tells them it's putting them through, then does.
It rings one number: usually your on-call phone, or your cell. If your on-call person changes each week, the simplest setup is one on-call phone that gets handed over. If nobody picks up, the caller can leave a voicemail, and it's kept with the call in your account.
A gas smell isn't a call it handles. If a caller smells gas, VVOXA is instructed to tell them to get out and, once outside, call 911 or the gas company's emergency line. If someone is in danger, it tells them to call 911. It can't send help and it can misunderstand, so keep your own way for urgent callers to reach a person (Terms, section 6.3).
What it won't quote or promise
These are the answers that cost a company money when a receptionist guesses. VVOXA is built not to guess.
Diagnose the problem. "Is it the capacitor?" "Do I need a new water heater?" It says your tech will tell them, and writes down what they describe.
Price a repair or a replacement. It gives the fixed fees you've listed and nothing else. If a price isn't in its facts, it says it will check and takes a message.
Promise when a truck will get there. It books the times you've opened, but it won't tell an urgent caller someone will be there in an hour. It puts them through so your tech can make that call.
Say something is safe to use. Whether a leaking heater can stay on, or a tripped breaker can go back up, is for your tech. It says so and gets the caller to a person.
An evening in your account
Here's how one July evening might look in the Calls list of a sample company. Each call opens to a summary, the transcript and the recording.
5:40 PMRob K. AC running but not cooling well. Booked Wednesday 8:00 AM. Booked
6:48 PM(239) ••• ••41 asked if you cover Lehigh Acres. Answered from your list of areas.
7:30 PMEllen P. wants a price on replacing a 15-year-old AC system. Needs callback
8:52 PMMaria L. Water heater leaking in the garage. Put through to the on-call plumber. Urgent
10:15 PMTom R. wants to move Thursday's drain cleaning to Friday. Message
Made-up calls at a sample company; the 8:52 PM call is the one written out on our home page. Turn on alerts in the VVOXA app and you get a notification for new bookings, messages and voicemails. VVOXA doesn't text or email you about each call.
Booking, and the software you already use
With booking switched on, VVOXA books into open times in its own calendar, each kind of job for the length you set. Connect Google Calendar and it never offers a time you're busy there. With booking off, it takes the request and the times that suit, and flags it for you to confirm. It can also work with these, each off until you switch it on:
Google Calendar. Built in.
Cal.com. Reads your busy times and puts bookings in.
GoHighLevel. Adds callers as contacts and keeps the calendar in step.
HubSpot (beta). Adds callers as contacts and logs calls.
A web address of your own. Sends each call to Zapier, Make or n8n.
Not ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber. VVOXA has no connection to these today, so it can't put a job on your dispatch board. If you run your company from one of them, let VVOXA take the details and mark the call, and your office books the job from the write-up.
A heat-wave week costs the same
AC calls don't arrive evenly. The first stretch of real heat, or the days after a big storm, can bring more calls in a week than you'd normally get in a month. VVOXA is $500 a month whatever happens, with no per-minute or per-call charge and no limit on how many calls it answers. The details are on our pricing page.
One thing to plan for: VVOXA runs on equipment we operate and on outside phone and internet providers, and an outage can stop calls being answered (Terms, section 8). Keep your own backup way to take calls, especially when a storm is on the way.
What to have ready for your setup call
Setup is a phone call with Matt, our founder. These answers are what make the line sound like it knows your company. Print this list or copy it into a note.
The towns and areas you cover.And the ones you don't, so it can say so politely.
Your fixed fees.Service-call or diagnostic fee, after-hours or weekend fee, and anything else you're happy to quote without seeing the job.
What counts as urgent.Water that won't stop, sewage, no cooling with someone at risk at home. Your list, in your words.
The number urgent calls go to.One number: the on-call phone or your cell.
What to ask on every call.Address, the problem, the age of the unit or heater, whether they own or rent, gate codes or pets to know about.
Equipment you do and don't work on.Tankless heaters, mini-splits, commercial units, well pumps.
Your maintenance plan.What it costs and includes, if you want callers to hear about it.
Which jobs it may book.How long each takes and the hours you open for them. Or have it take requests for you to confirm.
The full setup checklist, and how forwarding works on your phone, are on how it works.
Questions plumbing and AC owners ask
Can it book jobs in ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber?
No. VVOXA has no connection to ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber. It books into its own calendar, with Google Calendar kept in sync, and can also work with Cal.com and GoHighLevel. If you dispatch from other software, your office copies the job across from the call's write-up.
Can it send an emergency call to my on-call tech?
Yes. You tell us which calls count as urgent and the number to ring, and it puts those callers straight through. It rings one number, so give it an on-call phone that gets handed over, or your cell. If nobody answers, the caller can leave a voicemail.
Can it quote a price for a service call?
Only the fixed fees you give it, like your diagnostic or after-hours fee. It won't price a repair or a new system. When a caller wants that, it takes the details and marks the call for a callback.
Will someone with water on the floor want to talk to AI?
They want to reach someone who can help. VVOXA picks up on the first ring, gives the shut-off step, takes a name and number and puts them through to you. It never claims to be a person, and you choose whether it says it's automated at the start of every call or only when asked. The best test is to have it call you.
I run one truck. Does this make sense for me?
It's built for that. When you're under a sink, it answers, books what it can and puts the urgent calls through to your cell, and you call the rest back between jobs from the write-ups. Whether $500 a month is worth it comes down to what a job or two a month is worth to you.
Does it know which areas we cover?
It knows the list you give it, by town or area. It can't check an address against a map, so when a caller is near the edge of your area, it takes the address and marks the call for you to decide.
What does it cost?
$1,000 to set up, then $500 a month, with the first month free. There's no per-minute or per-call charge, so a heat-wave week costs the same as a quiet one (full pricing).
Hear VVOXA answer it before it answers for your company. Put your number in on our home page and it calls you in about twenty seconds, or ring our demo line on (650) 754-4948 and book a practice appointment.