AI for tradies: answer on site, confirm jobs and chase quotes by call and text

If you run a trade business, your phone rings at the worst moments: up a ladder, under a house, halfway through a switchboard. Every unanswered call might be a job, and every call you do take on site slows the job you're on. AI voice and SMS can take a big share of that load, provided you're clear about which calls you hand over and which ones you keep.

This is the trades chapter of our guide to AI voice agents in Australia. It's written for owner-operators and small crews, not franchises with a call centre.

What to automate first, and what to keep personal

Our strong opinion: never let an AI quote a price or commit to a start date that depends on your judgement. Let it book the visit, collect photos and set expectations. You do the quoting.

Answering calls while you're on site

There are two levels. The lightest is a text that goes out when you miss a call, covered in missed call text back. The fuller version is an AI that answers live, works out what the caller needs and books it, which we cover in after-hours AI answering. For a tradie, the live agent's job on a new-enquiry call is short:

1. Open honestly: business name, that it's an AI assistant, that the call is recorded, and that it can get you for emergencies.
2. Get the basics: name, mobile, suburb and address, what's wrong or what they want done.
3. Check urgency against your rules (water, power, gas, security, safety).
4. For urgent jobs, alert you straight away with the details; for the rest, offer a quote-visit window or a call-back.
5. Ask for photos by text if they'd help you quote.
6. Send a confirmation SMS and log the job in your CRM.

That alert format is the whole point: you can decide in five seconds from the roof. If you'd rather send instructions back by voice, see turning voice notes into tasks.

Job confirmations that stop wasted trips

Arriving at a locked house is lost money. A two-step confirmation fixes most of it.

• Day before, early evening: text with the time window, address and access question ("Will someone be home, or is there a key or lockbox?"). Ask for a reply to confirm.
• No reply by morning: a short AI call during permitted hours to confirm, then a text summarising the answer.
• On the way: a text with an estimated arrival time when you leave the previous job.

Those are factual service messages, so keep promotions out of them. The Spam Act rules, and the newer sender ID requirements, are in SMS follow-up after a call.

Chasing quotes without being a pest

It's easy to send a quote and never follow it up, because there's always a more urgent job. A simple cadence gets you an answer either way:

1. Two to three days after sending: a text checking they received it and asking if they have questions.
2. A week after sending: a short AI call within permitted hours: "Just checking whether you'd like to go ahead, or if anything in the quote needs explaining." Questions about price or scope get passed to you.
3. Two weeks: a final text: "We'll close this quote off on Friday. If you'd like to go ahead later, just reply." Then stop.

A follow-up on a quote the customer requested is part of a service they asked for, but it's still about selling your work. Keep calls inside ACMA's permitted hours, identify the business, and stop the moment someone says they're not interested. ACMA rules for AI outbound calls has the detail.

Reminders that keep regular work coming

Some trades have natural repeat cycles: smoke alarm checks, gutter cleans, air-con servicing, backflow testing, pool equipment. A reminder to a past customer that their annual service is due is useful, but it's also marketing, so it needs their consent and a working unsubscribe. Ask for that consent at the end of the original job ("Would you like a reminder when it's due next year?") and record the answer.

Where a reminder is required for compliance work you manage for a landlord or strata, keep it factual and send it to the person responsible.

What a week looks like with this running

Here's an illustrative week for a two-person electrical business, to show the shape, not a promised result. Monday morning, the recap in the team's WhatsApp group lists four weekend calls: two quote visits booked for Tuesday, one urgent call that was escalated on Saturday and handled, and one message from a property manager for the owner to return. Tuesday evening, confirmations go out for Wednesday's jobs; one customer replies that nobody will be home and a lockbox code is noted on the job. Thursday, three quote follow-ups go out; one says yes, one asks a question about a meter box that gets routed to the owner, one doesn't reply.

With Fulcrum Lyre, call and SMS outcomes are logged to the CRM and recapped in the chat channel you already use, so you're reviewing a short list instead of a voicemail inbox. Cortex agents draft emails and texts and you approve them before they go out, which matters for anything beyond a standard confirmation.

Mistakes tradies make with AI phone tools

• Letting the AI guess prices. Even a range creates expectations you'll have to manage on site.
• Booking real jobs instead of quote visits. You end up turning up for a "small leak" that's a re-pipe.
• Over-long greetings. Your callers are often stressed. Name, AI, recording, "what's happening?" and go.
• No emergency path. If the AI can't reach you for genuine emergencies, say so honestly rather than implying help is coming.
• Forgetting the regulars. Builders and property managers who ring every week should be recognised and put straight through, or texted back by you.

If you'd like to see how this fits your trade and your call volumes, the Lyre page explains the call and SMS set-up; start with missed calls and confirmations, and add live answering once you've seen the numbers.