AI after-hours answering service for contractors

Knows which after-hours call should wake you.

An after hours answering service for contractors and property managers, from plumbing, HVAC and electrical shops to locksmiths and towing companies: while you’re open, calls ring your team like they do today. When you close, the calls nobody picks up go to Wakeman. It answers in your company’s name, works out what is actually wrong, tries your on-call phone for the dangerous ones, and writes the rest down for the morning. It’s one switch, on every plan.

Try it free See all three plans

A customer calls. You’re busy.
Wakeman answers as your business.
You get the job by text.

From $49 a month
100 minutes included
Keep your number
Spam calls never billed

A customer calls. You’re busy.
Wakeman answers as your business.
You get the job by text.

Hear it answer

One call, start to finish, in under a minute

A leaking water heater at night, taken the way it’s taken on a Wakeman line: what’s wrong, a safety check for water near electrics, the address read back, and — with booking on — a time in the on-call window.

Rather try it yourself? Call (503) 765-9727 and play the customer with an everyday job.

Wakeman, for Ridgeline PlumbingThanks for calling Ridgeline Plumbing. You're speaking with an AI assistant, and this call is recorded. What's going on?

CallerYeah, hi — there's water coming out from under my water heater. It's all over the garage floor.

Example call · synthesized voices, not a recorded caller

Nights and weekends covered, daytime left alone

How the after-hours answering service works

You set your hours.
Opening and closing times for each day of the week, in your time zone, and switch on “Answer only while we’re closed”. Inside your hours, nothing changes: calls ring your team as they do today.
Missed calls forward to Wakeman.
Your number stays yours. When you are closed, the calls nobody picks up forward to Wakeman, which answers in your company’s name and says it is an AI.
It sorts the call.
For gas, carbon monoxide, a downed power line, fire or smoke, a medical emergency, a child or pet locked in a car, water near electrics, a structural collapse, major flooding and sewage inside, Wakeman tries your on-call phone during the call. Everything else is written down.
You get the job in the morning.
When a caller gives their details, you get a written job with their name, the address and what is wrong. Someone who hangs up early or won’t give an address leaves less, and wrong numbers and spam end without a message. With booking on, it offers the times you have set.

Wakeman listens for particular words, so a caller who describes a hazard differently may only be marked urgent. No heat and a leak that can’t wait are urgent: the message goes to your on-call phone as a text, without ringing it. The ring is an attempt, and a phone call can fail. If your on-call phone is the same line that forwards to Wakeman, it gets an urgent text instead of a ring, because ringing it would send the call straight back to Wakeman. A safety net, not an emergency service.

The same switch, set up for your business

Which after-hours calls wake you, by business

After-hours answering service for property management: A tenant with no heat, cooling or hot water, a leak that can’t wait or a lockout is texted to your on-call phone at once, with the property and the unit. Rental enquiries are written down for the morning.
HVAC after-hours answering service: No heat, cooling or hot water is urgent. A gas smell or carbon monoxide gets safety steps, and Wakeman tries your on-call phone.
Plumbing after-hours answering service: Major flooding or sewage inside gets safety steps, and Wakeman tries your on-call phone. A leak that can’t wait or a blocked drain is urgent.
Locksmith after-hours answering service: A lockout, a break-in or a door that won’t lock is urgent. A caller with a child or a pet locked in a car is told to call 9‑1‑1.
Towing after-hours answering service: A driver who needs a tow now is urgent, and the location is taken as the driver says it: a road, an exit or a mile marker. A tow booked for another day is written down for the morning.
Garage door after-hours answering service: A car trapped behind a stuck garage door, or a door that won’t close, is urgent.
Restoration after-hours answering service: Major flooding, sewage inside or water near electrics gets safety steps, and Wakeman tries your on-call phone.

From $49 a month, rate after that published

What an after-hours answering service costs

Starter: $49 a month with 100 minutes included, then $0.45 a minute.
Any plan: “Answer only while we’re closed” is a switch on your Hours page, on every plan. Switch it off and the same plan answers day and night.
Start free: 14 days or 500 minutes of answering, whichever comes first, with nothing charged today.
No setup fee and no minimum term. Cancel from Billing, effective at the end of the period.
Spam calls are never billed, and you set a monthly spend limit.

Human after-hours answering services work out at roughly $2.76–$5.00 per included minute on their published plans. What the whole market charges, with sources.

Be honest with yourself

When after-hours cover is the wrong choice.

If your calls go unanswered during the day because everyone is on a job, an after-hours service will not catch them: it leaves daytime calls with your team by design. From October 1, 2026, Google also charges Local Services Ads advertisers for some calls missed during business hours (what that costs). With the switch off, every plan answers the calls your team misses at any hour, from $49 a month.

Questions about after-hours cover

Built for the trades, with a page for each: plumbing, HVAC, roofing, restoration, electrical, garage door, pest control, landscaping, lawn care, pool service, home cleaning, window cleaning, pressure washing, handyman, painting, remodeling, construction, junk removal, moving, propane and heating oil, home security, solar, locksmith, towing, auto repair, dealership service, property management, interior design and pet sitting.

What is an after-hours answering service?

A service that answers your business line while you are closed, so a caller at 9pm reaches someone instead of voicemail. A traditional one is a call centre that takes messages. Wakeman is an AI that answers in your company’s name, works out whether the call is an emergency, and writes the job down.

How much does an after-hours answering service cost?

From $49 a month: Wakeman’s Starter plan has 100 minutes included, then $0.45 a minute, and any plan can be set to answer only while you’re closed. There is no setup fee and no minimum term, and spam calls are never billed. Human answering services work out at roughly $2.76–$5.00 per included minute on their published plans.

How does it know when we are closed?

You set your opening hours for each day of the week in Wakeman, and switch on “Answer only while we’re closed”. Outside your hours, the calls your team misses are answered by Wakeman. Inside them, calls ring your team as they do today. There is no holiday calendar yet. Your hours are weekly, so to cover a public holiday that falls on an open day, mark that weekday closed before the holiday and set its hours back afterwards — otherwise Wakeman keeps treating that day as closed every week.

Does it answer on weekends?

Yes, whenever your hours say you are closed. If you close on Saturday afternoon and all of Sunday, that is when it answers.

Will callers know they are talking to an AI?

Yes. Every call Wakeman answers opens by saying it is an AI and that the call is recorded. Callers who ask for a person a second time, are angry, or have a complaint are put through to your on-call phone. If that phone is the same line that forwards to Wakeman, it can’t be rung without the call coming straight back, so Wakeman takes a message for you instead.

When is after-hours cover the wrong choice?

When calls go unanswered during the day because everyone is on a job. Answering only while you’re closed leaves daytime calls with your team, so it will not catch those. From October 1, 2026 Google also charges Local Services Ads advertisers for some missed calls during business hours. Every plan answers the calls your team misses at any hour, from $49 a month, with the switch off.

Page updated October 28, 2026.

Free, no sign-up

Somebody’s always awake.

Try it on your own phone tonight. About ten minutes, and $0 today.