AI after-hours answering service for contractors
Knows which after-hours call should wake you.
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, rings your on-call phone for the dangerous ones, and writes the rest down for the morning.
- $149 a month
- 300 minutes included
- Keep your number
- Spam calls never billed
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.
Hear it answer
0:45 · plays with sound
Scripted product walkthrough with example data · Synthesized voices, not a recorded caller. You are hearing the voice that answers a Wakeman line, opening with the notice it plays on every one.
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. Inside them, 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
Gas, carbon monoxide, fire or smoke, water near electrics, major flooding and sewage ring 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 an ordinary leak 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.
What an after-hours answering service costs
- After Hours: $149 a month with 300 minutes included, then $0.59 a minute.
- Start free: 14 days or 500 minutes of answering, whichever comes first, with no card.
- 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 $1.32–$5.00 per included minute on their published plans. What the whole market charges, with sources.
When after-hours cover is the wrong plan.
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). Front Desk, at $349 a month, answers the calls your team misses at any hour.
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, auto repair, dealership service, 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?
Wakeman’s After Hours plan is $149 a month with 300 minutes included, then $0.59 a minute. There is no setup fee and no minimum term, and spam calls are never billed. Human answering services work out at roughly $1.32–$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. Outside them, 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 plan?
When calls go unanswered during the day because everyone is on a job. After Hours 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. Front Desk answers the calls your team misses at any hour.
Page updated September 25, 2026.
Somebody’s always awake.
Try it on your own phone tonight. About ten minutes, no card.