AI virtual receptionist for contractors
A front desk that answers while you’re on the job.
Wakeman is an AI virtual receptionist built only for home-services trades. It answers the calls your team misses in your company’s name, asks what’s wrong and where, checks the address, and texts you the job.
- A customer calls. You’re busy.
- Wakeman answers as your business.
- You get the job by text.
- From $49/mo, day and night
- Keep your number
- Says it’s an AI
- 14 days free, $0 today
- A customer calls. You’re busy.
- Wakeman answers as your business.
- You get the job by text.
What is an AI virtual receptionist?
An AI virtual receptionist answers your business phone with a voice AI instead of a person at a desk or a call centre. For a contractor, a good one does three things on every call: it finds out what the problem is, it gets the service address right, and it gets the job — or the emergency — to the person who can act on it.
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.
Example call · synthesized voices, not a recorded caller
AI virtual receptionist or live virtual receptionist
| AI virtual receptionist (Wakeman) | Live virtual receptionist | |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | An AI, which says so at the start of every call | A person at a remote answering company |
| How it’s priced | $49–$399 a month with minutes included, then $0.29–$0.45/min by plan | Usually by the minute or by the call; roughly $2.76–$5.00 per included minute on published plans |
| A storm or heat-wave surge | Takes several calls at once | Depends on how many people are on shift |
| A dangerous call | Your safety steps, and a ring to your on-call phone during the call | Depends on the script and escalation rules you agree |
| Spam and robocalls | Never billed | Often counted like any other call — ask |
| Into your schedule | Takes the job down; books into Jobber once booking is on | Ask whether they write into your software |
Human prices are from the vendors’ own pages; the full answering service cost comparison has every figure and its source.
What the AI virtual receptionist does
- Answers in your company’s name and tells the caller it’s an AI and that the call is recorded.
- Asks the questions your trade needs: the leak, the furnace, the panel, the roof.
- Checks the service address before it writes the job down.
- Texts you, or your on-call tech, a short job summary. Review any call summary and recording available with the caller’s consent.
- 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, it gives your safety steps and tries your on-call phone. No heat or a leak that can’t wait goes out as an urgent text.
- Books into Jobber on Pro and Max once you switch booking on; until then, every job arrives by text.
- Never bills you for spam or robocalls.
An AI virtual receptionist set up for your trade
Wakeman is configured for your trade and your own list of services, so it asks a plumber’s questions on a plumbing call and an electrician’s on an electrical one: plumbing answering service, HVAC answering service, roofing answering service, restoration answering service, electrical answering service, and every other home-services trade.
What an AI virtual receptionist costs
- Starter: $49 a month with 100 minutes included, about 37 calls. Answers day and night.
- Pro: $149 a month with 500 minutes included, about 186 calls. Answers day and night.
- Max: $399 a month with 1,500 minutes included, about 559 calls. Answers day and night.
Every plan is free for 14 days or 500 minutes of answering, whichever comes first, with no card. All plans and overage rates.
What Wakeman works with
Wakeman is built for plumbing, HVAC, electrical and other home-services shops in the United States, with callers who speak English. It books into Jobber on Pro and Max once you switch booking on. It doesn’t write into ServiceTitan, and Housecall Pro is not generally available yet. Offices, clinics and restaurants aren’t who it’s built for. The comparison pages set Wakeman next to other AI receptionists and answering services, one at a time.
AI virtual receptionist questions
What is an AI virtual receptionist?
An AI virtual receptionist is software that answers your business phone with a voice AI instead of a person. For a contractor, a good one answers in your company’s name, asks what the problem is and where, checks the address, and sends you the job, so the calls you can’t pick up still become work.
How is an AI virtual receptionist different from a live virtual receptionist?
A live virtual receptionist is a person at a remote answering company, usually billed by the minute or by the call. An AI virtual receptionist answers straight away, costs a flat monthly price with minutes included, and asks the same trade questions every time. And a caller who asks for a person a second time, is angry, or has a complaint is put through to your on-call phone.
How much does an AI virtual receptionist cost?
Wakeman costs $49, $149 or $399 a month with 100, 500 or 1,500 minutes included, then $0.29–$0.45/min by plan. Spam calls are never billed, you set a monthly spend limit, and every plan is free for 14 days, with nothing charged until the trial ends.
Will callers know they are talking to an AI?
Yes. Every call opens with a short notice that the caller is talking to an AI and that Wakeman records the call. A caller who asks for a person a second time is put through to your on-call phone.
Can an AI virtual receptionist handle emergency calls?
It sorts calls by urgency. For ten named hazards — 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 — it gives your own safety steps and tries your on-call phone during the call. No heat or a leak that can’t wait reaches your on-call tech as an urgent text. It is a safety net, not an emergency service.
Does it work with Jobber?
Yes. Booking is off until you switch it on; then confirmed jobs go into Jobber with the customer and the checked address, in the time windows you set. Until then, every job arrives by text.
Do I keep my business number?
Yes. You keep your number and forward the calls your team misses to Wakeman. Turning the forwarding off is a single dial code on your phone.
Page updated September 27, 2026.
Somebody’s always awake.
Try it on your own phone tonight. About ten minutes, and $0 today.
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