Active leak, no heat, no power
Walks the caller through the shutoff or the breaker, takes the address, books the emergency slot you've reserved and texts the confirmation.
How the receptionist worksThe week
The calls that go unanswered today
Each one is a client, a claim or a job that went to whoever picked up.
- TUE 02:14A homeowner with water through the ceiling
Calls the next plumber on the list. Emergency jobs are the highest-margin work you do.
- THU 11:30A repeat customer whose AC just quit
You're in a crawlspace. Voicemail. They try the company with the billboard.
- FRI 16:45A property manager with three units to quote
The recurring account goes to whoever picks up before five.
- SAT 09:10A caller asking if you service their zip code
A thirty-second answer nobody was there to give.
Setups by size
How home service companies run Ody, at every size
Pick the shape of your business. Every feature below links to its own page; every setup is one you can build in an afternoon.
Your cell, without your cell number
One business number that rings the truck and never rings out.
You answer the phone with your hands full. The business line rings the Ody app on your phone; when you can't pick up, the receptionist books the job instead of sending the caller to voicemail. Customers text the same number, and the photos land in your inbox.
- AI receptionistHours on the line, AI when you're under the sink
Set business hours per number. Inside them, calls ring your phone and the receptionist picks up after a few rings if you don't. Outside them, it answers first ring, qualifies the emergency and books your first morning slot.
- Business texting"Send me a photo of the unit" from the business number
Customers text a photo of the model plate or the leak; you reply with the ETA and the quote from the same thread. MMS is included. Texting on a local number needs a one-time 10DLC registration, handled at onboarding.
- Call forwardingForward the line to a plain cell on the days you want to
Hunting weekend, no signal at the lake house, or a helper is covering: forward the business line to any phone in two clicks. Forwarded calls still appear in your call log with where they went.
- Phone numbersA local number customers recognize
Pick a number in your area code, or port the one that's been on the truck for ten years. One number is included with your seat; porting is free.
AI receptionist
Trained on the calls a service company actually gets.
You describe your services, service area, hours and what counts as an emergency. The receptionist answers from that, books what it can and takes a detailed message for the rest.
Service call scheduling
Takes the symptom, the equipment if they know it and the address, then books a real slot on your calendar and confirms by text.
Business texting"How much for a new water heater?"
Gives the ranges and visit fee you've written into its instructions, never a number you didn't, and books the estimate visit.
How the receptionist works"Do you service my area?"
Answers from your service-area list, and takes a message with the address when it's on the edge.
How the receptionist works"Where's my tech?"
Tells the caller the appointment window on file and drops a note in the thread so dispatch can text an updated ETA.
Shared inboxNights, weekends, heat waves
Every call answered on the first ring, emergencies routed to the on-call number you set, everything else booked for the morning.
How the receptionist worksThe record
Every call written down, before the truck rolls.
A tech should walk up to the door knowing what the customer said. On Growth and above, each recorded call is transcribed and summarized into the address, the symptom, what the caller was told and the booked window. Voicemail transcripts are on every plan.
- Recording, transcript and AI summary on every answered call on an enabled line
- Search the inbox by address, phrase or caller and find the call by what was said
- Summaries posted to Slack, or pushed to your field software through Make and webhooks
- Voicemail transcripts in the inbox on every plan, including Starter
Call summaryGenerated by Ody
- Caller
- New customer · +1 (512) 555-0193 · 418 Larkspur Ln
- Reason
- Active leak through kitchen ceiling, source unknown. Caller located and closed the main shutoff.
- Told
- Keep water off, bucket under the drip. Emergency visit fee quoted per instructions.
- Next action
- Booked emergency slot Tue 6:30 AM. Marcus assigned.
Your stack
Works with the tools on your dispatch board
Native integrations are listed as such. Field-service software has no native connection yet, so Ody reaches it through Make, webhooks or the REST API.
- ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, JobberMake, webhooks or APIAPI docs
Push call summaries, bookings and texts to the job via Make or the REST API webhooks
- SlackNativeIntegration
emergencies, missed calls and voicemails posted to the dispatch channel
- CSV importNativeIntegration
import your customer list so callers show up by name and the receptionist knows they're a repeat customer
- StripeNativeIntegration
see payment status on the customer thread
- MakeNativeIntegration
connect QuickBooks, Google Sheets and anything else Make already speaks to
Browse all 43 integrations, or connect anything else through Make and the REST API.
Rollout
Live in an afternoon, not a quarter
No hardware, no consultant, no call-flow diagram. Four steps and the line is answered.
- 01
Port or add numbers
Bring the number on the truck over, or start with a new local one. Porting is free and the old line keeps working until cutover.
- 02
Describe the business
Services, service area, hours, how you price a visit, what counts as an emergency. Plain sentences, not call flows.
- 03
Set the routing
Ring your phone, a ring order across the crew, or one number per branch, plus what the receptionist does after hours.
- 04
Listen for a week
Read the transcripts and summaries, tighten the instructions, then let the receptionist book more of the calendar.
Resources
Guides for home service companies
The concepts behind this setup, explained without the jargon.
What businesses need to know about call forwardingLearn the difference between unconditional, busy, and no-reply forwarding, and how SIP 302 and simultaneous ring actually behave.Read guide What businesses need to know about hunt groupsLearn sequential, simultaneous, longest-idle, and circular ringing, and when a queue is the better model.Read guide What businesses need to know about 10DLCHow US carriers treat A2P SMS on local numbers: brand registration, campaign registration, third-party vetting, and the throughput that follows.Read guide
FAQ
Home services: common questions
More industries
Also in home & field services, and nearby
Trades that answer from a truck, a roof or a crawlspace.
Home & field servicesCleaning servicesQuotes, reschedules and gate codes handled while the team is on site.Home & field servicesLandscaping & lawn careSpring rush calls answered from the mower, quotes texted back the same day.Home & field servicesPest controlPanicked termite and wasp calls booked in one ring, routes texted daily.Home & field servicesMoving companiesQuote calls answered in one ring, inventories by text, crews reached on the road.Home & field servicesContractors & remodelersEstimate requests answered from the job site, change orders on the record.
Comparing options? Answering service comparison · Ody vs Grasshopper · Ody vs Google Voice
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