Alex is your in-app assistant for building and running agents. The voice agent that answers your phone is powered by curated, high-accuracy speech, language, and voice models, kept abstracted, so callers get a natural, fast conversation without knowing they are talking to software.
Why home services teams choose SmartAlex
Never miss a job call
The agent answers day, night, weekends, and holidays, and during overflow when your team is already on the line.
Emergency triage built in
It recognises urgent work like a gas leak or no heat and warm-transfers to the on-call tech or dispatcher immediately.
Books straight into your calendar
Connect Google Calendar, Outlook, or iCal and the agent checks real availability and books the slot on the call.
Every detail captured
Name, address, the problem, access notes, and preferred window land in your CRM as a clean lead, every time.
Key use cases
1. Never miss a job call
The agent picks up on the first ring and handles the whole intake so a human never has to. It works as your plumber and HVAC answering AI when the crew is on-site, after close, and during call spikes.- Answers 24/7, including nights, weekends, and public holidays
- Handles overflow when every line is busy, instead of dropping the caller to voicemail
- Greets with your business name and follows your intake script
Free plan includes one agent you can test in the browser. To answer real phone calls you need a phone number and minutes, which start on the Professional plan at $99/month. See phone numbers for porting or getting a new line.
2. Capture the full job details
The agent asks the right questions in the right order, so the ticket is complete before a tech is ever dispatched.- Caller name, callback number, and service address
- The problem in the caller’s words (leaking water heater, AC not cooling, tripped panel)
- Urgency, property access notes, and preferred appointment window
- Whether they are an existing customer or a new lead
3. Book the job and dispatch
1
Check availability
The agent reads live availability from your connected calendar so it only offers real, open slots.
2
Book the appointment
Using the Create booking and Check availability tools, it locks the slot and holds it on the call.
3
Confirm and notify
It texts or emails a confirmation to the customer and can post the new job to your team channel or dispatch board.
4
Log the lead
The full job record lands in your CRM, ready for the tech, with the recording and transcript attached.
4. Emergency triage and routing
Not every call is a routine tune-up. The agent listens for urgency and routes accordingly instead of leaving an emergency in a callback queue.- Detects high-urgency language (flooding, gas smell, no heat in winter, sparks or burning smell)
- Uses Warm transfer to announce the caller to the on-call technician before connecting, so context is never lost
- Falls back to Transfer call or Transfer to extension for your dispatcher or PBX
- Logs the emergency as a priority lead even if the call has to be handed off
5. After-hours and overflow capture
Most home-services revenue leaks after 5pm and on weekends. The agent turns that dead time into booked jobs.- Captures the job overnight and books the first available morning slot
- Offers a same-day emergency path where you have on-call cover
- Collects everything a dispatcher needs so nobody plays phone tag in the morning
Want every channel in one place? The Unified Inbox add-on ($39/month on Professional) brings voice, SMS, WhatsApp, email, and web chat into a single thread per customer, so after-hours texts and calls sit side by side.
6. Follow-ups, quotes, and review requests
The agent does not stop when the call ends. It can reach back out to keep jobs moving and win repeat work.- Chase unaccepted quotes and estimates
- Send appointment reminders to cut no-shows
- Request a review after a completed job
- Re-book seasonal service (annual HVAC tune-ups, drain cleaning)
Outbound calling, multi-step sequences, and automatic follow-ups run on the Outbound Campaigns add-on ($49/month on Professional, bundled on Real Estate and Enterprise). See campaigns.
Example call flow
A homeowner calls at 9pm because their water heater is leaking. Here is what the agent does end to end.Sample agent prompt
A realistic system prompt for a plumbing and HVAC intake agent. Edit it in Studio or from the chat with Alex.Tools and integrations that make it work
The intake, booking, and dispatch above are built from switch-on tools in Agent Studio:- Book and schedule: Create booking, Check availability, Schedule callback
- Hand off to people: Warm transfer, Transfer call, Transfer to extension
- Reach out: Send SMS, Send email, Send WhatsApp
- Capture: Create lead into your CRM
- Know things: Knowledge lookup (service areas, hours, brands you service) and Web search
ROI and results
Every call answered
First-ring pickup 24/7 means the jobs that used to hit voicemail become booked appointments.
Emergencies routed fast
Urgent calls reach your on-call tech in seconds with full context, instead of sitting in a queue.
Cleaner dispatch
Complete job records mean fewer callbacks, less phone tag, and techs arriving with what they need.
More repeat work
Automated follow-ups and reminders chase quotes, cut no-shows, and re-book seasonal service.
Frequently asked questions
Can it really handle emergency calls?
Can it really handle emergency calls?
Yes. You define what counts as an emergency (flooding, gas smell, no heat, electrical hazard) and the agent recognises that language, warm-transfers to your on-call technician or dispatcher, and logs a priority lead. If nobody is available to take the transfer, it still captures the full job and flags it as urgent.
Will callers know they are talking to AI?
Will callers know they are talking to AI?
The agent sounds natural and responds fast, using curated, high-accuracy voice models kept abstracted. Many callers just experience a quick, helpful receptionist. You can have the agent disclose that it is an AI assistant if you prefer, and set that in your prompt.
Does it book directly into my calendar or dispatch software?
Does it book directly into my calendar or dispatch software?
It books into your connected calendar (Google Calendar, Outlook, iCal, Nightsbridge, and more) using live availability. For your own field-service or dispatch system, connect it with Custom HTTP Tools on the Power Tools add-on so the agent can create jobs directly. See integrations.
What does it cost?
What does it cost?
Start free to build and test one agent in the browser. To answer real phone calls, the Professional plan is $99/month and includes 250 minutes, a phone number, and one agent. Outbound follow-ups, a unified inbox, and custom integrations are optional add-ons. See pricing for the full breakdown.
Do I need a new phone number?
Do I need a new phone number?
You can get a new number from SmartAlex or forward your existing business line to the agent. Either way, no calls change how customers reach you. See phone numbers.
Get started
Point the agent at your website so it learns your services, hours, and coverage area, connect your calendar, and turn on the intake and transfer tools. You can have a plumber or HVAC answering AI live and booking jobs the same afternoon.Try SmartAlex for your home services business
Build your agent free, then add a number and minutes when you are ready to go live.
Related
What is an AI receptionist?
How an AI front desk answers, qualifies, and books, in plain English.
Agent tools
The booking, transfer, and capture tools that power the intake flow.
Small business use cases
How other local, phone-driven businesses put SmartAlex to work.
Pricing and add-ons
Plans, minutes, and the add-ons for outbound, inbox, and integrations.