Four calls between eight and twelve, none answered. Two were job enquiries that somebody else is now doing. On voicemail: one message, without a callback number.
Trades & emergency call-out
AI phone agent for trades: no more missed jobs.
Whoever is on a roof, drilling into a wall or lying under a sink is not answering the phone. The caller does not wait, though — they call the next name on the list. An agent that answers, captures the request and recognises an emergency is the most direct route from missed call to job.
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In short: In the trades a missed call is more expensive than in almost any other industry, because the customer keeps dialling. The agent answers, separates emergency from routine, captures address, trade and callback number and sends everything to your phone as a summary. The emergency path is the critical part: genuine emergencies get transferred immediately, everything else is logged cleanly.
The problem
The work and the phone compete for the same person
The trades do not have a call volume problem, they have a simultaneity problem: the work and the phone need the same person. There is usually no office, and if there is, it is not staffed in the afternoon.
The call-out request comes in, but the phone is in the van. That one call would have paid for the weekend surcharge.
Do you come out to our area? What does the call-out cost? Do you take small jobs? Three questions, a hundred times a month, the same answer every time.
Tasks
What the agent takes over
The agent does not replace the tradesperson — it makes sure that in the evening there is a list of complete enquiries instead of three missed calls.
Capture the enquiry fully
Name, callback number, address, trade and a description of the problem — in that order, with the number read back for verification.
Separate emergency from routine
Burst pipe, heating failure in winter, power cut: transfer to the call-out number immediately. Everything else gets logged.
Service area and call-out charge
Do we come out there? What does the trip cost? Fixed answers nobody has to give again.
Take appointment requests
Capture the preferred window — or, with a connected calendar, book a slot directly.
Summary to your phone
Every conversation arrives by email, SMS or WhatsApp. Work through them at lunch instead of reconstructing them in the evening.
Cover the fringes
Before seven, after five, on Saturdays — precisely when private customers call, because they work too.
Honestly
Where the limits are
- Prices over the phone are almost always wrong in the trades. The agent should never quote for a job, and should only state hourly rates or call-out fees if they are explicitly stored.
- Remote diagnosis does not work. The agent captures the description — it does not say what is causing the problem.
- For genuine hazards (gas smell, electric shock, water near electrics) the agent must point to emergency numbers and transfer, not advise. Put that in the prompt verbatim.
- Binding appointments without a connected calendar are a source of errors. Without a calendar, only capture preferred windows.
We are not selling anything here that does not work. These points belong verbatim in the prompt block "Limits" — otherwise the AI will invent something when in doubt.
To copy
Prompt template for this industry
Copy it, replace the square brackets, paste it into Fonio under "Prompt". The "Limits" block is the most important one — do not trim it away.
# About you
You are the digital phone agent of [company], a [trade]
business in [city]. We work within [X] km.
You speak in a friendly, direct way and in short sentences.
# Goal of the conversation
Capture every enquiry completely enough that a callback needs
no further questions. Recognise emergencies and transfer them
immediately.
# Conversation flow
1. Greet and ask what it is about.
2. First check: is this an emergency (burst pipe, heating
failure in winter, power cut, gas smell)?
If yes: transfer to [call-out number] immediately.
3. Otherwise: what is the problem? Capture the description.
4. Ask for the address (street, number, city).
5. Ask for name and callback number, read the number back
digit by digit and have it confirmed.
6. Ask for the preferred appointment window.
7. Summarise and say: "[Name] will get back to you, usually
on the same working day."
# Limits
- Do not quote prices and do not estimate costs. State hourly
rates and call-out fees only if they are in the knowledge base.
- Do not diagnose remotely. You capture the description, you
do not explain the cause.
- For a gas smell: say immediately "Please leave the building
and call the emergency number", then end the call.
- Do not confirm appointments as binding when no calendar is
connected — only capture the preferred window.
- For anything you are unsure about: note it and announce a
callback.Law & privacy
What additionally applies in this industry
If you want to record calls — popular in the trades so addresses can be checked later — the greeting must announce it and obtain consent. Without that announcement the recording is a criminal offence under § 201 of the German Criminal Code. In practice the summary without a recording is almost always enough.
Two minutes
Hear your own agent before you pay anything
You enter your website address, Fonio reads it and builds an agent that knows your services. Then you call it and hear how it would speak to your customers. No account, no credit card.
- 01 Enter your website address
- 02 Fonio builds the agent from it
- 03 Call it and listen
Two ways to your 10 %
Start straight through our partner link — the discount is pre-applied at checkout. Or have the code and the guide sent to you by email and decide in your own time.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does the agent recognise a real emergency?
It recognises what you define as an emergency. That is why the emergency check sits at the very top of the prompt template — before everything else. List the cases that trigger a call-out at your business concretely, instead of writing "emergencies" in general.
Can it book appointments in the calendar directly?
Yes, with a connected calendar (Fonio's scheduler, Calendly or Cal.com). Without one it only captures the preferred window — which is enough for many businesses, because scheduling happens in the evening anyway.
How do I see the calls while I am working?
As a summary by email, SMS or, since version 3.5, WhatsApp. Most businesses work through them at lunch and after hours.
What about customers who do not want to talk to an AI?
Put this in the prompt: "If the caller explicitly asks for a human, transfer to [number] immediately." It costs nothing and prevents the most unpleasant conversations.