An on-call phone for plumbers and electricians. Urgent calls without sitting by the phone.

An on-call phone has to do two things: the customer with a leak has to reach a person tonight, and whoever is on call has to be able to eat dinner without jumping up every time someone wants a quote for a new bathroom. Most of the work isn't in the phone but in the rules around it.

01Make the rota first

Before choosing any technology, write down who is on call when. A rota that only exists in the owner's head doesn't survive the day the owner is ill.

• The hours. When does the shift start and end? Typically from close of business to the next morning and all weekend – but write your own times.
• The rotation. A week at a time is easiest to remember and hand over. Switch on the same weekday and time every time.
• Backup. Who gets called if the person on call doesn't answer within a couple of minutes? Without a backup, the rota is one person and a phone with a low battery.
• Handover. What does the next person need to know? Open jobs, a customer waiting for a part, an address with a tricky main tap.
• Public holidays and leave. Add them now, not the week before.

02Four ways to route the calls

Once the rota is set, the calls need to reach the right person. There are four common set-ups:

The last option is the only one where the person on call doesn't do the sorting. With the first three, every call rings on call – including those that could have waited until tomorrow. See the codes in how to forward your calls.

03What counts as urgent?

Write it down so everyone sorts the same way – including the new apprentice and whoever answers for you. A good rule of thumb: will the damage get worse, or is someone without something essential, before you can come tomorrow? Then it's urgent.

Plumbing

• Urgent: running water that can't be stopped at the main tap; water through ceilings or into electrics; no heating in a home in freezing weather; a blocked drain when it's the only toilet.
• Can wait: a dripping mixer tap, a running toilet, a boiler due for a service, a quote for a new bathroom.
• Not your call-out: if there's a smell of gas, the customer should leave the house and call the gas company's emergency line – and 112 if there's danger. Put it in your rules so nobody hesitates.

Electrical

• Urgent: a burning smell, heat or sparks from a socket or the fuse board; an RCD that won't reset, leaving the house without power; power lost to a freezer, heat pump or equipment someone depends on.
• Can wait: a single socket or light not working; a charger, spotlights, a new fuse board; quotes.
• Not your call-out: if the whole street is dark, it's usually the grid operator. For fire or smoke, call 112 – not the electrician.

Three questions that sort most calls

• What has happened – and where in the house?
• Has the water been turned off / the circuit switched off?
• Is it getting worse, or can it wait until early tomorrow?

04Emergency surcharge: say the price before you drive

A customer calling at 10 pm with water on the floor will agree to almost anything. That's exactly why the price has to be said out loud before you drive – otherwise the bill is what they remember, not that you came.

There's no standard industry price, so we give no figures here. But the price becomes transparent when it's made of the same few parts every time. Fill in the template with your own numbers:

• The same price everywhere. On the website, in the voicemail greeting and in what the person on call says. Three different answers and they'll trust none of them.
• Say what the surcharge doesn't cover. For example, that an emergency call-out stops the damage, and the actual repair is done in the daytime at the normal rate.
• Confirm in writing. A short text with the price and the time before you drive removes most arguments afterwards.

05How Noa can take the on-call phone

Noa is an AI receptionist who picks up in your name – evenings and weekends too. For an on-call phone she does what the first three set-ups can't: she sorts before the person on call is disturbed.

• Asks questions by your rules. Is the water off? Is there heating in the house? She asks what you've taught her and gets the address.
• Transfers to whoever is on call. You tell her who takes what, and which days and hours they can take the phone. Whatever your rules say must go through straight away, she transfers.
• Takes a message when it can wait. Or when nobody picks up. The message lands in the inbox with the whole conversation written out – with the iPhone app the person on call has it on their phone and can call back from there.
• Creates the job. With Apacta connected she can create the job with name, number, address and description, ready for the morning.

Two things must be clear: deciding what's urgent is up to you – Noa follows the rules you give her. And Noa is not an emergency service. If someone is in danger, the caller must call 112, and that should be in your greeting and your rules.

Noa Voice costs from €93 a month incl. VAT with 300 minutes, then from €0.27 per minute up to a cap you set (default €65). Once the cap is reached, Noa only takes messages for the rest of the month – worth knowing for an on-call phone, so set the cap for your busiest month.

The checklist

• A rota with hours, rotation, backup and public holidays
• Written rules for urgent, can wait and not your call-out (gas, fire: 112)
• Chosen how calls are routed – and who changes it at handover
• Emergency surcharge written down in the same parts every time, incl. VAT
• The same price on the website, in the greeting and on the phone
• A test call out of hours – from another phone

No on-call rota yet, but want to send customers to the right place in the evening? See the voicemail greetings with an urgent referral.