Ansela / Who it’s for / Handymen
For handymen and property maintenance
Three jobs on today, and a letting agent wants a fourth. She takes the list.
Ansela answers in your business’s name while you’re working, takes the list of bits, the address and who’s calling, and books the visit or leaves you a message to ring back.
£1.99 your first month, including VAT, then from £99 a month + VAT. 60 minutes in month one. No contract.
Set up in about 15 minutes.
Ansela is a Bookeasy.ai product. You sign up at ansela.bookeasy.ai, and you’ll see BOOKEASY.AI on your card statement.
Is there an answering service for handymen?
Yes. Ansela is an AI phone receptionist for handymen and property maintenance. She answers in your business’s name while you’re on a job, takes the list of bits, the address and who’s calling, and books the visit into your Ansela diary. Plans start at £99 a month + VAT.
01
The call she took with three jobs already on
A letting agent with a list that grows mid-sentence, a job you don’t do, and a change of plan on access. Mike gets a message he can act on in one call.
Example call; Fixit Property Maintenance and the caller are made up.
This call may be recorded. Thank you for calling Fixit Property Maintenance. Please hold for a moment while I connect you.Recorded, and played before she picks up.
Fixit Property Maintenance, Ansela speaking. How can I help?
Hi, it’s Megan at Cedar Lettings. I’ve got a tenant with a few bits. Dripping kitchen tap, a bedroom door that won’t shut, and, hang on, she’s also said the extractor fan’s not working.
Thanks Megan. Mike doesn’t take electrical work, so the fan’s one for an electrician. The tap and the door he can do. What’s the property postcode?
Fair enough. SO16 7AB, flat 3.
SO16 7AB, flat 3. Will you arrange access, or should Mike ring the tenant?
He can call her. Actually, no, I need to check she’s happy with that first. Can he just ring me back?
Of course. What’s the best number for you?
07700 900862, that’s my work mobile. I’m here till half five.
Thanks. Mike gets it now: tap and door at flat 3, SO16 7AB, and a call back to you before half five about access.
02
What she does for a handyman, and what she won’t
She works from your rates, your area and the jobs you take on, including the ones you don’t, so callers hear that up front.
- Visits booked into your diary, with the whole list of bits written down.
- Hourly or half-day rates, quoted the way you’ve written them.
- “Do you build flat-pack?” and “Can you come this week?” answered from your own answers.
- Letting agents and landlords, taken with the property address, the flat number and who’s calling.
- Won’t quote for a job you haven’t priced. She books a look or takes the details.
- Won’t book gas or electrical work you don’t do. Tell her what you don’t take on and she says so.
03
What happens when a handyman misses a call?
Handyman work is small jobs that a caller wants done soon: a dripping tap, a door that won’t shut, shelves to put up, a flat-pack wardrobe. Nobody holds off for a callback on a job that size. They ring the next number, and you are back at the van with a missed call and a postcode you never heard.
The callers who matter most are the repeat ones, like letting agents and landlords. They have a list every week and give it to whoever answers.
04
What does she ask when someone rings a handyman?
She asks for the whole list, because a handyman job is rarely one thing. She takes each item, the address, the flat number if there is one, and who is calling. For a letting agent, she also asks whether the agent is arranging access or whether you should ring the tenant.
She works from the jobs you take on and the ones you don’t. If you do flat-pack, tiling, fencing repairs and gutter clearing but not gas or electrical work, tell her. Callers hear that on the call and you aren’t asked for jobs you would turn down.
05
Can she book half days, hours or a list per visit?
Yes. Tell her how you book and she fits the list to it. Visits go into your Ansela diary, which you see and change from your phone. She doesn’t connect to Google or Outlook, so check both diaries before you book a job in yourself.
She can say your hourly or half-day rate the way you’ve written it. She won’t quote a fixed price for a job you haven’t priced. She books a look or takes the details.
06
What about work a handyman shouldn’t do?
That is your rule, and the list is yours to write. Gas work needs a Gas Safe engineer, and some electrical work has to be notified under building regulations, so many handymen send those callers elsewhere. Put that in what you give her, and she tells the caller you don’t do it and takes the details anyway if you want to pass the job on.
She gives no advice about what is safe or what needs a specialist. She takes the message and you decide.
Plans start at £99 a month + VAT: see what each plan includes. Paying a per-call service now? See how Ansela compares.
07
Where the phone usually is with three jobs on
We built Ansela because we kept ringing tradespeople who couldn’t pick up, and then booking someone else. She isn’t a call centre. She answers in your name, says what you’ve told her to say, and writes down what the caller wanted.
If she gets a call wrong, forward us the recording.
Ansela[email protected]
08
How do you set up Ansela?
You choose a plan before your number goes live.
For handymen and property maintenance: keep your current number and divert it to Ansela, or take a new UK business number for your website and cards, or use both.
- Give her your website. She reads it and comes back with your rates, your area and the jobs you take on for you to check.
- Tell her how you book and try her. Half days, hours or a list per visit, then have the letting-agent call above with her in your browser.
- Divert your mobile. We give you a UK number. One short code diverts your mobile to it when you don’t pick up. Another turns it off.
09
What does Ansela cost? Three plans, no contract
Starter suits most handymen working alone. Team when there’s a second pair of hands with his own diary.
Ansela is a Bookeasy.ai product. You sign up at ansela.bookeasy.ai, and you’ll see BOOKEASY.AI on your card statement.
| Plan | A month + VAT | Minutes | Calls at once |
|---|---|---|---|
| StarterSole traders, one or two vans | £99 | 600 | 1 |
| TeamDiaries for up to 10 people | £279 | 1,800 | 3 |
| ScaleSet up with you, not self-serve | £499 | 3,500 | 3 |
Minutes are time she spends on the phone with callers. Extra minutes are 20p each, up to a limit you set.
First month £1.99 including VAT, with 60 minutes, on Starter. Card needed; nothing else to pay in month one. Cancel from your billing page and it stops at the end of the month you’ve paid for. Plan prices exclude VAT.
Not VAT-registered? With VAT that’s £118.80 a month on Starter, £334.80 a month on Team and £598.80 a month on Scale.
Scale is set up with you. Need her plugged into your own systems? Talk to us about Enterprise.
10
Questions handymen and property maintenance ask
Can she book half days and full days?
Yes. Tell her how you book and she fits the list to it.
I do work for letting agents. Can she tell them apart?
She takes who’s calling, the agency and the property address. You can have agents’ calls put through or taken as a message.
Can she say I don’t do gas or electrical work?
Yes, if you tell her. She says so on the call and can still take the details to pass on.
Can I switch her off at weekends?
Yes. Turn the divert off and calls come straight to you.
Do I have to change my number?
No. We give you a UK number and you divert your own to it with a short code (codes by network). Turn the divert off whenever you like.
What is a minute, and can she take two calls at once?
A minute is time she spends on the phone with callers. Starter includes 600 a month, extra minutes are 20p each up to a limit you set, and Starter takes 1 call at a time. A caller who rings while she’s busy can leave a voicemail, which doesn’t use your minutes.
Is there a contract, and what happens after the £1.99 month?
No minimum term. After the first month it carries on at your plan price plus VAT unless you cancel, which you can do from your billing page at any time.
Finish the job you’re on. She’ll take the next one.
Ansela is a Bookeasy.ai product. You sign up at ansela.bookeasy.ai, and you’ll see BOOKEASY.AI on your card statement.