Ansela / Who it’s for / Letting agents
For letting agents
The repair calls start before you get in. She takes the reports.
Ansela answers in your agency’s name, takes repair reports and books viewings, and follows the rules you set for gas, flooding and no heating.
£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 letting agents?
Yes. Ansela is an AI phone receptionist for letting agents. She answers in your agency’s name, takes tenant repair reports, books viewings into her own diary, and follows the emergency rules you set, sending those calls to your out-of-hours contact. She doesn’t judge what is urgent.
01
The tenant on a Saturday with a damp towel
This is a made-up call, but it shows the rule the agent sets: she doesn’t judge what is serious, she follows the line you wrote and checks with the caller when the answer falls between them.
Example call; Marlowe Lettings and the caller are made up.
This call may be recorded. Thank you for calling Marlowe Lettings. Please hold for a moment while I connect you.Recorded, and played before she picks up.
Marlowe Lettings, Ansela speaking. The office is closed until Monday. How can I help?
Hi, it’s about the flat, the kitchen. There’s water coming out from under the washing machine and, well, it’s been doing it since last night, a bit. Not loads. It’s flat 4, I think I’m on the same list as the landlord, Mr Dale?
I can take a report for you. I can’t confirm who is a tenant or a landlord, so I’ll just take your details. Can I have your name and the address?
Sorry, yes. Ben Okafor, 4 Kestrel Court, M14. Flat 4.
Thanks Ben. Is the water still coming out now, or has it stopped?
It’s a slow drip. I’ve turned the machine off and put a towel down.
Understood. Your agency has asked me to put any water that is spreading straight through to the out-of-hours contact. This is slow and contained, so I’ll pass it on as a repair. Is that right?
Yeah, that’s right. It’s not going anywhere.
And the best number for you?
Oh seven seven double oh, nine hundred, three one four. No, three four one.
So that’s 07700 900341. I’ll pass it to the team now.
02
What she does for a letting agent, and what she won’t
She works from your areas, viewing times, out-of-hours contact and the exact wording for each kind of emergency.
- Repair reports, name, address, number and a plain description, passed to you.
- Viewings, booked on the slots you offer.
- Emergency rules you set, such as the gas emergency number, 0800 111 999, or a call put through to your out-of-hours contact.
- Landlord and applicant questions, answered from your wording on fees, availability and how to apply.
- Won’t judge what is an emergency. She follows the rules you set. If a call isn’t covered, she takes a message.
- Won’t confirm who is a tenant or a landlord to an unknown caller. She takes details and you check them.
- Won’t give tenancy-law advice. Not on rent, notice, deposits or who pays for a repair. She says the team will come back.
03
Why do repair calls swamp a letting agent’s phone?
A managed portfolio means a steady stream of tenants ringing about a dripping tap, a dead extractor, a boiler that has stopped. Most aren’t emergencies, but each needs a name, an address and a clear description, and you can’t book viewings while you’re writing them down.
The calls arrive in bursts: first thing, after the weekend, whenever the weather turns. That is when a prospective tenant is most likely to get no answer.
04
What does she ask when a tenant reports a repair?
Name, address, a number to ring back on, and what is wrong. She can also ask whether anyone is home to let a contractor in. Then she says who will be in touch and passes the report to you with the caller’s name and number.
She doesn’t confirm who is a tenant or a landlord to an unknown caller, doesn’t say whether something is the landlord’s responsibility, and gives no tenancy-law advice.
05
What about a gas smell, a flood or no heating?
You tell her what’s urgent and where to send it. For a gas smell, the usual rule is to give the National Gas Emergency Service number, 0800 111 999, then pass the report on. For flooding or no heating for a vulnerable tenant, you decide whether the call goes to your out-of-hours contact.
She never decides what counts as an emergency. If your rules cover it, she follows the rule. If not, she takes a message. Test the routing before you divert your number to her.
06
How do viewings work, and what does she leave out?
She books viewings into her own diary on the slots you offer, taking a name, number and the property. She answers only from what you’ve given her: rent, available date, parking, pets, deposit. Membership of a body such as Propertymark or The Property Ombudsman is yours, and goes in her wording only if you add it.
See also estate agents and plumbers for the trades you send to repairs.
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 when the repairs come in
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 letting agents: 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 and your emergency list. She reads your properties and fees, then you write the rules for gas, flooding and no heating, and who gets each call.
- Test the routing. Call her as a tenant with a leak, a gas smell and a heating failure. Check each goes where you meant before you divert.
- 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 a small agency taking the overflow. Team when there are several branches or lettings managers with their own diaries.
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 letting agents ask
What does she do if a tenant smells gas?
You set the wording. The usual rule is to give the National Gas Emergency Service number, 0800 111 999, and put the call through to your out-of-hours contact.
Does she decide what is an emergency?
No. She follows the rules you write. If a call isn’t covered by a rule, she takes a message.
Will she tell a caller whether they are the tenant or the landlord?
No. She doesn’t confirm either to an unknown caller. She takes a name, address and number, and you check who they are.
Can she say we are with Propertymark or The Property Ombudsman?
Only if you’re a member and you put it in her wording. The membership is for you to claim.
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.
When the repairs line is full, let her take the reports.
Ansela is a Bookeasy.ai product. You sign up at ansela.bookeasy.ai, and you’ll see BOOKEASY.AI on your card statement.