Ansela / Who it’s for / Plumbers and heating
For plumbers and heating engineers
The boiler’s in bits and the phone’s going. She gets it.
Ansela answers in your business’s name, takes the postcode and the problem, books the visit into your diary, and puts the ones that can’t wait through to you.
£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 plumbers?
Yes. Ansela is an AI phone receptionist for plumbers and heating engineers. She answers in your firm’s name while you’re on a job, takes the postcode and the problem, books the visit into your Ansela diary, and puts through the calls you’ve said can’t wait. Plans start at £99 a month + VAT.
01
The call she took while that boiler was in bits
This is the kind of call she takes for heating firms. The caller rambles, corrects his own postcode, asks whether he’s talking to a person, and still ends up in Wednesday’s diary.
Example call; Whitlock Plumbing and Heating and the caller are made up.
An example call, not a recording of a real one. Ansela’s lines are in her real default voice, made with the same voice service she uses on calls. The intro and the caller are two other voices from it.
This call may be recorded. Thank you for calling Whitlock Plumbing and Heating. Please hold for a moment while I connect you.Recorded, and played before she picks up.
Hi, this is Ansela. How can I help?
Hiya. It’s the boiler, it’s gone off again. There’s a code on it, F22 or something, and no hot water.
Oh no, that’s no fun. Can I take your name?
Jan Kowalski. Sorry, am I talking to a real person?
No, I’m an AI assistant for Whitlock’s, but I can get that booked in for you. What’s the postcode there?
SK4 3… no, 2AB. Forty-two Elmfield Road.
Let me just bring that address up. So that’s 42 Elmfield Road, SK4 2AB. Is that right?
That’s it.
Let me find the first one free. The first I’ve got is tomorrow at ten. Would that work, or is another day better?
Ten’s fine, yeah.
Lovely. You’re booked in for your boiler repair tomorrow at ten. Anything else you need while I’ve got you?
No, that’s everything, thanks.
Thanks for calling, bye for now.
02
What she does for a heating firm, and what she won’t
She works from what you tell her: your services, your area, your call-out charge, your rules for what’s urgent.
- Call-outs and quote visits, booked into your diary.
- “Do you cover Stockport?” and “Do you do boiler services?” answered from your own list.
- Moving or cancelling a visit, and “when’s he coming?” from a customer you’ve already booked.
- The call that comes while you’re on the phone to a supplier, taken and written up.
- Won’t diagnose a fault or quote a price you haven’t given her. Anything else, she books a visit or takes the details.
- Won’t deal with a gas smell herself. She reads out 0800 111 999 and puts the caller through to you, in words you’ve approved.
- Won’t guess. If she doesn’t know, she takes a message and says so.
03
What happens when a plumber misses a call?
Someone with a leak or no heating doesn’t leave a message and wait. They ring the next plumber on the list, and by the time you’re out from under the sink and ringing back, the job has gone. Many of the calls you miss are new customers, with no reason to wait for you.
The phone goes at the worst moments: hands in a basin trap, head in an airing cupboard, a van full of pipe on the A-road. A voicemail that says “call me back” gives you a job to chase rather than a job booked.
04
What does an AI receptionist ask a customer who rings a plumber?
Whatever you’ve told her to, in the order that suits plumbing: the postcode first, so she can say whether you cover the area, then what’s wrong. For a boiler she can ask the make and roughly how old it is. She also asks whether water is coming through a ceiling, and whether the caller is a tenant ringing for a landlord.
Then she offers the visit slots you’ve set, takes a name and number, and writes it all up. She doesn’t work out the fault and she doesn’t quote a price you haven’t given her.
05
What about gas smells and burst pipes?
These are rules you set, and she follows the words you’ve approved. For a caller who smells gas, the usual rule is to give the National Gas Emergency Service number, 0800 111 999, and put the call through to your mobile. For a burst pipe, you decide what she says and whether the call comes straight to you.
Gas work in Great Britain has to be done by an engineer on the Gas Safe Register. Ansela isn’t registered and doesn’t speak for your registration. If you want callers told you’re Gas Safe registered, tell her to say so, in your words.
06
Can she book boiler services and call-outs into my diary?
Yes, into your Ansela diary, which you can see and change from your phone. You choose the days and windows, say Wednesday morning or Thursday afternoon, and she offers those. She doesn’t connect to Google or Outlook, so if you keep another diary, check both before you take a job yourself.
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 while the boiler’s in bits
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 plumbers and heating engineers: 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 services, your area and your hours for you to check.
- Pick a voice and try her. Have the boiler call above with her yourself, in your browser, before she takes a real one. Try being awkward.
- 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 is most one-or-two-van firms. Team when there’s more than one diary to fill.
One boiler call-out covers the month.
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 plumbers and heating engineers ask
Can she quote for a job?
Only prices you’ve given her, like your call-out charge or a boiler service price. Anything else, she books a visit or takes the details.
What about a gas emergency?
You set the wording. The usual rule is that she gives the caller the gas emergency number, 0800 111 999, and puts them through to your mobile.
Does she tell customers I’m Gas Safe registered?
Only if you’ve told her to. Ansela isn’t on the register herself. Put your own wording in what you give her, and she says it as you wrote it.
I work off a paper diary. Does that matter?
Hers lives on your phone. Check it before you book anyone in yourself, or put your own jobs in it and let her work round them.
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.
Also built for
Next time it rings mid-job, let her get it.
Ansela is a Bookeasy.ai product. You sign up at ansela.bookeasy.ai, and you’ll see BOOKEASY.AI on your card statement.