24/7 Contractor Answering Service
Flex $29/mo with 50 calls included; $0.49/call overage
Free for 14 days or first 30 calls. Trial terms shown before you start. Cancel anytime.
Or test her first:
You're on a job site. A homeowner calls about a kitchen remodel. Nobody answers. They call the next contractor on their list. Claudessa makes sure that never happens — 24/7, starting at $29/mo.
You'll be calling our test business
Reliable HVAC & Plumbing — our demo runs as HVAC
The same receptionist works identically for contracting — same scoping, same intake, same answers from your own details. Test the system, then sign up for your own.
6 of 10
calls that go unanswered while you're on a job — count your own week
Most
of those callers hang up without leaving a message — check your voicemail against your missed calls
$5,000+
a single remodel estimate — one missed call can be the whole job
Your phone handles three completely different types of calls: new leads requesting bids, existing clients checking on project status, and subs calling about scheduling conflicts. A generic answering service treats all three the same way.
| Who’s calling | What Claudessa does |
|---|---|
| New lead, bathroom or kitchen remodel | Asks a few questions to understand the scope and takes the project down |
| Existing client — “when are the electricians coming?” | Question taken down for you, not a voicemail |
| Sub, about tomorrow’s framing inspection | Escalated as time-sensitive |
| Supplier confirming a Monday delivery | Logged for morning review |
| Water main break on an active project, midnight | Treated as an emergency — she tries to put the caller straight through to you |
| “Deck estimate” vs. “full home renovation” | Clarifying questions to understand the scope of each |
A bathroom-remodel caller gets asked what you’d ask in the first five minutes, so the estimate request arrives ready to quote instead of needing a callback.
When a caller names the job, it goes on the message with their name and number, so you know which project they mean.
Your client decides at 8 PM on a Tuesday to add a bathroom to the renovation. Homeowners think about their projects on their schedule, and the contractor who answers first gets the job.
Claudessa learns your intake questions, project types, service area, and scheduling preferences through a voice conversation — the same onboarding behind our AI-based answering service for every trade we cover, including a specialized property management answering service for GCs doing steady multifamily renovation work.
Related: AI-based answering service · property management answering service · after-hours answering service for contractors
Claudessa asks what the project is and a few questions to understand the scope, and checks the address against your service area when the caller gives one. If the job is outside your area, she says so and takes a message so you can decide on an exception. For more ways to win jobs, read our guide to contractor lead generation.
Missed Call — Wednesday 10:22 AM
Kitchen remodel inquiry. Caller hung up after 5 rings.
Answered — Wednesday 10:22 AM
Kitchen remodel, residential, opening the kitchen up to the dining room. Estimate requested for Thursday 2 PM. You get a text or an email with the details.
| Claudessa | Typical Service | |
|---|---|---|
Onboarding |
Voice conversation — we call you |
Script you write yourself |
Knowledge |
The services, project types, minimum size, lead time and licensing you tell us about |
Whatever you write into the script |
Setup effort |
One phone call — we learn your business |
You write the script |
Lead qualification? |
Asks about the project, checks your service area |
Takes a message from everyone |
Bathroom remodels under 100 sq ft? Commercial tenant improvements? Minimum project size? If you told her on the call, Claudessa knows. When a homeowner calls about a kitchen remodel, Claudessa gives them the timeline you gave her and takes their estimate request — then texts or emails it to you right after the call. Compare to My AI Front Desk and Upfirst.
Homeowner ready for a project? Claudessa takes the estimate request — who's calling, their number, and the job — while they're still on the phone, then texts or emails it to you right after the call. That homeowner isn't waiting on a callback to find out whether you're interested. Wondering what this costs? Here's the breakdown.
If a caller asks about ADU permits before you've given her an answer, Claudessa takes a message and flags the gap. Once you give her the answer, she uses it on every call after — and the same goes for kitchen timelines, bathroom renovations, and your estimate process. Compare options in our best AI receptionist guide.
Claudessa captures: what the client is asking — which job, when the next phase starts, when the inspector is coming, what they need to prepare — and tells them you’ll get back to them. You get: the question in writing instead of two days of phone tag.
Claudessa captures: the full scope of the change — what they want, where, and any constraints they mentioned — and tells the caller you’ll follow up with pricing. You get: recessed lighting added to the kitchen remodel, logged, not lost in voicemail.
Claudessa captures: which project, which phase, what’s affected, and the urgency level — on a framing schedule conflict or a material backorder alike. You get: structured detail instead of a garbled voicemail.
Claudessa captures: the project and its scope, and contact details from the bathroom-remodel caller who rang while you were on a job site. You get: a lead that would otherwise have called the next contractor.
Claudessa does: gives the prospect calling at 7 PM about a deck build a real conversation, not voicemail. You get: the leads homeowners generate researching contractors after work. See our after-hours answering service for contractors.
No forms. No setup wizard. We learn your contracting business the old-fashioned way — by talking to you.
Name, phone, email. Trial terms shown before you start. Your 14-day / first-30-calls trial starts when your receptionist goes live. Finish onboarding within 30 days of signup — miss it and the signup just expires. Nothing charged.
Claudessa calls and learns the project types, rates, service area, minimum project size and licensing you tell her. All of it through conversation, not forms.
Deck estimate? Claudessa asks about the project and takes the request. Outside your area? She says so and takes a message so you can decide.
When a caller names a project or an active job, it goes into the message you get, with who called and their number.
Who’s calling, their number, and what they need, including the job when they name it.
Answer from what you’ve told her, take the message, or try to put the call through to the one number you give us. A new lead gets questions about the project — not just a generic “someone will call you back.”
The message by text or email, with emergencies flagged urgent, so you can act without replaying voicemail.
Most general contractors are running 3–7 active projects at any given time, each with its own crew, timeline, and set of callers. Your phone rings and it could be the homeowner on the Oak Street kitchen remodel, a framing sub on the commercial buildout on Main, or a new lead asking about a deck estimate somewhere else entirely.
A generic answering service treats every one of those calls the same way: take a name, take a number, pass along a message. It can’t tell a homeowner asking about their kitchen remodel from a sub calling about the commercial project across town. Claudessa can, because she takes down who’s calling and what they’re calling about, and puts both on the message.
Subcontractor coordination is where this matters most. Subs call about scheduling conflicts, material delivery windows, site access, and inspection timing. Claudessa captures which project, what phase is affected, and whether it’s time-sensitive — so you batch-respond during planning time instead of getting pulled off a job site for every call.
You drive 45 minutes to a site visit, spend an hour measuring and discussing scope, put together a detailed estimate — and the job was never a fit.
When a job is outside your area, she says so plainly and takes a message so you can decide on an exception. The rest reach you by text or email right after the call, with who’s calling, their number, and what the project is.
An unqualified site visit is half a day lost on a lead that was never going to convert. If two of your site visits a month are like that, you’ve lost a full workday to estimate requests that go nowhere.
The math: If you save 15 minutes on each inquiry and you get 20 inquiries per week, that’s 5 hours per week back — time you can spend on billable work, project management, or actually answering the calls that matter. At a $75/hour billing rate, that’s $375/week in recaptured productivity.
Claudessa costs $29/mo with 50 calls included; $0.49/call overage after that allowance.
Our test demo runs as Reliable HVAC & Plumbing — the same receptionist works identically for contracting. Dial in and play a customer asking for a remodel estimate, anything.
Call (888) 611-9056 to testTry free for 14 days or the first 30 genuine calls, whichever comes first. If we ask for a card, there's no charge today — before card setup you'll see the amount and when it's charged (when your free trial ends, counted from the day your receptionist goes live), we send you the exact date when she goes live, and you can cancel before then.
For owner-operators who need every call answered.
50 calls included, then $0.49/call above the allowance.
For busy shops with steady call volume.
200 calls included, then $0.29/call.
Booked-job guarantee
If she hasn't booked you a job by the end of your trial, it stays free until she does. Guarantee terms
Genuine customer calls count. Test calls, spam, owner calls, wrong numbers, and hangups or non-interactions do not count.
Overage is $0.49/call on Flex and $0.29/call on Volume. Both plans are billed monthly.
Claudessa's plans: Flex is $29/month for 50 calls, then $0.49/call; Volume is $79/month for 200 calls, then $0.29/call. New trials run for 14 days or your first 30 calls, whichever comes first. Depending on how you reached us, we may ask for a card after you sign up, before your receptionist starts. If we do, there's no charge today — before card setup you'll see the amount and when it's charged (when your free trial ends, counted from the day your receptionist goes live), we send you the exact date when she goes live, and you can cancel any time before then. If we don't, there's nothing to enter.
That's exactly what it's built for. Claudessa answers every call 24/7 — whether you're on a roof, in a crawl space, or meeting with a client. It answers from what you've told her about your services and rates. Callers get real answers and their job request in your hands, not voicemail.
We call you and have a real conversation. Claudessa learns what you tell her: your specialties (remodeling, additions, roofing, concrete, etc.), service area, how you handle estimates, licensing, and how you want calls handled. No forms, no scripting.
She takes the request; you confirm the time. Claudessa gets who's calling, their number, and what the project is, then texts or emails it to you right after the call. No phone tag, no missed opportunities.
A traditional service follows the script you set up with it. Claudessa learns your contracting business on a call with you — your specialties, rates and how you handle different types of work. Callers get answers from what you told her, and anything beyond that comes to you as a message. Flex is $29/mo with 50 calls included; $0.49/call applies only above the included allowance. A human answering service such as Responsive Answering charges $149 a month for 125 minutes, about the same 50 calls.
No. She doesn’t match calls to your projects or route them by job site. She takes the message (who called, their number, and what they need) and texts or emails it to you, so you can hand it to the right person.
Claudessa asks what the project is and a few questions to understand the scope, and if the caller gives an address or zip she checks it against your service area. You get their name, number and the project by text or email right after the call, so you can decide whether it’s worth a callback.
When subs call about scheduling, materials, or site access, Claudessa can take messages with project reference and urgency level, so you can batch-respond during your planning time instead of dropping everything.
Yes. When a homeowner calls about storm, fire or water damage, Claudessa takes down what happened, their name and number, and any insurance or claim details they mention, and texts or emails it to you right after the call.
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