IndustryHome Services and Trades
When the first cold snap hits, you will get a week of calls in a day.
You cannot hire for that, and you should not pay all year as if you had. We price by simultaneous calls, not seats, and we build the routing so the overflow reaches somebody instead of ringing out to the next contractor on the search page.
§What usually starts this
Trades businesses do not change phone systems for fun. Something starts it.
Which one brought you here?
You missed calls when it got busy
The first hot week, the phones rang out, and those callers went to the next contractor.
The last system did not fix it
You were sold a phone system before, and it still rings out when it matters.
After hours goes to a mailbox
An emergency call at night waits until somebody checks voicemail at eight the next morning.
Customers call the tech's cell
A customer has been calling one technician’s personal phone for years, and the office hears about the job when it is done.
You cannot tell which ads work
You pay for wraps, yard signs and listings with no way to see which ones make the phone ring.
§Missed calls
Nobody leaves a voicemail for a plumber.
They call the next result. You know this already. It is the reason a phone system is worth thinking about at all in this business.
So the routing is built around never ringing out.
Office first. Calls ring the people at desks.
Then everyone else. Whoever else can take it, then a mobile on the 3CX app, then a queue that holds the caller rather than dumping them.
After hours. The on call rotation, not a mailbox that gets checked at eight the next morning.
The report that changes behavior. Calls that rang out, by hour and by day, and which number they came in on. If there is a window where you are losing calls, it shows you where.
§Techs in trucks
The office number should reach a tech without giving out their cell.
Techs answer their office extension on the 3CX app on their own phone. Calls they make to a customer show the business number, so the customer calls the company back next time, not a personal phone that leaves when the tech does.
That one detail is worth more than most of the feature list. Somewhere in your customer list is someone who has been calling the same technician’s cell for years, and nobody hears about the job until it is done.
Transfers reach a truck the same way they reach a desk. Voicemail goes to email with the audio, so a tech can listen between jobs.
§Tracking numbers
Yard signs, trucks, and the ad you are not sure about.
You can have a separate number for the truck wrap, the yard signs, the directory listing and each campaign you are paying for. They all ring the same place, and the reporting shows which ones produced calls.
It is about the simplest marketing measurement a trades business can get. On some phone systems adding a number feels like a project. Here it is a number and a routing rule, and each number is its own line on the quote.
A limit, stated honestly. We are a phone system, not a marketing platform. If you already use a call tracking product, it can usually sit in front of us. Tell us which one on the call.
§The spike
You cannot hire for a heat wave.
Heat wave, hard freeze, storm, a water heater failing on a Saturday. The phones light up for two days and then it is over.
Per seat pricing charges you for every person, every month, whether the phones are quiet or not. We price by simultaneous calls instead, so the monthly bill follows the calls your business takes at the same time, not your headcount.
And when a storm goes past what you bought? We look at the call reports with you and decide whether that peak is worth more simultaneous calls. That is a decision with a price attached, $30 a month per call, not a renegotiation.
§The price
Small office, large field. The bill follows the calls.
The monthly bill is $30 per simultaneous call, which is the same as $30 per SIP trunk. The 3CX license is annual and sold separately. We sell it and invoice it. It has to cover both your simultaneous calls and your extension count, and every tech on the app is an extension. We do the sizing, from how your phones are actually used.
Worked example: a 21 person HVAC company, with three in the office, a dispatcher, the owner and 16 techs in trucks, works out to about seven simultaneous calls, so 8 SC. That is $240 a month, plus an 8 SC license, annual, which also has to carry 24 extensions: eight in the office and 16 techs on the app. Add four techs next spring and that is four more extensions. If they still fit the license, nothing changes. If they push past its extension limit, the license moves up a tier and costs more, and we tell you before it does.
Standard remote install is free. Custom work is $125 an hour, quoted before we start. Month to month on our side.
§Questions
What people ask before they call.
Can we keep the number on the trucks?
Yes. We port every number you keep, and your old system stays live until they have landed. Nothing on the trucks or the signs has to change.
What happens after hours?
Whatever you decide: an on call rotation, a specific mobile, an answering service in the path, or a recorded message with an emergency option. Changing it does not mean rebuilding the phone tree.
Can the techs use their own phones?
Yes. With the 3CX app they answer their office extension on their own phone, and their calls show the business number, not theirs.
Do we need somebody technical?
No. We run it. Ask us to change your hours or add a tech and we do it. If a new extension would push you past your license, we tell you before it changes the price.
Does it work with our dispatch software?
Depends which one. Tell us the name and we will answer honestly rather than say yes.
What happens if the office loses internet or power?
The phone system is not in your building, so it keeps running. Your staff keep working on their mobile phones with the 3CX app.
Who answers when something breaks?
A real person. If they can fix it on the call, they do. If not, they open a ticket and tell you what happens next. Tickets by phone, email or text. After hours, call (918) 608-8888 for 24 hour emergency support.
Are we locked in?
Month to month on our side. The 3CX license is annual.
Twenty minutes before the season starts.
Tell us how many are in the office, how many are in trucks, how many locations you run from, and which numbers are on the trucks and signs. You will get your size, your rate and your license line on the call.
Or call (888) 223-1094