PAssistant

Receptionist · An AI receptionist for Australian businesses

It answers the phone, and books the job.

Receptionist picks up when nobody else can. It talks to the caller, works out what they need, checks the diary and books them in — or puts them through to the right person, or takes a message. Every call is written down: the transcript, what they wanted, the address as it was verified, and the job it produced.

Keep your own number: divert calls to it, or move the number across.

Book a call What missed calls cost you

Run a trade? How it works for plumbers, electricians and other tradies.

The calls you are not there for already have a price.

You will have read that some percentage of calls to a trade business go unanswered, and that most people who get voicemail never ring back. We went looking for where those numbers come from. The ones that cite anything cite each other, and the trail ends at a blog post written by somebody selling the fix.

So there is no statistic here. Three numbers instead, and you already know all three — the first one is sitting in your phone’s call log right now.

Start from a business like yours

A sole trader or one van. You answer the phone yourself, between jobs.

calls a week

Missed, engaged, or rung out while you were under a sink. Your call log knows; most owners guess low.

in ten

Not all of them. Wrong numbers, suppliers, the same person ringing three times. Four in ten is a starting guess, not a finding.

$

What you invoice for a typical job, before costs — your figure, not an industry one.

Walking out the door, a year

$46,800

$900 a week. $3,900 a month.

That is 5 calls a week, of which 4 in 10 were work, at $450 a job, fifty-two weeks a year.

It assumes those callers ring somebody else rather than waiting for you, and that you would have had the capacity to take the work. Neither is true of every call. Pull the middle number down until you believe the answer — it is still a number with a comma in it for most people, and it is the one you can check.

Nothing here is sent anywhere. The sum happens in your browser.

It is a phone number that answers itself.

Not an app your customers have to use, not a chat box on your website, and not a message service that takes a name and a number for you to deal with later. Somebody rings the number on your van and hangs up with a time booked. That is the whole of it, in four steps.

  1. 01

    It answers the number you already advertise

    Divert your existing line to it, or move the number across entirely. Nothing on your van, your website or your business cards has to change, and you can divert it back in an afternoon.

  2. 02

    It has the conversation

    It picks up on the first ring and talks — at 4:52 on a Friday, on a Saturday morning, while you are under a sink. It knows what you do, what you charge and what you do not touch, because you typed those in.

  3. 03

    It checks the diary and books the job

    Open slots are your hours, minus the jobs already booked, minus the time you blocked out, with a travel buffer either side — and minus anything in a calendar you keep somewhere else. It offers two, and books one.

  4. 04

    You find out from a text

    Whoever is doing the job gets a text with what they need on a phone screen. You get the call written down: the transcript, what the caller wanted, the address as it was verified, and the job it produced.

What changes, from the first day it is on.

  • Nobody reaches your voicemail

    There is no recording to leave a message on and no ringing out. The call is answered on the first ring at any hour, including the hours you are not working and the ones where both hands are busy.

  • The job is booked before the call ends

    Not a name and a number for you to deal with tonight — a slot in the diary, a text to whoever is doing it, and a caller who has been told when somebody is coming and gets a text saying so.

  • Nothing is waiting on you to remember

    Call-backs, the address you wrote on your hand, the quote you meant to pass on. It takes the details at the time, writes them down, and tells the people who need them.

One call, and what it did on each line.

An example call — the words a caller hears depend on what you have told it about your business. Under every line is the part that is not an example: the mechanism in the software that produced it.

  1. 4:52 pm — nobody is free to pick up

    Good afternoon, you’ve reached the plumbing team. How can I help?

    My hot water’s gone and there’s water all over the laundry floor.

    It answers on the number you already advertise and speaks while the caller is still on the line. Talking over it does not lose what was said — the words still arrive and still get answered.

  2. How much is it going to cost me?

    A burst hot water service is a callout plus the repair — the callout is $120, and the repair itself gets quoted on site once someone has looked at it.

    The prices come from the list you typed into the dashboard, in your own words. It never adds them into one figure and never invents one. A service you have not listed gets no price at all.

  3. It’s 14 Seaview Rd, Hope Island.

    I have that as 14 Seaview Road, Hope Island, Queensland 4212 — is that the one?

    The address is looked up and read back in its official form, and the job cannot be booked until the caller has confirmed it. An address outside your service radius is declined on the call, with the offer of a message instead.

  4. Yes, that’s it.

    I can get someone to you today at 2:40, or first thing tomorrow at 7:30.

    The open slots are your business hours, minus the jobs already booked, minus the time you have blocked out, with a travel buffer either side — including anything in a calendar you keep somewhere else.

  5. Today, please.

    Booked for 2:40 this afternoon at 14 Seaview Road. You’ll get a text confirming it, and someone will ring if they’re running late.

    The job is in the diary before the call ends. The people you list get a text with what they need on a phone screen, and every one of those texts is recorded as sent or not sent, with the reason in plain words.

  6. And the part most of them get wrong

    Actually — do you do pool heaters as well?

    I’m not certain we cover pool heating, and I’d rather check than guess. I’ll hold this slot and ask the team now — we’ll come straight back to you either way.

    A job in neither your “we do this” list nor your “we don’t” list is never guessed at. It holds the slot, takes the details and texts the team the question. The first Yes or No back is the one that counts, and the caller is told the answer either way.

Every call is written down afterwards whichever way it went: the transcript, a summary of what the caller wanted, the address as it was verified, and the job it produced. That is how you check it is answering the way you would, rather than taking a website’s word for it.

What it does on a call, and after it.

  • Answers the phone

    It greets the caller, listens, and speaks back while they are still on the line. Talking over it does not lose what you said — the words still arrive and still get answered.

  • Books the job

    Open slots come from your business hours, minus the jobs already booked, minus the time you have blocked out, with a travel buffer either side. Bookings can be moved or cancelled by phone.

  • Checks the address

    The caller’s address is looked up and read back in its official form, and a job cannot be booked until it has been. An address outside your service radius is declined with the offer of a message.

  • Knows what you do

    You list the services you offer, what they cost and the things you do not do. It quotes your prices in your own words, never totals them into one figure, and never invents one.

  • Asks when it does not know

    A job in neither list is never guessed at. It holds the slot, takes the details, and texts the team the question — the first Yes or No back is the one that counts, and the caller is told either way.

  • Puts people through

    Sales, accounts, the person who handles one kind of work. It is given their names and never their numbers, so nothing a caller says can become a number it dials.

  • Takes a message

    When a transfer goes unanswered the caller is not hung up on: what they wanted becomes a message, the person who missed them gets a text, and the caller is told someone will ring back.

  • Texts the team

    Every booking, change and message goes to the people you list, with what somebody needs on a phone screen. Each text is recorded as sent or not sent, with the reason in plain words.

  • One dashboard

    Today’s calls and jobs, every call with its summary and transcript, the week’s schedule, customers by phone number, the messages taken, and the settings behind all of it.

  • Your diary, wherever it lives

    Paste a calendar link from Google, Outlook, iCloud or your job software and its events become busy time, so it never books over something booked elsewhere. Its own jobs come back out as a calendar you can subscribe to.

  • An API and webhooks

    Availability, bookings, calls and messages over a REST API, signed webhooks when a job is booked, moved or cancelled, and ServiceM8 connected directly.

  • Nothing a caller says is an instruction

    What the caller says is treated as a transcript and nothing more. Prices, rules and names are changed by you in the dashboard; there is nothing on the phone that can change them.

It fits around the diary you already keep.

A calendar link in means it never books over an appointment that lives somewhere else. A subscription link out puts its jobs in your own calendar. Everything it takes down is also available over an API and webhooks, so it can feed whatever you already run the business on.

Questions people ask about an AI receptionist.

What is an AI receptionist?
An AI receptionist is software that answers a business’s phone calls and talks with the caller in a natural voice. Receptionist, from PAssistant Technologies, works out what the caller needs and then books the job into your diary, puts them through to the right person, or takes a message — and writes every call down with its transcript.
Who is Receptionist for?
Australian businesses that take bookings and enquiries over the phone. It was built alongside trades such as plumbers and electricians, but nothing in it is specific to one trade: you tell it what you do, what you charge and what you do not do, and it answers from that.
Can I keep my existing phone number?
Yes. Divert your existing line to Receptionist, or move the number across entirely. Nothing on your van, your website or your business cards has to change, and a diverted line can be switched back in an afternoon.
Does it book jobs straight into my calendar?
Yes. Receptionist offers open slots worked out from your business hours, minus the jobs already booked, minus time you have blocked out, with a travel buffer either side. Connect Google Calendar, Microsoft 365, ServiceM8 or any calendar link (Outlook, iCloud, job software) and it never books over something already there. Its own bookings come back out as a calendar you can subscribe to.
What happens when someone rings with an emergency?
Receptionist tells the caller to ring triple zero if anyone is hurt or there is a fire, then puts them through to your emergency line — or, out of hours, to whoever you have on call. If nobody picks up, the caller is not hung up on: what they need becomes a message, and the person who missed it gets a text.
What if a caller asks for something it does not know?
It does not guess. A job that is in neither your list of services nor your list of things you do not do is held, the details are taken, and your team is texted the question; the first Yes or No back is the answer, and the caller is told either way. You can also upload a price list, brochure or staff list and it answers from them word for word.
Will callers know they are talking to an AI?
That is your choice. A setting makes Receptionist say in its greeting that the caller is speaking with a virtual receptionist, and the greeting itself can be written in your own words.
Does it answer after hours and on weekends?
Yes. Receptionist answers every call on the first ring at any hour, can use a different greeting while you are closed, and books callers into your next open slots.
How much does Receptionist cost?
Plans are arranged with you directly rather than through a checkout on this site, and are billed in Australian dollars. Book a call or email info@passistant.com.au to talk through how many calls you get.
Who makes Receptionist?
PAssistant Technologies Pty Ltd, a small Australian company in Hope Island, QLD 4212, Australia. Calls are answered on Australian phone numbers, and the person who writes the software is the person who answers the email.

Want it answering your phone?

What it says, what it books and who it puts through are all yours to set, and setting them up is a conversation rather than a form. There is no sales team and no call centre — the person who writes the software is the person who answers the email.

Book a call About the company

Four more, and none of them about your phone.

PAssistant Technologies builds these for your own day rather than your business: a personal assistant that runs on your Mac, the same assistant as an app, and two apps that can tell it what they know.