For painters and decorators
An AI receptionist for painters and decorators
When you're cutting in and can't put the brush down, it answers, asks about the rooms and texts you the job.
Read the video transcript
- On screen
- Your phone's ringing, and you're up a ladder. A missed call.
- Voiceover
- Your phone's ringing, and you're up a ladder. That's a job gone. Unless your phone answers itself.
- On screen
- What your callers hear.
- AI receptionist
- Hi, you've reached Dave's Plumbing. I'm Dave's AI assistant, and this call is transcribed. How can I help?
- Caller
- My boiler's packed in. No hot water.
- AI receptionist
- Oh, sorry to hear that. What's the postcode there?
- Caller
- BS3.
- AI receptionist
- Got it. I've pencilled you in for Tuesday at ten. Dave will confirm by text.
- On screen
- A text arrives: New enquiry. Boiler not working, no hot water. BS3. Pencilled in for Tuesday at 10am. Tap to confirm.
- Voiceover
- You get the details. Straight away.
- Voiceover
- It asks your questions, books your calendar, handles emergencies, even asks for photos of the job.
- On screen
- And it's not just a voicemail. Asks your questions, one at a time, in plain English. Emergency? Safety advice first, and you get an instant alert. Says it's an AI, every call. Never pretends to be a person.
- Voiceover
- And every Monday, you see what it caught.
- On screen
- An example weekly summary: calls the AI answered, jobs pencilled in, photos received and emergencies flagged.
- Voiceover
- Try it free for 14 days.
- On screen
- Try it free for 14 days. Card required. Nothing to pay today. Cancel any time. Set up for you. Keep your own number. Plans from £24/month + VAT. arcscribe.co.uk/receptionist. Set up for you. Anywhere in the UK.
- Set up for you
- Keep your existing number: we forward the calls you miss
- Says it's an AI on every call
- Cancel any time
What your callers hear
Your phone rings first. If you can't get to it, the AI receptionist answers, says it's an AI, and asks what you'd ask. Here's an example call to Nadia's Decorating.
Hear an example call
Dramatised example using synthetic voices. On a real call, the AI uses your business name and the questions you approve.
Read the transcript
Phone rings twice
AI: Hi, you've reached Dave's Plumbing. I'm Dave's AI assistant, and this call is transcribed. How can I help?
Caller: My boiler's packed in. No hot water.
AI: Oh, sorry to hear that. What's the postcode there?
Caller: BS3.
AI: Got it. I've pencilled you in for Tuesday at ten. Dave will confirm by text.
Pencilling in jobs is on Receptionist and Pro. On Catch, the AI takes a message and texts you.
AI receptionist
Hi, you've reached Nadia's Decorating. Nadia's halfway up a wall at the moment. I'm an AI assistant and this call is transcribed so I can pass on your message. How can I help?
Caller
Hi. I'm a landlord. I need two bedrooms and the hallway repainted before new tenants move in.
AI receptionist
Happy to help. When do the new tenants move in?
Caller
In three weeks.
AI receptionist
Thanks, I'll pass that deadline on to Nadia. Are the walls painted, or is there wallpaper to strip?
Caller
All painted, but there are a few holes from picture hooks.
AI receptionist
That's helpful. Can I take your name?
Caller
It's Callum.
AI receptionist
Thanks, Callum. What's the postcode area for the flat?
Caller
G12.
AI receptionist
Let me read that back: G 12. Is that right?
Caller
Yes.
AI receptionist
I'll text you a link so you can send photos of the two bedrooms and the hallway. Nadia can come and look on Monday morning. Would 10am suit you?
Caller
Yes, I'll meet her there.
AI receptionist
Great. You're pencilled in for Monday at 10am to look at the two bedrooms and the hallway, and Nadia will confirm by text.
Built around how painters and decorators work
Tight deadlines flagged
When a caller has an end-of-tenancy deadline or a move coming up fast, it flags the call as urgent and alerts you straight away, so you can ring back first and decide whether you can fit it in.
Room by room
Inside or out, how many rooms, rough sizes, wallpaper to strip and repairs to fill. You can start pricing before you visit.
Photos of each room
It texts the caller a link to send photos of each room and any problem areas, so you can see the cracks and damp marks before you go.
Landlords and agents recognised
On the Receptionist and Pro plans, it recognises returning callers, so a letting agent ringing about the next flat is picked up as someone you've worked with.
How calls go for a painter and decorator
Inside or out, and how much
Most calls start with a vague request: "I need the downstairs doing." Before you can price it, you need to know what that means. Is it inside or out? How many rooms? Ceilings, woodwork and doors, or just walls?
The AI picks up when you can't, says it's an AI and asks your questions. It finds out how many rooms, roughly how big, and what needs painting. For exterior work, it asks how many storeys and how to get round the house. You get a text with the answers, so you're not starting from scratch when you ring back.
Prep is where the time goes
Two rooms of fresh walls is a different job from two rooms of old woodchip and cracked plaster. The AI asks whether there's wallpaper to strip, holes to fill or damp marks, then texts the caller a link to send photos of each room and any problem areas. You can see the prep before you quote, instead of finding it on the day.
It also asks whether the rooms will be empty or full of furniture, and whether anyone will be living there while you work. That changes how long a job takes, and it's easier to know up front than to find out when you arrive with your dust sheets.
Landlords, agents and tenancy deadlines
A lot of steady work comes from landlords and letting agents between tenancies. Those calls come with a hard date: the old tenant is out on Friday and the new one is in two weeks later.
The AI asks who's calling, whether the property is empty, who will let you in and when the deadline is. If the turnaround is tight, it flags the call as urgent and alerts you straight away, so you can decide quickly whether you can fit it in. On the Receptionist and Pro plans, it recognises returning callers, so an agent with a run of properties is picked up as someone you've worked with.
Working around moves
Homeowners often want a room done before they move in, or the whole house freshened up before it goes on the market. The AI asks about the moving date and offers times from your calendar that fit around it. It pencils the visit in, and nothing is fixed until you confirm by text.
Questions it can ask
You choose and approve the questions. A few that work well for painters and decorators:
- Is it inside, outside or both?
- How many rooms, and roughly how big are they?
- Is there wallpaper to strip, or any filling and repairs?
- Is the property empty, lived in or between tenants?
- Is there a deadline, like a move or a new tenancy?
- Are you the owner, a landlord or a letting agent?
Photos it asks for
Callers get a text with a link to send pictures, and they land in Keystone with the call.
Each room
A wide shot from the doorway, showing the walls and ceiling.
Problem areas
Cracks, damp marks, holes or peeling paint.
Wallpaper
Close up, so you can see what's coming off.
The outside
For exterior jobs: walls, windows and woodwork, from the ground.
Questions from painters and decorators
Yes. It asks whether the property is empty or tenanted, who will let you in and whether there's a deadline. It texts you the lot, so you can plan around the tenancy.
It flags the call as urgent and alerts you straight away, with the deadline the caller gave. You decide whether you can fit it in.
Only prices you've approved. If you have a set price for something, it can tell callers. Anything else, it says you'll quote once you've seen the job.
Yes. It asks what needs painting, how many storeys and how to get round the house, and asks for photos taken from the ground. You decide about ladders or scaffolding.
It asks when the caller moves in or out, and pencils in a visit that fits around that for you to confirm by text.
A person at Arcscribe sets it up for you: we get your new number, register it with the phone regulator and test it. While you wait, you can set up your greeting, your services and your calendar in Keystone.
Yes. Keep your existing number: we forward the calls you miss. You turn on call forwarding on your phone, so missed calls go to your Arcscribe number, and we give you a simple guide for it. Moving your number over to us completely (porting) isn't offered yet.
It depends on the plan: the pricing page has the current prices. We'll email you 3 days before your trial ends. If you don't cancel, we'll charge your first month + VAT when the trial ends.
Yes, any time, in Keystone. Cancel during the trial and you won't pay anything. On a paid plan, your plan runs to the end of the month you've paid for.