The questions, printed
An answering service takes a name, a number and “something about an appointment”. Pick your line of work and see what FirstCall asks instead.
Plumbing, heating & air
Sorts urgent first- Whether water is coming in right now - a drip and a burst are both “a leak” to a caller
- Whether they can reach the shutoff, and whether it's closed
- The specific symptom, not the category: blows cold, keeps running, no hot water
Property management
Sorts urgent first- Tenant, owner, or enquiring about renting - the call forks here
- Which property, and which unit or suite
- The specific fault, and whether they've reported it before
Cleaning services
- Residential or commercial, one-off or recurring
- Rough size of the place, and how many bathrooms
- Whether anyone will be home, and whether there are pets
Pressure washing
- Siding, driveway, patio, deck, fence, roof or gutters - and anything else while you're there
- The surface: concrete, pavers, vinyl, stucco, wood or composite, because it changes the method
- Rough size - single or double driveway, one storey or two, feet of fence
Moving & storage
- Where from, where to, and the date
- Size of the home, and how many storeys at each end
- Stairs, elevator, or a long carry from the truck
Law firms
Sorts urgent first- What kind of matter, in the caller's own words
- The other party's name, so a conflict check can run before anyone calls back
- Whether there's a hearing, filing or limitation date coming up
Accounting & bookkeeping
Sorts urgent first- Individual or business, and if a business, roughly how many staff
- What they need: a filing, bookkeeping, payroll, or a letter from the tax office
- Which years are involved, and whether anything is already late
Insurance agencies
Sorts urgent first- New policy, a change to an existing one, or a claim
- On a claim: whether anyone is hurt, and whether it happened just now
- Which kind of cover - home, auto, commercial, life
IT & managed services
Sorts urgent first- Whether something is down right now, and how many people it's stopping
- Existing client or new enquiry
- What changed just before it broke - an update, a power cut, a new starter
Real estate
- Buying, selling, renting, or asking about one specific listing
- Which property, and where they saw it
- Their timeline, and whether it's tied to a sale or a lease ending
Salons, spas & studios
- Which service, and roughly how long it usually takes them
- New client or regular, and whether they see someone in particular
- Whether they're booking, moving, or cancelling
Auto repair
Sorts urgent first- Make, model and year
- What it's doing, and when it started
- Whether it's drivable, or whether they're stopped somewhere right now
Yours isn't on the list
Roofing, electrical, landscaping, general contracting, restoration, appliance repair, tutoring, photography, catering, event venues, funeral homes, pest control, security and locksmithing - all the same. If your customers arrive by phone and somebody has to ask them questions before anyone can help, this fits. We write yours with you, and we'll put it on a real number first if you want to hear it.
It also has to hear “Surrey”, not “sorry”. Three calls died on that one word before we fixed it, so every setup is loaded with the place names and vocabulary of your area first.
Hear it handle a call.
Call the demo line. If you wouldn't put that voice on your own phone, don't. Tell us why instead. That's worth more to us than a sale.
If you would, setup takes about ten minutes. Your questions, your number, answering the same afternoon. No contract and no new number. Turn the forwarding off on your own phone and it's over that minute.
Or email support@accelra.io and tell us what you do.