Built for the trades
The answering service for contractors who can't answer from the job site.
The Backup Line is a 24/7 AI answering service for contractors. Your phone still rings first — the AI only catches what you miss. When you're on a roof, under a sink, or already on the other line, it picks up as your company, qualifies the caller, and rings your phone with the lead before they can dial the next contractor on Google.
Step 1
1.Your phone rings first
Keep answering like you always have — nothing changes.
Step 2
2.You can’t pick up
On a job, on the other line, or off the clock.
Step 3
3.The Backup Line catches it
Answers as your company, qualifies the caller, alerts you.
Call the demo line and act like a customer — hear exactly what yours would.
You're the best salesperson your company has — and you're on a ladder
Every contractor runs the same math without writing it down: the person most qualified to answer the phone is the person least able to. You're elbow-deep in the work that pays for everything, and the phone in your pocket is ringing with the next job. Answer it and you stop producing; let it ring and the caller — who is standing in front of a real problem right now — dials the next company on the list. Most of them never leave a voicemail, and almost none of them call back.
An answering service for contractors exists to break that trade. The traditional version staffs a call center with operators reading a generic script; The Backup Line does it with AI instead. It answers instantly on every ring, runs an intake written for your trade, and separates the call that can't wait from the "just wondering about an estimate" — then rings your phone for that one and queues everything else for callback. And because your phone always rings first, nothing about how you work changes. The AI is the backup, not the receptionist between you and your customers.
Tuned for your trade, not adapted to it
The intake asks the questions your dispatcher would. Pick your trade for the specifics:
Restoration
Water, fire & storm losses — intake asks about standing water and the insurance carrier.
See the restoration page →
Plumbing
Burst pipes and backups — intake sorts the flood from the dripping faucet.
See the plumbing page →
Roofing
Storm damage and leaks — intake captures the damage details while the storm's still passing.
See the roofing page →
Electrical
Panel upgrades, EV chargers, dead circuits — intake sorts the sparking outlet from the estimate request.
See the electrical page →
HVAC
No-heat and no-cool calls — intake captures what died, when, and who's freezing while you're on another job.
See the hvac page →
Painting
Every call is an estimate call — captured with the rooms, the surfaces, and the timeline before the caller moves on.
See the painting page →
Drywall
Water-damaged ceilings, remodels, GC crews — captured with size and scope while your hands are full of mud.
See the drywall page →
Flooring
Hardwood, LVP, refinishes — square footage and material captured while you're mid-install.
See the flooring page →
Concrete
Driveways, patios, foundations — scope and access captured while the mud's still workable.
See the concrete page →
Masonry
Chimneys, retaining walls, brick repair — the damage and the deadline captured while you're on the scaffold.
See the masonry page →
Siding
Storm damage and full resides — the damage, the claim, and the scope captured while you're on the wall.
See the siding page →
Fencing
Privacy, chain-link, farm fence — footage and timeline captured while the auger's running.
See the fencing page →
Decks
Composite, wood, porches — size, height, and timeline captured while you're framing the last one.
See the decks page →
Landscaping
From mow quotes to full redesigns — the project and property captured while your crew's on a job.
See the landscaping page →
Excavation
Foundations, drainage, site prep — the job and the site captured while you're in the cab.
See the excavation page →
Septic
Backups, pump-outs, inspections — intake sorts the sewage emergency from the routine service call.
See the septic page →
Garage doors
Stuck doors, snapped springs, replacements — intake sorts the security problem from the estimate call.
See the garage doors page →
Tree service
Storm damage, removals, hazard trees — what fell and what it hit, captured while the chipper's running.
See the tree service page →
Remodeling
Kitchens, baths, additions — the project, budget signals, and timeline captured while you're running the job.
See the remodeling page →
Handyman
The whole to-do list captured — because small-job callers hire whoever answers first.
See the handyman page →
One missed call costs more than a year of this
The jobs that come in as missed calls are the jobs that fund the month — whatever those look like in your trade.
One missed call
$3,000–$10,000+
A typical urgent job in the trades — gone to whichever competitor answered. Add the repeat work and referrals that came with it, and the real cost is higher.
The Backup Line, catching every one
From $149/mo
Starter is $149/month: 24/7 backup on your existing number, a trade-specific intake, and every call alerted to your phone and email as it ends. Pro, at $297/month, adds the call-back that rings your phone and redials if you miss it. A single caught job covers more than a year of Starter.
That's the whole pitch. The pricing is on this page because most answering services make you sit through a sales call to hear theirs.
How it works on your line
You don't build or configure anything. We install it on your line and tune the intake for your trade, and the only step that's ever yours is the last one: calling the lead back.
Your number stays yours
Nothing to port, nothing to change on your trucks, website, or Google listing. We set up conditional forwarding remotely, so your phone rings first and the AI only picks up the calls your team doesn't.
The AI runs a trade-specific intake — disclosed, up front
It tells callers it's an automated assistant, then asks what your office would: who's calling, how to reach them, what's wrong, and the trade-specific questions that tell you whether it can't wait or it's a next-week job.
Calls that can't wait ring your phone in seconds (Pro)
On Pro, when a call can't wait, the AI tells the caller you're being alerted and will call them right back — then it instantly calls your phone, redials if you miss it, and sends the same alert by email and push. Everything else lands in your inbox and portal for callback.
What's included
On every plan unless marked. Nothing here is an add-on to hunt for later.
- 24/7 after-hours + overflow answering
- Answers on the first ring — no hold music, no phone tree
- No busy signals — every caller answered at once, even on your busiest day
- Greets callers as your company, with a greeting you approve
- You choose when it picks up — after-hours only, overflow, or every call
- You get emailed the caller's info, transcript & recording the moment the call ends
- Every caller qualified and captured — name, callback number, and exactly what they need
- Calls that can't wait get an instant call to your phone (redialed if missed) plus email & push, so you call the customer straight backPro
Don't take our word for it — call it
Dial the number below and act like a customer calling about a job — whatever that sounds like in your trade. Answer its questions like a real caller would. That's the whole demo.
+1 (918) 223-4411Pick the line that fits your shop
Every plan answers every call, 24/7, and includes a 7-day free trial on your real line. No contract — move up or cancel anytime.
Every plan is built and installed by us. On your real line, tuned to your trade, tested with a live call before it ever answers a customer.
Starter
The line that always answers.
Up to 100 calls a month
No setup fee · no contract
Start free trial- 24/7 AI answering — every call picked up, first ring
- Recordings, transcripts & call summaries — never an add-on
- Instant alerts — push, email, and in your dashboard the second the call ends
- Know what each call is worth — every one priced against your average job, so you see what the line caught
- Follow-up list — every lead you haven't called back yet, in one place, so nothing quietly goes cold
- Built and tuned by us — set up for your business, and changes are free for as long as you're a client
Pro
Most popularIt calls your phone with the leads that can't wait.
Up to 250 calls a month
No setup fee · no contract
Start free trial- Everything in Starter, plus:
- Call-backs to your phone — when a call can't wait, the AI tells the caller you're being alerted, then rings your phone with their name and number, and tries again if you miss it (you pick 2 or 3 attempts). What counts as can't-wait is tuned to your trade — an active loss for restoration, a burst pipe for plumbing, etc.
- The follow-up list chases you — every lead you haven't called back gets a nudge every two days until it's closed out
- Insurance-ready call file — when a job involves a claim, any call prints as a clean intake record with the full transcript, ready to hand an adjuster or drop in the claim folder
- Calendar-aware scheduling — if you want it, the line reads your calendar and offers callers a proposed time from your real availability. Nothing is confirmed until you confirm it. We set it up with you.
Running a bigger operation? Pick Enterprise in the trial form, tell us what you need, and we'll build it custom.
Extra calls are $3 each. We never stop answering — if you have a big month, the line stays up and the extra shows on your next invoice. Call-backs to your phone are free and never count toward your monthly calls.
Start your free trial
Tell us about your shop and we'll set up a live 7-day trial on your real number. You aren't charged until the trial ends.
Contractor answering service FAQ
Is it a real person answering my phone?+
No, and it never pretends to be. It's an AI answering service that discloses in its first sentence that it's an automated assistant. What it does that voicemail can't: it answers every call 24/7, asks the questions a good office manager would ask, and gets the lead to your phone while the caller is still deciding who to hire.
Does my phone still ring first?+
Yes — that's the whole design. We set up conditional call forwarding on your existing number, so your phone rings exactly like it always has. The AI only picks up the calls you don't: when you're on a roof, under a house, on the other line, or off the clock. If you answer, it never enters the picture.
Do I lose control of my phone number?+
No. Nothing is ported and nothing changes on your trucks, website, yard signs, or Google listing. The forwarding lives on your line and you can turn it off anytime. Your number stays your number.
Which trades does it work for?+
Contractors and the construction trades — plumbing, electrical, roofing, painting, drywall, mechanical, flooring, and everything in between. The intake is tuned to your trade during setup, so callers get asked the questions your office would ask, not a generic script.
What happens when a call can't wait? (Pro)+
When the AI recognizes a call that can't wait — what counts is tuned to your trade — it tells the caller you're being alerted and will call them right back, then it instantly calls your phone with the caller's name, number, and details, redialing if you miss it, and sends the same alert by email and push. You call the customer back while your competitor's line is still playing voicemail.
What about the routine calls?+
They're captured, not dropped. Every call lands in your email with the caller's info, what they needed, the full transcript, and the recording — and lives in your web portal so you can work through callbacks on your schedule. The point is that nobody who called you ever disappears.
How is this different from a traditional answering service?+
Three ways. A human service bills every minute of every call, so your busiest week is your biggest bill — here you get a set number of calls a month, 100 or 250 depending on the plan, and anything past that is $3 a call, not a renegotiation. Call-backs to your phone are free — they never count toward your monthly calls. A call-center operator reads a generic script and takes a message about “a leak” — this runs a trade-specific intake. And when ten calls hit at once during a storm, a call center puts nine on hold — the AI answers all ten simultaneously.
How fast can it be live on my line?+
Days, not weeks — and we do the work. We register your business with the carrier and set up the forwarding remotely; your part is a short call to approve the greeting and tell us whose phone gets the call-backs.
Is there a contract?+
No. Plans start at $149/month, month-to-month, cancel anytime — no setup fee — and it starts with a 7-day free trial on your real line before you pay anything.
Trade-specific detail: restoration, plumbing & roofing.