Built for plumbing companies
The plumber answering service that catches the burst-pipe call while you're on another job.
The Backup Line is a 24/7 AI answering service for plumbers. When a pipe lets go while you're elbow-deep in another job, a sewer backs up on a Sunday, or the phone rings after hours, it picks up, qualifies the emergency — active water, what failed, where — and rings your on-call phone before the caller can dial the next plumber 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
Under a sink, on another call, 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 homeowner with a burst pipe — hear exactly what your callers would.
Burst pipes don't wait for business hours
Plumbing emergencies pick the worst possible hours on purpose. The burst pipe waits for the coldest night of a Michigan January. The water heater dies on Saturday morning with a house full of guests. The sewer backs up at 11 p.m. And a homeowner watching water spread across the floor is not leaving a voicemail and hoping — they're calling down the list of plumbers until a voice answers, and the company that picks up first usually gets the job.
The cruel part is that you miss those calls for the best reason: you were working. A solo plumber or a two-truck shop can't answer the phone from under a sink, and the after-hours options are all bad — wake up for every wrong number, hand the line to a call center where a stranger with a generic script takes a message about "a leak," or let voicemail quietly hand the emergency to a competitor.
An answering service for plumbers has one job: never let an emergency reach voicemail. The Backup Line does it with AI instead of a call center — it answers instantly on every ring, runs a plumbing-specific intake, and gets the qualified emergency to your on-call phone in seconds. Your phone still rings first; the AI only catches what you miss. It's the same product we run for restoration and roofing contractors on our main page, tuned here for burst pipes, sewer backups, and dead water heaters — built in Michigan, answering nationwide.
One missed emergency covers months of this
Emergency plumbing jobs typically run $500–$3,000+, and a water-heater replacement runs $1,500–$3,500 — and the after-hours call that goes to your competitor because your phone didn't pick up is exactly that kind of job.
One missed after-hours emergency
$500–$3,000+
A typical emergency plumbing job, gone to whichever competitor answered — $1,500–$3,500 if it was the water heater. Add the repeat work and referrals that customer would have sent you, and the real cost is higher.
The Backup Line Pro, answering every call
$297/mo
Pro is $297/month: 24/7 coverage on your existing number, a plumbing-specific intake, and the emergency call-back that rings your on-call phone and redials if you miss it. If you only want the coverage, Starter is $149/month without the emergency triage. One caught job covers months of either.
That's the whole pitch. The pricing is on this page because the incumbents make you sit through a sales call to hear theirs.
How it works for a plumbing company
You don't build or configure anything. We install it on your line and tune the intake for plumbing work, 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 call forwarding remotely, and the AI only picks up when you don't — after hours, while you're on another job, or on every call if you want.
The AI runs a plumbing intake — disclosed, up front
It tells callers it's an automated assistant, then asks what a dispatcher would: is water actively running, what's affected — burst pipe, sewer backup, water heater, frozen line — how long it's been going, and how to reach them. A quote request gets captured with the same care as a flooding basement.
Emergencies ring your phone in seconds (Pro)
On Pro, on a real emergency, the AI tells the caller the on-call plumber is 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. You call the customer back while your competitor's line is still on voicemail.
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.
Plumber answering service FAQ
Is it a real person answering my phone?+
No, and it says so. It's an AI answering service that discloses up front that it's an automated assistant. What it never does is what voicemail does — lose the call. It answers 24/7, asks the questions a plumbing dispatcher would ask, and gets the lead to your phone while the caller is still on the line.
What does it actually say when someone's pipe bursts at 2 a.m.?+
It answers as your company, collects the caller's name and callback number, and asks the plumbing questions that matter: is water actively running, have they found the shutoff, and what fixture or line is involved. On Pro, the moment it recognizes an emergency, it tells the caller the on-call plumber is being alerted and will call them right back — then it instantly calls your phone with the details, redialing if you miss it, and sends the same alert by email and push.
Do I lose control of my phone number?+
No. Nothing is ported and nothing changes on your trucks, website, or Google listing. We set up call forwarding on your existing line, so the AI only picks up when you don't — after hours, while you're under a sink on another job, or whenever you choose.
I'm a one-truck shop — what happens when I'm elbow-deep in a job?+
That's exactly the gap this covers. When you can't pick up because both hands are on a wrench, the AI answers on the first ring, runs the intake, and sends you the caller's name, number, and problem. On Pro, real emergencies ring your phone right away, and it tries again if you miss it (2 or 3 attempts, your choice), with the same alert by email and push. Everything else waits in your email until you're out from under the sink.
What happens if I miss the alert call? (Pro)+
The system calls your phone again — 2 or 3 attempts total, your choice in Settings — and the same alert also goes out by push notification and email the second the call ends. Every call — emergency or not — also lands in your email with the caller's info, the full transcript, and the recording, and lives in your web portal, so nothing depends on you catching one ring.
What does it ask plumbing callers specifically?+
The intake is written for plumbing, not adapted from a generic script. It asks whether water is actively flowing, what's affected — a burst pipe, a sewer backup, a dead water heater, a frozen line — and how long it's been going on, plus name, callback number, and the property address details you'd want before calling back. A no-hot-water call and a basement-filling-up call get triaged differently, the way you would.
Can it tell a real emergency from a dripping faucet? (Pro)+
Yes, on the Pro plan — that's the whole point of a trade-specific intake. (Starter answers, runs the intake, and emails you every lead, but doesn't rank urgency.) A slow drip or a quote request gets captured politely and sent to your email for the morning. Active water, sewage in the house, or no heat in winter gets flagged as an emergency, and your phone rings within seconds with the details already collected, and it tries again if you miss it (2 or 3 attempts, your choice), with the same alert by email and push.
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 call forwarding remotely; your part is a short call to approve the greeting and confirm how you want emergencies handled.
What does it cost, and is there a contract?+
No contract. 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. The pricing is on this page because most answering services make you sit through a sales call to hear a quote. 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. The line keeps answering either way, and the AI takes every caller at once, so a cold snap never hits a busy signal. Call-backs to your phone are free — they never count toward your monthly calls.
Also built for restoration & roofing — see the full service.