Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

TradieAssistance is an virtual phone answering service specifically designed for tradespeople. When you can’t answer your phone (because you’re on-site, using tools, or after hours), calls automatically forward to our intelligent assistant.

Here’s how it works:

• Keep your existing phone number – no changes needed
• Set up call forwarding when you’re unavailable
• Our virtual assistant answers professionally and gathers essential job details
• You receive instant text alerts for emergencies
• Get detailed summaries of every call via your dashboard

PLEASE NOTE: only calls that you cannot – or don’t want to – answer go thru to the answering service – you decide which calls you want to answer

Setup takes less than 10 minutes and we provide full assistance:

1. Sign up and tell us about your business
2. We help you set up call forwarding (we guide you through each step)
3. Your virtual assistant is ready to handle calls immediately

No technical skills required – our team walks you through everything!

Yes, absolutely! You keep your existing phone number and customers continue calling the same number they always have.

We simply help you set up call forwarding so that when you can’t answer, calls go to your virtual assistant instead of voicemail. When you’re available, you answer as normal.

We completely get that.

The last thing you need is another complicated piece of tech to deal with. That’s why we designed this to be incredibly simple. You can get it set up and running in less than 10 minutes, right from your phone, an we’ll of course help you all the way.

It’s actually easier than setting up a new voicemail. We can even walk you through it right now if you’d like!

Your virtual assistant is trained in de-escalation techniques:

• Acknowledges their concerns immediately
• Uses empathetic language
• Offers immediate escalation to you
• Can flag urgent situations for immediate attention
• Never argues or becomes defensive

No problem. The assistant can instantly transfer calls to you with options like:

• “I’ll connect you with Dave right now” (if you’re available)
• “I’ll have Dave call you back within the hour” (if you’re busy)
• “Dave will be available after 3 PM today – would you like him to call then?”

Providing that personal touch is what makes your business great. And keep in mind that the goal here isn’t to replace you; it’s to make sure every customer gets the chance to talk to you. Right now, when you miss a call, they’re not talking to anyone – they’re hanging up and calling your competitor.

Our service acts as your professional front desk, making sure that customer information is captured perfectly so you can call them back and provide that excellent personal service they’re looking for.

Emergency calls get priority treatment:

• Your virtual assistant recognises urgent situations (burst pipes, electrical faults, storm damage, etc.)
• You receive immediate text alerts with full details
• Customers get clear next steps and realistic timeframes
• Emergency calls are flagged in your dashboard for easy identification

You’ll never miss another high-value emergency job again!

Yes, you’re in complete control! You can customize:

• Business hours and availability
• Pricing information and policies
• Service areas and specialties
• Response timeframes (“Quotes take up to 5 days”)
• Personal preferences (“I don’t work weekends”)

Your assistant says exactly what you want, how you want it said – maintaining your professional image and business standards.

You’re in complete control of what you want the assistant to say. Before going live, we work with you to create custom scripts for various scenarios, and the assistant is trained on these scripts. If a situation arises that it hasn’t been trained for, it will mention to the caller that we will get you to call them back.

The assistant is specifically programmed to NEVER make commitments about:

• Pricing (beyond general ranges you set, such as for example call out or hourly rates)
• Specific timeframes – unless we’ve connected your virtual assistant to your calendar and have the ability to book your appointments
• Warranty terms
• Technical guarantees

All business information comes directly from you. During setup, you provide:

• Your service areas
• Types of work you do/don’t do
• Your availability patterns
• Your pricing structure (general ranges only)
• Your policies and procedures

The best way is to try it risk-free. With our first 30 days free, you have nothing to lose. Most tradies see immediate results:

• Increased job bookings
• Better customer service – no more having to leave voicemails – less telephone tags
• More time for you to focus on actual work that pays the bills
• Professional image enhancement
• Reduced stress about missed calls
• More time on the actual tools!

Actually, it makes you more reliable and professional. Customers appreciate:

• Always getting a human-like response
• Having their questions answered immediately
• Not being sent to voicemail
• Being able to make a booking with one phone call, not playing back-and-forth telephone tag
• Consistent, professional service

The personal touch happens when you arrive on-site and do excellent work – not during the initial phone screening.

TradieAssistance makes it clear that it’s an assistant designed to help you serve customers better while you’re working. It positions you as a modern, professional business that values customer service. Many customers are impressed by the professionalism.

We offer transparent, affordable pricing designed for New Zealand tradies, with your monthly overall fee being less than the cost of 1-2 missed jobs per month:

• First 30 days FREE then $39 + GST per month
• No setup fees or hidden costs
• No long-term contracts – cancel anytime
• Following the free 30 days, calls forwarded to TradieAssistance cost $0.49 + GST per minute, invoiced on a monthly basis

The service typically pays for itself within the first week by capturing calls you would have otherwise missed. Let’s look at it this way: an average job is worth about $500. If our service helps you capture just one extra job a month that you would have otherwise missed, it’s already paid for itself ten times over. The real question is, can you afford to keep losing those jobs every month?

Finally, during your free 30 days, we’ll show you exactly how many calls you’re missing with detailed analytics. Most tradies are shocked to discover they’re missing 40% of potential business!

We’ve got your back!

• First 30 days at no charge: test it risk-free
• No setup fees – we handle all technical setup for free
• No lock-in contracts – cancel anytime
• Personal onboarding – we work with you until you’re completely comfortable

You may cancel your service at any time by emailing admin@tradieassistance.com, but any outstanding fees – if there are any – must be paid prior to disconnection of your service.

Cancellation takes effect immediately upon receipt of outstanding fees, provided a cancellation request has been emailed also. No notice period required, no cancellation fees, no questions asked.

You get:

• Direct WhatsApp phone support during business hours
• Email support within 2 hours
• Personal account manager for ongoing optimisation

That’s a very important question. We take security extremely seriously:

• All data is encrypted and stored securely
• We comply with Australian and New Zealand privacy laws
• Your customer information is never shared or sold
• You own all your data and can export it anytime

Your business information and customer details are completely secure and private.

Our virtual assistant sounds completely natural and human-like. Most customers think they’re speaking with your receptionist or office staff. We do however point out at the start of each conversation that the caller is talking to an AI-supported answering service, as we want to be transparent up front.

The technology uses advanced voice recognition optimised for Australian and New Zealand accents, and understands trade-specific terminology. It creates natural, flowing conversations that customers love.

If needed, you can customise the greeting as well as the questions you want the TradieAssistant to ask of the caller.

TradieAssistance is specifically built for Australian and New Zealand tradies:

• Trained on local accents and speech patterns
• Understands trade-specific terminology – and can even ask questions using the right laguage
• Recognises local place names and references
• Uses natural Aussie/Kiwi conversational style

Our system has multiple redundancies:

• Calls will forward to your voicemail if there’s any issue
• 24/7 technical monitoring
• Built on enterprise-grade infrastructure used by Fortune 500 companies

No, TradieAssistance works with your existing phone number through call forwarding. Your customers still call the same number they always have. When you can’t answer, calls automatically forward to the AI. When you’re available, calls come straight to you.

For an extra fee we can connect with popular systems like:

• Tradify
• Fergus
• AroFlo
• Buildxact
• NextMinute
• Jobber
• Buildxact
• ServiceM8
• simPRO
• JobAdder
• XERO
• MYOB
• Or export to Excel/Google Sheets

Call summaries and customer details can automatically flow into your existing workflow.