The AI receptionist for residential HVAC companies
A furnace dies on the coldest night of the year and the homeowner calls every HVAC shop until one picks up. She picks up first — and when the call is a gas smell or a CO alarm, she gets the family out before she talks about anything else.
- Answers the no-heat and no-AC rush nights and weekends
- Hears heat pumps, condensers, capacitors, short cycling and frozen coils
- Books tune-ups and repairs into ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro
Every call answered. Every one.
Gas and CO come first
A gas smell or a CO alarm is not a booking. She tells them to get out and call from outside — before anything else.
No heat in a freeze reaches you
Your rules decide what rings your cell. Dangerous heat or cold does by default; a noisy blower waits for morning.
Seasonal rush, handled
The first cold snap floods every HVAC line in town. She answers all of them and fills your real openings.
Three steps. Zero voicemails.
She answers and gets the address
First ring, day or night, in a calm voice that knows HVAC work. The address comes first, because every other part of the job depends on it.
She sorts it by your rules
By default, an emergency is no heat when it is freezing outside, no cooling in dangerous heat, a gas smell, or a carbon monoxide alarm going off. You change that during setup — it is your company.
She books it or your phone rings
Routine work goes onto your real schedule. An emergency rings your cell with the job and she can put the customer straight through.
Get everyone out of the house right now, leave the door open behind you, and call 911 or the gas company from OUTSIDE. Do not touch light switches or anything electrical on the way out.
The questions your tech wishes got asked
After the caller picks a time, she asks the one or two that change what the HVAC technician brings — and skips anything they already said. The same questions as your Book Online page.
Repair
- Which system?Furnace / Heating · AC / Cooling · Heat Pump · Mini-Split
- What is it doing?No Heat · Won’t Turn On · Runs Constantly · Blowing Cold Air · Noise · Other
- About how old is the system?
Tune-Up
- Which system?Furnace · AC · Both
- About how old is the system?
New System Estimate
- What needs an estimate?Full System (Furnace + AC) · Furnace Only · AC Only · Heat Pump · Mini-Split
- Is your current system still working?
Thermostat
Straight to a time — nothing to ask.
Air Quality
- What do you need?Filters · Humidifier · Air Purifier · Duct Cleaning
This isn't a hunch. It's the most measured problem in the trades.
Three figures, each with the study it came from. No vendor surveys of eighty businesses.
Magpie vs. an answering service for HVAC
What changes when the phone is answered by something that knows your trade and can put work on your schedule.
| Magpie | Typical answering service | Voicemail | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picks up every call, nights and weekends | Every call, the first time | Usually, with hold queues at peak | Nobody picks up |
| Knows your trade’s words | Primed on the parts and faults of your trade | A general script | — |
| Books the job straight into your software | ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, or your diary | Takes a message | — |
| Emergency: your phone rings with the address | And she can put the customer through | Some patch calls through | You find out later |
| Safety first on gas, CO and burning smells | Gets them out before anything else | Depends on the operator | — |
| Callers who hang up get a call back | Once per enquiry, never pestered | Rarely | Most never leave a message |
| When you can’t make it, the customer is rung with real times | From your live openings | — | — |
| Every job on your phone to accept or decline | Crew board, pinged to your lock screen | Emails or messages | — |
| Priced | Flat monthly | Often per minute | Free — and it costs you the job |
Answering services vary; this is what a contractor should expect from a typical one, not a claim about any named company.
Where a missed HVAC call hurts
Furnace out on a freezing night
Address first, then your cell rings with it and she can put them straight through.
“I smell gas near the furnace”
She gets everyone out of the house and tells them to call 911 or the gas company from outside. Safety first, then the job.
AC tune-up before summer
Routine maintenance booked into your real openings, while you’re on a roof doing the last one.
HVAC questions, answered
What does she do if someone smells gas?
She treats it as a get-out call, not a booking. When they smell gas, or a carbon monoxide alarm is going off, she tells them: Get everyone out of the house right now, leave the door open behind you, and call 911 or the gas company from OUTSIDE. Do not touch light switches or anything electrical on the way out.
Which HVAC calls ring my cell?
You set that during setup. By default: no heat when it is freezing outside, no cooling in dangerous heat, a gas smell, or a carbon monoxide alarm going off.
Can she troubleshoot over the phone?
Only the safe basics: check the thermostat has power and the filter is not clogged solid, and if ice is on the unit, switch it off so it can thaw. Anything more is a visit, and she books it.
Does it book into ServiceTitan?
Yes. She checks your real capacity and books the appointment on the job with your business unit, job type and campaign.
Explore Magpie for other trades
Electrical
Outages, tripping breakers, panels and EV chargers — with safety-first intake on anything that smells like burning.
View industry page
Roofing
Leak calls and storm surges answered all night, inspections booked, and nobody talked up a wet ladder.
View industry page
Solar
Quote requests answered while interest is hot, system problems sent to service, and never a promised saving.
View industry page
Residential Cleaning
Recurring, deep and move-out cleans, with the bedrooms, bathrooms, pets and deadline on the ticket.
View industry pageReady to hire the receptionist that never misses a call?
Hear her answer as your shop in your browser right now — no signup, no card. Or book fifteen minutes with Tom and get a straight answer on whether it's worth it for you.