The AI receptionist for residential plumbing companies
Burst pipes don’t wait for office hours, and neither does the homeowner standing in an inch of water. She answers on the first ring, gets the address, and makes sure the right calls reach you before the next plumber on the list picks up.
- Answers nights, weekends and while you’re under a house
- Hears the job the way a dispatcher does — PRV, sump pump, P-trap, no hot water
- Books routine work straight into ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro
Every call answered. Every one.
Emergencies reach you
Sewage backing up at 2 a.m. rings your cell with the address. Everything routine waits calmly on the board for morning.
Routine work gets booked
Water heaters, slow drains, leaky faucets — booked into your real openings, not a message that says "call me back".
Hang-ups get a call back
Somebody gets four seconds in and hangs up with their hands full of water. She rings them back once and books it.
Three steps. Zero voicemails.
She answers and gets the address
First ring, day or night, in a calm voice that knows plumbing 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 burst or actively leaking pipes, no water at all, sewage backing up, or anything involving water near an electrical panel. 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.
The questions your tech wishes got asked
After the caller picks a time, she asks the one or two that change what the plumber brings — and skips anything they already said. The same questions as your Book Online page.
Repair / Replace
- What needs to be repaired or replaced?
- About how old is the home?
Drain / Clog
- Do you have city sewer or a septic tank?City Sewer · Septic Tank
- Which drain is clogged?Kitchen Sink · Bathroom Sink · Shower / Tub · Toilet · Floor Drain · Several Drains at Once
- Has the septic tank been pumped in the last 12 months?
Water Heater
- What do you need for the water heater?Repair · Replace · New Install Estimate
- What type of water heater do you have?Standard Tank · Tankless
- About how old is the water heater?
Sewer / Water Line
- What do you need?Camera Inspection · Find the Line · Main Water Line · Other
- Is water bubbling up in the yard?
Water Softener / Filtration
- What do you need?Repair · Replace / Install · Filter Service
- About how old is the softener?
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 plumbing
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 plumbing call hurts
Burst pipe after hours
Address first, the shutoff next, then your cell rings and she can put the homeowner straight through.
No hot water on a Sunday
Not an emergency by your rules — so she books the first real opening Monday and it lands on your board.
Drain-cleaning price shopper
She gives your call-out rate, checks they’re in your service area, and books it before they dial the next shop.
Plumbing questions, answered
Can she tell a burst pipe from a dripping faucet?
Yes. Your emergency rules are set per shop — by default: burst or actively leaking pipes, no water at all, sewage backing up, or anything involving water near an electrical panel. Those ring your cell; a dripping faucet gets booked.
What does she tell a homeowner while help is on the way?
The one useful thing: where the shutoff usually is, kill the breaker, stay out of standing water. She never talks anyone through a repair.
Will she quote my prices?
She gives callers the call-out rates you set during setup, and never quotes a repair price over the phone — the tech prices it on site once he can see it.
Does it work with Housecall Pro?
Yes, on the Housecall Pro MAX plan. She books into your real booking windows and the job appears in Housecall Pro like any other.
Explore Magpie for other trades
HVAC
No heat, no cooling, tune-ups and replacements — and a gas smell is a get-out call, never a booking.
View industry page
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 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.