The AI receptionist for residential solar companies
A homeowner looking at solar often rings more than one installer the same afternoon. She answers on the first ring, gets the three things your consultant needs — who owns the home, the monthly bill, the roof — and books the visit. And when an existing customer calls about a red light on the inverter, it goes to your service team, not your sales pipeline.
- Answers quote requests while the homeowner is still comparing installers
- Hears inverters, microinverters, net metering and monitoring apps
- Separates new-quote leads from service calls on systems you already installed
Every call answered. Every one.
Consultations, booked
Ownership, the monthly bill and the roof — the answers your consultant needs — then a real time on the calendar.
Service calls routed right
A red light on the inverter or a flat line in the app becomes a service ticket with who installed it, not a sales lead.
No promises about money
She never quotes savings, a tax credit or a rebate. Your consultant works that out with the actual bill.
Three steps. Zero voicemails.
She answers and gets the address
First ring, day or night, in a calm voice that knows solar 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 panels loose, cracked or blown off the roof, wiring hanging down or damaged after a storm, or a battery system showing an alarm. 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 and call 911 first. If the solar shutoff by the meter is safe to reach on the way out, switch it off — but stay well away from the panels and off the roof.
The questions your tech wishes got asked
After the caller picks a time, she asks the one or two that change what the solar consultant brings — and skips anything they already said. The same questions as your Book Online page.
New Solar Quote
- Do you own the home?I Own It · I Rent
- About how much is your average monthly electric bill?Under $100 · $100–$200 · $200–$300 · $300+
- About how old is the roof?
Battery / Backup Power
- Do you already have solar?
System Not Producing or Showing an Error
- What are you seeing?Error or Red Light on the Inverter · App Shows Low or No Production · Electric Bill Went Up · Other
- Who installed it?You Did · Another Company
Panel Cleaning or Critter Guard
Straight to a time — nothing to ask.
Remove & Reinstall for a New Roof
Straight to a time — nothing to ask.
Billing or Monitoring Question
Straight to a time — nothing to ask.
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 solar
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 solar call hurts
Quote request at 9 p.m.
Booked into a consultation before the homeowner fills in the next installer’s form.
Inverter showing a red light
A service ticket with the error, the system and who installed it — for your service team, not sales.
New roof going on
Remove-and-reinstall booked early, so the roofer and your crew are not waiting on each other.
Solar questions, answered
Will she tell homeowners how much they’ll save?
No. Never say how much they will save, or name any tax credit, rebate or incentive — the consultant works that out from their actual bill. That conversation belongs to your consultant, with the bill in hand.
What does she do if a panel or inverter is smoking?
When they see smoke, sparks or flames, or smell burning, from the panels, the inverter, a battery or the wiring, she tells them: Get everyone out and call 911 first. If the solar shutoff by the meter is safe to reach on the way out, switch it off — but stay well away from the panels and off the roof.
Which solar calls ring my cell?
You set that during setup. By default: panels loose, cracked or blown off the roof, wiring hanging down or damaged after a storm, or a battery system showing an alarm.
Can she tell a new lead from an existing customer?
Yes. New quotes go to consultations; production drops, error lights and billing questions become service tickets with who installed the system.
Explore Magpie for other trades
Residential Cleaning
Recurring, deep and move-out cleans, with the bedrooms, bathrooms, pets and deadline on the ticket.
View industry page
Pest Control
Ants to wasps to rodents, qualified by what, where and how long — and a swelling sting is a 911 call first.
View industry page
Garage Door Repair
Broken springs and stuck doors booked fast, a trapped car flagged — and nobody told to touch a spring.
View industry page
Plumbing
Burst pipes, backed-up drains and dead water heaters — answered on the first ring, booked, or put straight through to you.
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.