Every missed plumbing call, answered and booked — for a flat $199/mo.
Plumbing has the highest emergency-call rate of any trade. A burst pipe at 9pm doesn't wait for a callback — water is actively destroying the house. Those callers dial shop after shop until someone answers, and emergency work bills at 2–4× your routine rates. Missing those calls is the most expensive miss in the trades.
RetainCall fixes the structural problem: Sara, our AI dispatcher, answers every missed call in under 60 seconds, holds a real SMS conversation, qualifies the lead, and books the job straight into your Google Calendar, Outlook, or Housecall Pro. She knows the trade — hydro jetting, sump pumps, tankless water heaters, slab leaks, and sewer cleanouts — so your callers never feel like they're talking to a generic bot.
What a missed burst-pipe call at 9pm actually costs
Typical miss rate: ~30% of inbound calls
Missed callers who book a competitor: ~70%
At just 40 calls/week that's ~15 lost jobs and ~$6,547/month walking to your competitors.
Run your own numbers with the missed-call calculator, or read the full breakdown in our missed-call math post.
What Sara does for a plumbing company
- Answers in under 60 seconds — every missed call gets a real reply before the caller dials a competitor.
- Talks the trade — she recognizes hydro jetting, sump pumps, tankless water heaters, slab leaks, and sewer cleanouts and mirrors your customers' language.
- Triages emergencies — a burst-pipe call at 9pm is treated as urgent; routine work books normally.
- Books into your real calendar — Google Calendar, Outlook, and Housecall Pro, only slots you actually have open.
- Works 24/7 — nights, weekends, holidays, storm surges. No queue, no hold music, no PTO.
- Flat $199/month — unlimited calls, no per-call fees. Your busiest month costs the same as your slowest.
Common questions
What does Sara do with a middle-of-the-night plumbing emergency?
She engages within 60 seconds, asks if water is actively leaking, and treats active leaks, flooding, and sewage backups as same-day emergencies. You decide whether after-hours emergencies escalate to your cell or book into the first morning slot.
How much does an answering service for a plumbing company cost?
RetainCall is a flat $199/month with unlimited calls — no per-call or per-minute fees. Human answering services typically run $315+/month with per-minute billing; other AI services add usage fees as your volume grows. See the full side-by-side comparison.
Do I have to change my phone system?
No. Your existing number forwards to RetainCall when you don't answer — one carrier setting, about 5 minutes. Setup end-to-end takes under 10 minutes and there's no card required to start the trial.