Guide ·
AI receptionist for tradies: what it costs, and what it leaves undone
By Parikshit Pruthi, founder of Buildcrew5 minute read
The short answer. An AI receptionist answers your calls and enquiries when you can't, takes the details and passes them on. In Australia in 2026 it costs about A$99 to A$499 a month. It fixes the missed call. It does not write the quote, chase it, book the job or send the invoice. That admin is still yours.
What an AI receptionist does
You are on a roof, under a house or driving. The phone rings. An AI receptionist picks up, says your business name, asks what the job is, and takes a name, number and address. Then it sends you a summary by text or email. Some can also offer a booking time.
For a trade business that is a real win. A customer who gets voicemail usually rings the next electrician or plumber on the list. A customer who gets an answer usually waits for you.
What it costs in Australia in 2026
| Option | Typical cost | After hours | What happens after the call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time receptionist | About A$70,000 to A$95,000 a year with super and leave | No | Does some of the admin, in office hours |
| Live answering service (real people) | A monthly fee from about A$25 to A$65, plus a charge per call | Depends on the plan | You get a message |
| AI receptionist | About A$99 to A$499 a month. Setup is often A$200 to A$1,000 | Yes | You get a message or a booking request |
| Full-time offshore VA | A$1,500 to A$2,500 a month | No | Does the admin, once trained |
| AI admin assistant (Buildcrew) | About half the cost of a full-time VA | Yes | Does the admin: quote, follow-up, booking, invoice |
Prices are published 2026 rates and estimates from Australian providers and comparison guides, in Australian dollars. Check each provider for today's price.
Two things to check before you sign up. Cheap plans (around A$99 to A$149) often leave the setup to you. And most plans have a cap on minutes, with extra charges in a busy month.
Where an AI receptionist stops
Answering the call was never the whole job. After every enquiry there is a list:
- Reply and book the quote visit.
- Write the quote and send it.
- Follow up until the customer says yes or no.
- Put the job in ServiceM8, Simpro or AroFlo.
- Send the invoice, then chase it if it is late.
An AI receptionist does step one, sometimes half of it. Steps two to five are still done by you at night, or by your partner, or not at all. So the calls get answered, and the quotes still go out three days late.
This is true for ServiceM8's own Phone Agent too. ServiceM8 says it answers your business calls like a virtual receptionist. It can take a message and save it to your ServiceM8 Inbox, or submit an online booking for the caller. It is a good tool. The quote, the follow-up and the invoice are still yours.
The other option: an assistant that also does the admin
Buildcrew is an AI admin assistant for Australian trade businesses. It answers every enquiry, then does the admin that follows.
- Enquiries. Website, Facebook and email enquiries get a reply in minutes, day or night. A missed call gets a text back in minutes. Quote visits get booked.
- Quotes. You send a voice note from site. It drafts the quote from your own prices. It only goes out when you say yes.
- Follow-ups. Every open quote is chased until the customer says yes or no.
- Jobs. A yes becomes a booked job in your job software. Nothing is retyped.
- Invoices. The invoice goes out when the job is done. Late ones are chased, politely, every time.
You talk to it on WhatsApp. It works inside ServiceM8, Simpro, AroFlo, Xero and MYOB. A real person on the Buildcrew team sets it up and checks its work.
One honest difference. Buildcrew does not answer the phone with a voice. If you miss a call, it texts the caller back within minutes and takes it from there.
One example. Premier Group in Perth had 13% of its leads going unanswered. With new enquiries landing on the office's WhatsApp in about 4 minutes, that fell to 3%.
For electricians
Most calls to an electrician are small jobs that go to whoever answers first: a tripping switch, a dead power point, a switchboard upgrade. An answering service for electricians, human or AI, wins you those calls. But the bigger money is in quoted work, like fit-outs, security and data installs. Those are won on how fast the quote arrives and whether anyone follows it up. That is admin, not answering.
For plumbers
Plumbers get more true emergencies, so after-hours answering matters more. A burst pipe at 10pm needs a reply now. Pick a service that can tell an emergency from a routine job and reach you straight away for the urgent ones. Then look at what happens to the routine ones. A hot water quote that sits for two days is a lost job.
How to choose
- You mainly lose jobs to voicemail. An AI receptionist is the cheapest fix. Start there.
- Callers often need a person. A live answering service costs more per call but handles upset or complicated callers better.
- The calls are fine, the paperwork is the problem. Quotes late, follow-ups skipped, invoices unpaid. A receptionist will not fix that. You need a VA or an AI admin assistant.
- You already have ServiceM8's Phone Agent. Keep it. Add something that does the work after the message.
Common questions
How much does an AI receptionist cost in Australia?
In 2026 most cost about A$99 to A$499 a month for a small business. Cheaper plans leave the setup to you. Many also charge a setup fee of A$200 to A$1,000, and extra for minutes over the plan.
Can an AI receptionist book jobs into ServiceM8?
Some can add a booking request or a message to ServiceM8. Most do not write the quote, chase it or send the invoice. Check what lands in your job software and what you still have to type.
Is an AI receptionist better than an answering service?
It is cheaper per call and works all night. A live answering service is better when callers need a person. Both stop at taking the message.
What is the difference between an AI receptionist and an AI admin assistant?
An AI receptionist answers and takes the message. An AI admin assistant like Buildcrew also does the work that follows: the quote, the follow-up, the booking and the invoice, inside your job software.
See the admin done on a business like yours
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