How it works
The desk that should have been on the line.
Afterdesk is the after-hours and overflow front desk for one location. It answers, texts, qualifies, books, and tells you. It does not browse the web for you. It does not “nurture leads.”
0:00
The office line rings. Nobody is there.
Forward missed and after-hours calls to Afterdesk, or keep the DID and overflow on no-answer. Same number the homeowner already has on the truck magnet.
0:08
A voice answers. Or a text lands.
If they stay on the line, Afterdesk picks up as the company’s after-hours desk — your name, not a generic agent. If they hang up, a text goes to that handset: we saw the missed call, what is going on.
1–4 min
Qualify, in their words.
What failed, how long, any water or gas, address, access, and whether someone will be on site. Afterdesk checks your service area and the job types you actually run. Out of area or a parts-only question gets a clean close, not a fake appointment.
Then
A slot is offered from live availability.
Emergency window, first thing in the morning, or the next open block you published. Confirmation goes out by SMS with the time and what to expect. The appointment is on your calendar, not in an email you will read at 8.
Same night
You get the recap.
Owner and on-call get the job: customer, address, issue, booked window, and the transcript. If you want a human to review before a true after-hours roll, that rule is set in the install — not improvised by a night agent.
What the homeowner sees
- Your company name on the caller ID and in the first sentence.
- A text they can answer from the driveway, not a portal login.
- A booked time, not “the office will call you tomorrow.”
- A confirmation they can screenshot and show whoever is home.
What you set once
- Job types, emergency definitions, and ZIP / postcode coverage.
- Calendar, dispatch hours, and who gets the overnight ping.
- What never gets booked (warranty-only, accounts receivable, vendors).
- Voice, SMS copy, and the after-hours rate you want spoken out loud.
Ten business days to live
Install is scoped in the audit so we are not discovering your calendar on day one. Voice + SMS + calendar for one location. You keep the answering service in parallel until Afterdesk is taking the after-hours trunk cleanly.