An answering service for contractors, plumbers, electricians and HVAC
Updated November 10, 2026. Written by the AnswerHaven team in Connecticut.
If you work with your hands, the phone rings at the worst times. You can't answer on a ladder or with a torch lit, and by the time you call back, a lot of people have already booked whoever picked up. An answering service fixes that one problem.
How it works on a job day
Your number stays the same. When a call comes in and you don't answer after a few rings, it forwards to your assistant. The assistant answers with your business name, finds out what the caller needs and where they are, and gets a good time to call back. A summary reaches your phone within about a minute, so you can read it between tasks and decide who to call first.
What it asks callers
You choose. Most trades ask for the caller's name, number, town, what the problem is and how soon they need someone. You can have it answer common questions as well, such as the towns you cover, whether you give free estimates and whether you're licensed and insured. If you'd rather not take certain work, tell it, and it will let those callers know politely.
Emergencies
You decide what counts, whether that's no heat, a burst pipe or a panel that's sparking. For those calls the assistant gets the details quickly and sends the message marked urgent. It doesn't transfer the caller to your cell, so if you need a live hand-off for emergencies, a live answering service is the better fit for that part of your day.
Spanish-speaking callers
If the caller speaks Spanish, the assistant switches to Spanish, so you don't lose the job because nobody could take the call.
What it costs
AnswerHaven's Starter plan is $49 a month for about 125 calls, and Business is $99 for about 250. Spam calls and hang-ups under ten seconds aren't billed. For most trades one extra job covers the year. The first 7 days are free.
When it isn't the right tool
If you have an office manager who answers every call during the day, you may only need it for nights and weekends, and you can set it up that way. If callers need to pay over the phone or be scheduled into a dispatch system during the call, check whether your field service software has its own answering option. AnswerHaven can book into a Google or Microsoft calendar with an add-on, and it can send each call to Zapier on the Always On plan and up, but it doesn't connect to dispatch software directly.
Try it on your own phone
The trial is 7 days and up to 15 calls, and setup takes about ten minutes. You can also call our demo line at (860) 345-5415 and hear it answer before you sign up for anything.