The Contractor's AI Receptionist Buyer's Checklist

The exact 12-point checklist we use to vet every AI receptionist — pricing traps, trial must-dos, and integration checks. Get it by email and keep it open while you trial vendors.

Pricing traps

• Is the headline price flat-rate or per-call — and what's the real monthly cost at your call volume? (Use our calculator.)
• Do spam/robocalls count against your plan? Get it in writing.
• What are the overage rates when you exceed included calls?
• Any setup, onboarding, or integration fees?
• Month-to-month or annual contract — and what does cancellation actually require?

Trial must-dos

• Run the emergency scenario test ('no heat at 2 a.m.' / 'burst pipe') — did it triage correctly?
• Run the price-shopper test — did it answer from your price book or invent numbers?
• Test interruption handling: talk over it mid-sentence. Does it recover gracefully?
• Call from a noisy jobsite. Can it still understand the caller?

Integration checks

• Does it book natively into ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, or Jobber — or just email you?
• Test one booking end-to-end: does the job appear correctly in dispatch?
• Does it sync with your calendar for availability?

Want the reasoning behind each item?

Every checklist item comes from our published testing methodology and our trade-specific guides:

• AI Receptionist for HVAC Contractors
• AI Receptionist for Plumbers
• Per-Call vs Flat-Rate Pricing Guide
• 60-Second Tool-Match Quiz