AI receptionist for trade shops · live on a real line

Picks up when you can’t. Nothing booked without you.

Pickwick answers your shop’s line when nobody can. It tells the caller it’s automated, takes the problem, the address and a number, reads each one back, and pencils in a window. You approve it with one tap.

Start 14 days free Hear the sample call
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A scripted sample callWritten from the agent’s rules and spoken by the voice your callers hear. The caller is a second synthetic voice; the name, address and number are invented.
0:00 / 0:46
  1. PickwickThanks for calling Pine Hollow Heating and Air. I'm an automated assistant, and this call is recorded. How can I help?
  2. CallerMy AC quit this afternoon and it's getting hot in here. Can somebody come out tomorrow?
  3. PickwickSorry to hear that. I can pencil you in for tomorrow. What's the name and address?
  4. CallerSam Rivers. 581 Pine Hollow Road, in Manning.
  5. Pickwick581 Pine Hollow Road, Manning. Did I get that right?
  6. CallerThat's right.
  7. PickwickAnd a number to reach you?
  8. Caller803 555 0142.
  9. Pickwick803 555 0142. Correct?
  10. CallerYep.
  11. PickwickI have tomorrow 7 to 9 in the morning, or 1 to 3.
  12. CallerMorning works.
  13. PickwickPenciled in for 7 to 9. Nothing's booked until the office says yes; they'll confirm with you.
  14. CallerGreat, thanks.
  15. PickwickYou're welcome, Sam. Goodbye.

What it wrote down

  • problem AC not cooling, house heating up
  • urgency urgent
  • address 581 Pine Hollow Rd, Manning, read back
  • number 803 555 0142, read back
  • window tomorrow 7–9 am, held for your yes
Approval for Jordan, dispatch · in the dashboard app · 0:46New job · AC not cooling · 581 Pine Hollow Rd · tomorrow 7–9 am. Approve or decline.

The office confirms from the dashboard app.

Measured on a live line, not a slide.

On a live line
One HVAC shop’s after-hours and overflow calls. 70 production calls answered, recorded and read back as of 3 October 2026.
Reply time
1080 ms median from the caller’s last word to the agent’s first. Response time measured on production calls, 3 October 2026.
Tested before every deploy
46 scripted calls: 32 of 32 on the tuning suite, 12 of 14 on the held-out set, run 1 October 2026. The two misses are listed on the trust page.
Not a setting
Gas, carbon monoxide, smoke or sparks: “hang up and call 911”, in fixed words, before anything else. No shop can change it.
Who built it
Built by its founder in Houston, Texas. You can call him.

How a call goes

Five moments. The last one is yours.

  1. Incoming call · 6:41 pm(803) 555-0142Pine Hollow Heating & AirANSWERED BY PICKWICK“I’m an automated assistant,and this call is recorded.How can I help?”

    01

    It picks up.

    Day or night. The first thing a caller hears: “I’m an automated assistant, and this call is recorded.”

  2. CALLERMy AC quit this afternoon.Can somebody cometomorrow?PROBLEMAC not coolingPICKWICKSorry to hear that. What’sthe name and address?CALLERSam Rivers. 581 PineHollow Road, in Manning.PICKWICK581 Pine Hollow Road,Manning. Did I get thatright?CALLERThat’s right.ADDRESSread back

    02

    It listens.

    What’s wrong, where, and a number to call back. Every address and number is read back until the caller says “that’s right”.

  3. TONIGHT, SORTEDROUTINETune-up · ThursdayURGENTAC not cooling · first windowEMERGENCYGas smell → hang up, call 911The 911 words are fixed.No shop can change them.

    03

    It sorts.

    Routine, urgent, or dangerous. Gas, carbon monoxide, smoke or sparks get “hang up and call 911”, in fixed words no shop can change.

  4. Approval for Jordan, dispatch6:43 PM · HELD FOR YOUR YESPICKWICKNew job · AC not cooling581 Pine Hollow Rd, ManningTomorrow 7–9 amSam Rivers · (803) 555-0142ApproveDeclineOne tap, from a ladder.Nothing moves until you do.

    04

    It asks you.

    The booking lands on the phone of whoever you name. Approve or decline, one tap, from a ladder.

  5. BookedTomorrow, 7–9 am581 Pine Hollow Rd, ManningAPPROVED BY JORDAN · 6:44 PMOnly now is it on the calendar.The whole call, recording andtranscript, waits on the dashboard.

    05

    Then it’s booked.

    Only now is it on the calendar. The whole call waits for you on the dashboard, recording and transcript.

Not settings

Five things it will not do, whatever the caller says.

These are rules in the platform, not switches in a settings page. A shop cannot turn them off, and neither can a caller who asks nicely.

Quote a price you haven’t given it.

It says it can’t quote and takes a number. Your diagnostic fee, in your words, is the only price it knows, and it promises no arrival time it did not offer.

Book without you.

The caller hears “penciled in”. Nothing is on the calendar until a person at your shop says yes, and an address outside your service area gets a callback, not a window.

Talk a caller through a hazard.

Gas, CO, smoke, sparks: it tells them to get out and call 911, then flags the call to you. It is not an emergency service, and it says so.

It will not guess the repair, or pretend to be a person either. All five, in full →

The dashboard

Everything the phone did overnight, on one screen.

Bookings waiting for your yes, the newest calls with their transcripts, any ring the line missed with the number to call back, and a nightly review of each call for missed revenue.

The dashboard home: two bookings waiting on you with Approve and Decline, one missed call to call back, and the latest calls.
Demo shop with invented calls. Try the dashboard → Nothing you do there is saved.

Compared with what shops do today

Voicemail loses the call. An answering service takes a message. Pickwick books the job and asks you first.

What Pickwick does on a call, next to what shops use today. Where services differ from one provider to the next, the table says so.

Pickwick compared with voicemail, an answering service and a general AI receptionist
What it doesVoicemailAnswering serviceServiceGeneral AI receptionistGeneral AIPickwick
Answers at 2 am and on the first hot weekYesYesYesYes
Knows a gas smell from a warm bedroomNoVariesVariesYes
Sends a hazard to 911 before anything elseNoVariesVariesYes
Tells callers they are recorded, first, in their languageNoVariesVariesYes
Reads back the number and the addressNoVariesVariesYes
Refuses to invent a price or an arrival timeNoVariesVariesYes
Answers in Spanish when the caller doesNoOftenYesYes, once turned on
Reviews calls overnight for missed revenueNoVariesVariesYes

Based on our review of publicly available product information as of September 2026; individual products differ.

Pricing

Three plans. No setup fee. Your number stays yours.

Fourteen days free on the first two. Pay annually and two months are free. See pricing and the missed-call calculator →

Configured for HVAC first. Plumbing, electrical, garage doors, roofing and appliance repair are set up the same way. See all industries →

Questions

Questions people ask.

Anything else: ask for a call, or ring the line and ask it.

Is it a real person?

No, and it says so in its first sentence. It hands the call to a person you name when it is not sure, and it never pretends.

What happens after hours?

The same as during the day: it answers, gives the recording notice, works out how urgent it is and takes the details. Bookings still wait for your approval, so nothing lands on the calendar overnight that you have not seen. If you give it an after-hours emergency number, it hands that out only when a caller asks how to reach someone directly.

What if it is not sure?

It says so. It will not quote a price you have not given it and will not guess an arrival time. If a call is going nowhere after a couple of turns, it puts the caller through to a person you name, or takes a message if there is nobody to reach.

Who approves?

The owner, on the After-hours & overflow plan; on Pro and Business, dispatchers and technicians too. Each request arrives in the dashboard app, which notifies their phone, and the decision is one tap. Every decision is recorded with who made it and when.

Can a caller opt out of being recorded?

Yes. A caller who says they do not want to be recorded is not: recording stops on that same turn and what was kept so far is deleted (the caller's request itself is kept), the caller is told, and the call carries on. That is a fixed rule, not a judgement the model makes.

Does it speak Spanish?

Yes, once you turn Spanish on. The caller then chooses in the first few seconds, by voice or keypad, and the whole call is held in that language, including the recording notice and the numbers read back.

Hear it yourself

Hear it on your own shop’s calls.

Twenty minutes, no slides: it answers as your shop, with your hours, your fee and your service area, and you decide whether it sounds like someone you would put on the phone. Book the demo, or write to us.

  • Nothing booked or dispatched without a human decision
  • Callers told they are recorded, first, in their language
  • Numbers can be keyed on the keypad; every number and address is read back

No setup fee. See pricing, or set up your shop in about ten minutes.

Rather start with a conversation?

Tell us about your shop and the founder will call you back.