What is missed call text-back for HVAC contractors?

It is an automatic text to any caller whose call to your shop rings out. AnswerBot sends it within about 30 seconds from a dedicated local number, asks the nearest intersection, the caller's first name, whether it is no heat, no cool, leaking or short-cycling, and how old the unit is, then emails you the lead with the full transcript. No AI voice answers the phone.

Why does the text ask how old the unit is?

Because it is the question that separates a service call from a replacement quote, and the two are different jobs with different economics. A homeowner who says the furnace is twenty years old is a different callback from one whose unit is three years old and under warranty. It is the default HVAC question in AnswerBot's intake, not something you have to configure.

Does it help with the rush on the first cold night?

That is the case it is built for. HVAC demand does not arrive evenly, it arrives in weather spikes when every furnace that was going to fail fails at once, and that is exactly when you cannot answer the phone. Text-back replies to every one of those callers in about 30 seconds whether there are three of them or thirty, and you work the list in the morning instead of losing it.

How much does it cost an HVAC business?

AnswerBot is $129 CAD a month on Starter (25 engaged leads, one location), $199 on Growth (75 engaged leads, photo capture, three locations) and $349 on Pro (unlimited engaged leads, your own intake questions, ten locations). Billed annually those are $109, $169 and $296 a month. USD is the same number. The trial is 14 days with a card on file and nothing charged during it.

Does it quote the replacement or book the job?

No. It captures the lead and hands it to you. A caller who asks what a new furnace costs is told the owner will call them back, because a system price quoted before anyone has seen the ductwork is a number you have to take back later.

Missed call text-back for HVAC contractors

Updated September 21, 2026

Missed call text-back for HVAC contractors texts the caller back within about 30 seconds of a call you could not answer, asks where they are, what the unit is doing and how old it is, and emails you the lead. AnswerBot does this for $129 CAD a month. No AI voice answers your phone. The homeowner gets a text from a local number, and you call them back already knowing whether you are driving to a repair or a replacement quote.

HVAC work does not arrive at a steady rate. It arrives on the first properly cold night of the season, or the first week over thirty degrees, when every marginal unit in your service area gives up at once. That is precisely the window where you are on a roof, in a crawlspace, or already three calls behind, and it is the window where a missed call is worth the most.

What the text actually asks an HVAC caller

These are the live defaults, not a sample script. The first three are asked of every caller; the fourth is the HVAC-specific one.

It asks	Why that one
The nearest intersection or address	On a spike day, routing decides how many calls you get to. Knowing where each one is before you ring back is half the dispatch problem.
The caller's first name	So the callback opens like a person calling a person.
What it is doing: no heat, no cool, leaking, short-cycling	In their own words. Short-cycling and no heat are different trips with different parts on the van.
How old the unit is, if they know	The HVAC-specific question, and the one that separates a service call from a replacement quote before you have driven anywhere.
A photo, on Growth and Pro	A picture of the unit and its data plate often answers the age question better than the homeowner can, and tells you what you are walking into.

What a missed call is worth on a spike day

Worked through with numbers you can replace. These are assumptions, not measurements:

•12 calls in the week of the first cold snap that you cannot pick up
•An average ticket of $450 across repairs, with the occasional replacement well above it
•One in four would become a job if someone got back to them the same evening

That is three jobs out of one bad week, against a $129 monthly plan. The replacement quotes are the ones that make the arithmetic lopsided: a single system sale recovered from a call you never returned is worth more than several years of the subscription. Put your own ticket and close rate in, because those two move the answer more than anything else here.

Run it on your own numbers

No AI voice on your phone

A homeowner with no heat and a baby in the house does not want to argue with a robot receptionist. AnswerBot never puts a voice on the line. The missed caller gets a plain text from a local number, answers in their own time, and you call them back.

If someone texts "can I talk to a person", the answer is that the owner will call them back. The text is the bridge to you, not a replacement for you.

Who this is for, and who it is not for

For: owner-operators and 1 to 5 truck HVAC shops

Residential service and replacement work, where the phone rings hardest exactly when you are least able to answer it.

Not for: shops with a dispatcher

If somebody already picks up every call, missed calls are not your constraint and this will not earn its money.

Not a booking tool

It captures the lead and hands it to you. It does not book the slot or price the system, and a caller who asks for a number is told you will call back.

What it costs

Starter is $129 CAD a month for 25 engaged leads and one location. Growth is $199 for 75 engaged leads, photo capture and up to three locations. Pro is $349 for unlimited engaged leads, your own intake questions and up to ten locations. Billed annually those are $109, $169 and $296 a month, and USD is the same number. The trial runs 14 days, a card is required at signup, and nothing is charged during it. Setup is about five minutes: one conditional call forwarding code dialled from the business phone, and you keep your existing number.

See pricing and start your free trial