Your estimator gets the project scope before the walkthrough when Penny runs your contractor answering service.

Google Calendar or Outlook supplies the estimator’s appointment times. The field-service intake is separate: Jobber receives a Request, and Housecall Pro receives a customer and unscheduled job for your team to review. The scope, address, permit question and build year go with the record. QuickBooks can receive the customer; HubSpot or Salesforce can receive the lead. Zapier and signed webhooks cover a custom workflow.

Penny starts at $29 a month on Starter with annual billing, with Pro at $99 adding the on-call schedule, text confirmations, and photo-by-text so a homeowner can send the designer’s sketch before the visit. Paid plans include monthly minutes; usage above the allowance is billed at the plan’s per-minute rate. The answering service cost guide compares plans, included minutes, and usage charges.

She says she cannot give a number and explains why in one breath: a real figure depends on existing conditions, measurements, the selections, and the sub bids, and the estimator gets all of that at the walk-through. She holds that line when the caller names a figure and asks her to confirm it, when another contractor quoted something, and when the request is “just per square foot.” If you have set an estimate-fee policy, she states it. Then she captures the scope and books the visit.

Yes, and she does it before she asks anything else. A caller who talks about the rough-in or the slab pour as if you already know them is an active client, so she confirms the project and the address and routes them with the status attached instead of re-qualifying. A framer or an electrician calling about a delivery or an inspection is a sub, and their message goes to you or the super. A homeowner asking about a remodel is a lead, and she runs the estimator’s questions.

She takes the job address, which trade, what the inspector flagged in the sub’s words, and what is blocked, then flags the call urgent and texts you. A failed inspection, a stop-work order, or a crew waiting on a no-show does not wait in a message queue, because a stalled jobsite costs a day for every trade behind it. If you are on the transfer list for those calls, she puts the sub through.

She recognizes the request, whether it is a certificate of insurance, an additional-insured endorsement, a waiver of subrogation, or a license number, and she captures what is needed and where to send it. She does not recite or confirm a license number, a policy number, a bond number, or a coverage amount, because a lapsed policy or a stale digit is a problem you do not want on a recorded call. The office sends the documentation, and the customer can verify the license on the state board.

She recognizes change orders, draws, retainage, lien waivers, RFIs, and submittals when a caller uses them, and she routes each to the right person with the project attached. A client asking when the next draw is due goes to you or the PM. A lien notice or a waiver question is time-sensitive and legal, so she captures it and gets it to you the same day. She never interprets a contract term or says what a payment should be.

Name, callback number, and the project address, which sets the service area and the permitting jurisdiction. The project type and the scope in the caller’s words, including which rooms. Whether drawings or a designer exist, whether the caller expects a permit and who pulls it, and the build year. The timeline and any hard deadline, and how they found you. Budget only when the caller volunteers it; she never asks for a figure and never states one. All of it lands on the ticket before the walk-through is booked.

No. For a planned remodel, she records the wall question and books an assessment by someone qualified before any removal begins. A caller reporting structural movement or collapse follows your emergency rule. Reports of suspect materials go on the ticket for the estimator; Penny does not identify the material or prescribe testing.

A reported site emergency interrupts routine intake. Penny gives the relevant safety instruction, directs immediate danger to 911, then alerts your owner or on-call superintendent with available location details. She does not assess structural safety or coach repairs. Job delays follow a separate priority-contact rule. See Emergency Rules for configuration.