What does a towing answering service cost?

Voice starts at $29/month with annual billing. Pro adds your on-call schedule and text confirmations. Try Penny free; see the answering service cost guide for plan and usage comparisons. Usage above your included minutes is billed at your plan’s per-minute rate.

Does Penny ask which direction the caller is travelling?

Yes. She keeps highway and direction together and asks whether the vehicle is on a shoulder, in a lot or at another location. She uses details the caller can provide safely rather than sending them along the road to find a mile marker.

Can she promise the nearest truck or an arrival time?

Your dispatcher chooses the truck. Penny relays assignment and arrival information from the status your team records, so the caller receives the dispatcher’s update.

What does she do with EV or AWD requests?

She records the model and drivetrain information for dispatch. The operator checks the manufacturer’s transport instructions and selects equipment. Penny does not walk the caller through tow mode, loading or high-voltage work.

Will she confirm that a motor club covers the tow?

She captures the provider and authorization reference for your team. The club, insurer or dispatcher verifies coverage and payment terms. Penny quotes only company-approved charges.

How are impound and release calls handled?

Penny distinguishes them from roadside requests and asks for the vehicle and facility details. Your designated contact handles release documents, disputed charges and legal questions under the applicable local policy.

Can she arrange a ride for everyone in the vehicle?

She records passenger count and accessibility needs for dispatch. Seating, alternate transport and destination arrangements are confirmed by your team rather than assumed during intake.

Does she handle a caller who wants a tire change and has no usable spare?

Penny asks whether there is a spare and whether the caller knows it is usable, without sending them into traffic to check. A missing or reported-flat spare is flagged for dispatch with the vehicle and location. Your dispatcher decides the service or transport arrangement and any equipment needed.

How does Penny handle a roadside emergency?

Injury or a vehicle stranded in a live lane gets “Call 911 now” before the tow intake. Safe waiting depends on the scene: she never tells someone to cross traffic to a barrier or to exit when they cannot do so safely. Your dispatcher receives the known location after the safety instruction.

AI receptionist for towing and roadside companies

Give dispatch the direction of travel through Penny’s towing answering service.

A driver calls from a rest area, a customer needs tomorrow’s driveway pickup, and someone wants an update on an assigned tow. Penny gathers the location, vehicle, and destination for dispatch and reads back the status your team provides.

A fact about the setup

Penny reads back the road and direction together, then attaches the vehicle and destination to your dispatcher’s request.

Try Penny free

14 days of Pro included. No credit card.

Or call her from your phone: (630) 324-4620

The demo line

Listen for the address readback on the demo call

The live demo uses Summit Heating, a fictional HVAC business. Listen to her intake here; test your own trade’s rules in your Penny account.

(630) 324-4620

Give the shared demo an appointment location, then correct it during readback.
In your towing account, test an eastbound location and check that direction stays attached to the dispatch note.

Dispatch

The road and direction reach dispatch on the same request

“Past exit 16” needs a direction and a safe location to be useful to dispatch. In this example, Penny keeps the road, position, and vehicle details together. Your dispatcher reviews the request, assigns equipment, and supplies the arrival estimate.

pennyassistant.com/dashboard/dispatch

Open call

Open while the caller is on the line

Location: Eastbound Route 24 · caller reports exit 16
Position: Rest-area parking lot · clear of traffic
Vehicle: AWD wagon · will not start
Destination: Caller’s repair shop · receiving details captured
Assignment: Dispatcher review
Arrival estimate: Pending dispatcher update

Sent to your dispatcher to assign

Whoever rolls has the location before they leave.

A call, written out

An eastbound rest-area call comes with the vehicle’s position

Penny confirms the direction and safe location before handing the request to dispatch.

pennyassistant.com/calls

Inbound call · Copper Finch Towing

Answered by Penny · transcript

Penny
Copper Finch Towing, this is Penny. What can I help with?
Soraya (caller)
We’re parked at the rest area by exit 16 on Route 24. The car won’t start, and we need a tow to our repair shop.
Penny
Is that eastbound or westbound, and are you on the shoulder or somewhere clear of traffic?
A fact from the knowledge pack, used on the call.
Soraya (caller)
Eastbound. We’re in a parking space at the rest area.
Penny
What is your name and callback number, and what vehicle are you with?
Soraya (caller)
Soraya Nellis, 312-555-0116. It’s a blue all-wheel-drive wagon.
Penny
I have eastbound Route 24, exit 16 rest area, parked clear of traffic. Where would you like the vehicle taken?
Soraya (caller)
My repair shop on Dock Street. They’re open, and I have the address on my phone.
Penny
I’ll note the repair shop on Dock Street; dispatch can confirm the full destination address. I’m connecting you now with your pickup location and AWD note so they can arrange the tow.
Soraya (caller)
Thank you. I’ll give them the destination details.

In the log

Caller

Soraya Nellis · 312-555-0116

Location

Route 24 eastbound · exit 16 rest area

Position

Rest-area parking space · clear of traffic

Vehicle

Blue AWD wagon · will not start

Next action

Dispatcher to confirm destination and assign tow

Sent to your dispatcher

Every line she said is in your log with the fields she captured beside it.

Example calls

Give dispatch a useful starting point for the next call

Everyday call
A customer needs a driveway pickup tomorrow.
The caller hears
What are the pickup address, vehicle details, and requested destination?
Penny does
Records a planned transport request in your approved openings, with equipment and assignment left to dispatch.
Everyday call
A customer calls for an update on an assigned tow.
The caller hears
I can read you the latest update our dispatcher posted.
Penny does
Matches the request and relays your team’s status and arrival estimate.
Everyday call
An owner asks about collecting a vehicle from your lot.
The caller hears
Which vehicle is it, and what is the best number for our office to reach you?
Penny does
Shares your approved receiving hours and sends release or paperwork questions to the designated contact.
Emergency
A vehicle is stranded in a live traffic lane.
The caller hears
Call 911 now and follow the emergency dispatcher’s instructions.
Penny does
Puts emergency help before tow intake and flags the known location for your dispatcher.

Your intake questions, booking permissions, and contact rules decide the next step. Read the emergency rules.

Before her first call

AWD and garage-clearance details belong in the dispatcher’s review

From the towing knowledge pack

Highway direction, mile markers, and location readback
Roadside safety and emergency-service priority
Vehicle identification and reported mobility
Tow, recovery, and roadside-service requests
EV and drivetrain details for the dispatcher
Destination, access, keys, and passenger needs
Company-set assignment and status updates
Tow authorization, storage, and quote boundaries

Penny, on a call

Is that eastbound or westbound, and are you on the shoulder or somewhere clear of traffic?

The topics in the list are why she can say this.

On your website

A driveway tow can be requested from your website

copperfinchtowing.com

Copper Finch Towing

Services
Hours
About
Contact

Penny

Chat with Copper Finch Towing

Visitor

My AWD car won’t start in the driveway. Can you take it to the repair shop tomorrow?

What Penny does

Penny collects the vehicle details, pickup and requested destination. She checks your configured transport-request openings and sends the AWD and access notes to dispatch for equipment and assignment review.

Write a message

The chat follows the same rules as the phone line, so a visitor gets the answer a caller would.

Where it lands

Send your dispatcher the details needed to assign equipment

Google Calendar
Slack
Zapier

Connect Zapier or signed webhooks to send the captured details to the tools your office uses.

Questions

The dispatcher stays in control of arrival updates

Send setup or plan questions to support@pennyassistant.com.

Slack receives the structured request and owner alerts can go by text on Pro. Google Calendar supports your configured planned-transport appointments. Zapier and signed webhooks can carry location and vehicle fields into your dispatch workflow. These connections do not supply a live truck location.

Other lines of work

Other repair desks that collect the details before anyone is assigned

Auto repair

From a call

Penny tells a matched caller “Your repair order is awaiting authorization” when that is the status your service writer has published.

Locksmith

A question she asks

For a parking-lot lockout, Penny asks for the entrance and a cross-street so the technician has more than the shopping-center name.

Appliance Repair

A fact about the setup

For a Whirlpool dishwasher, Penny asks for the model number on the inside rim when the caller can reach it safely.

Penny bills a monthly price with minutes included, then the published per-minute rate. The answering service cost guide sets it beside per-minute human services, and the plans are on the pricing page.

Give Penny a call before you forward yours.

Try the HVAC demo, then set up Penny for your business. Your account includes 14 days of Pro; Free keeps your website chat after the trial.

Try Penny free Call Penny: (630) 324-4620

14 days of Pro included. No credit card.