Jobber AI Receptionist

Great topic — the receptionist fits best when you think of it as overflow and after-hours capture, not a replacement for a human. Here's what's worked for me in a similar setup:

1) Keep the AI on the line for overflow and after-hours, but tell the caller upfront. A short greeting like "Thanks for calling. We're closed right now — let me get your information and we'll be back in touch" removes the "am I talking to a robot" friction a lot of people in this thread mentioned.

2) Route by urgency. If a call mentions a leak, no heat, or a locked-out situation, don't make the customer work through the AI — forward it after 3–4 rings to an on-call number or a second line that rings your phone. Speed-of-callback matters less than not losing an emergency lead.

3) Turn voicemail into a job, not a pile of messages. Set the after-hours greeting to a short voicemail when the AI is off, and use voicemail-to-text / transcription so the message body (phone number, issue, address, best time to callback) lands as a searchable note. From there, schedule the callback as a task so the next available tech owns it. I aim to callback a missed call within 1–2 hours during the day; after-hours leads first in the morning.

4) Make the AI ask at least one situation question. Several posters here hit the "it books contact info but not the problem" issue. Add a required "what brought you in today?" question and two mandatory follow-ups (e.g. address and a quick severity check: urgent / same-week / not sure). You'll still review the booking, but you'll know what you're walking into.

5) Don't run the AI on complex quote conversations. For anything that can't be priced from the phone, set the AI's goal to scheduling an on-site assessment or a callback instead of trying to estimate. Some of the workaround booking items people built here work well for that.

6) Review, don't set-and-forget. Pick a day each month to skim a sample of the AI-handled calls — pronunciation, dropped keywords, tasks that never became jobs. Turn it off in the seasons or markets where hang-ups spike and fall back to a plain voicemail greeting; you can always turn it back on.

Net: the receptionist is strongest as a net under after-hours and overflow calls, paired with voicemail-to-text and a real callback cadence. If you're still early on it, start small (after-hours only) and expand to overflow once the transcription and task handoff feel reliable.

We would love to use this feature, especially after seeing all the awesome ways it is being used. Unfortunately it is still not available in our market; does anybody know of an ETA for AI receptionist and two -way texting in AU?

I think for me and my business we only use AI or automations that don’t have to do with human communication/conversations. I think overall customers still just want to talk to humans. I know that’s how I feel too. Chat bots and automated voice bots drive me crazy! 

We've tried it a few months and it never seems to help our clients. My two cents: it's much smoother to have them leave a voicemail, instead of try to navigate an AI that can't really do anything or help. It really seems to confuse the older folks too. 

Aside from that, it regularly wouldn't match incoming numbers with exisiting clients. And the task are not linked to the AI dashaboard that shows items as pending or resolved.

We tried it a few months. I can't point to a useful thing it did for us, but I can point to lots of confusing convos, and even a few where our clients were getting frustrated. 

WiringByron​ have you started using this feature again? FredHodgeJr​ is it still working well for your team in New Jersey? I have wanted to try it but I am also hesitant because I know how frustrated I get when I am on the phone with a company's automated system and just want to talk to a real person. 😂😝

I've tried it multiple times and just shut it off again. After listening to the frustrations in the customers voice I just can't stand behind it as it is. 

Started it up as soon as I started Jobber within the last 2 weeks it is a 100% game changer. Really works like a charm. I have it setup to take all my calls I just use my cell phone as a direct line if someone wants me. Very easy to setup. Love it 100% will never not have it. Even my clients are amazed at how good it works. Ai has come a long way. Thank you Jobber!

We were using it and now we've put it on hold. I feel like it was decent and then started struggling. I would love to know if julie​ or someone could update us on how it's going on the back end. I assuming things are changing and it's always learning? Getting better? Maybe Jobber could keep us in the loop so I could fire it back up at some point. 

I'm using it for my plumbing business and its great but I'm noticing one major flaw. In plumbing, a price cant be given over the phone because of so many variables. So I set up the booking to either be A: On-Site Assessment or B: Callback. The problem is, if a customer calls in and says "I'd like to schedule an appointment", the AI will ask all of the personal information but nothing about what's actually going on. So I have a booking with no idea what it's for. There needs to be options for mandatory questions. Even if it's one or two, that will clear up so much confusion.

I'm using it for my plumbing business and its great but I'm noticing one major flaw. In plumbing, a price cant be given over the phone because of so many variables. So I set up the booking to either be A: On-Site Assessment or B: Callback. The problem is, if a customer calls in and says "I'd like to schedule an appointment", the AI will ask all of the personal information but nothing about what's actually going on. So I have a booking with no idea what it's for. There needs to be options for mandatory questions. Even if it's one or two, that will clear up so much confustion.