7:12AM
On a roof in Clintonville
Missed call, 7:12 AMPriya, ClintonvilleFlagged urgent
The call you could not take.
Ring Ike as a customer. He works a made-up diary by the owner's written rules: what is urgent, what gets booked straight in, what needs a visit, and what gets turned away.
Ike AI call desk
Sample Street Home Services. Ray is on a roof.
IkeI'm Ike, an AI. I answer the phone for Sample Street Home Services, a made-up Columbus crew, while its owner is on a roof. Ring in as a customer and I'll work the diary, or ask what I would do for your crew.
Ray's diary, next five working days
OpenTakenBooked on this call
Estimate visit
Estimate visit
Small job
Thu10/1
7:30 AM
Anton · Deck boards and rail repair, Deck boards and rail repair
4:30 PM
Open
1:00 PM
Rolf · Pressure washing, Pressure washing
Fri10/2
7:30 AM
Hollis · Roof leak trace, back slope, Roof leak trace, back slope
4:30 PM
Open
1:00 PM
Open
Sat10/3
9:00 AM
Open
Mon10/5
7:30 AM
Open
4:30 PM
Abel · Exterior repaint, two stories, Exterior repaint, two stories
1:00 PM
Pearl · Pressure washing, Pressure washing
Tue10/6
7:30 AM
Open
4:30 PM
Vera · Fence run, 40 feet, Fence run, 40 feet
1:00 PM
Open
What reached Ray's phone
Nothing yet. Book something, or tell Ike water is coming in.
A working demonstration on a made-up diary. Nothing is really booked and no text is really sent.
“If you regularly fail to answer calls or respond to messages, your ad ranking may be affected.”
Google, on Local Services Ads.
Source: Google, Local Services help: Getting started with Local Services Ads. Read 20 September 2026.
“You receive a voicemail from the customer”
is on Google's list of leads you are charged for. So is a missed call you return.
Source: Google, Local Services help: How leads work. Read 20 September 2026.
Nobody else is in the office, because there is no office. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 31% of painters, 20% of roofers and 20% of grounds maintenance workers as self-employed.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Painters (modified 27 August 2026); US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Roofers (modified 27 August 2026); US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Grounds maintenance workers (modified 27 August 2026). Read 20 September 2026.
10:40AM
Under a deck in Grandview Heights
Missed call, 10:40 AMOwen, Grandview HeightsBooked
Free estimates that cost you half a day.
You drove forty minutes to look at a job you would never take. Set three rules once and the requests sort themselves before anyone starts a truck.
25 minutes each way
Owen
Thea
Gus
Mina
Sol
Imani
Go and measure3
Inside your drive, big enough, and your kind of work. Ike offers your next estimate visit.
Owen, Grandview Heights4 photos
Exterior repaint, two stories
Built 1958. Wood siding, last painted about nine years ago.
16 minutes out, more than a day.
Gus, Bexley3 photos
Deck rebuild, 12 by 16 feet
Built 1996. Joists soft at the ledger, he says.
14 minutes out, more than a day.
Imani, Clintonville5 photos
Two bedrooms painted
Built 1949. Walls and trim, ceilings left alone.
11 minutes out, half a day to a day.
Photos first2
Too far or too small for a truck roll. Ike asks for photos and you answer from the couch.
Thea, Delaware2 photos
Two fence pickets replaced
Cedar, dog-ear. She has the pickets already.
38 minutes each way is past your 25.
Sol, NewarkNo photos yet
Driveway and patio pressure washed
About 900 square feet of concrete, by his guess.
49 minutes each way is past your 25.
Pass, politely1
Work you do not take. Ike says so on the call and books nothing.
Mina, HilliardNo photos yet
Three outlets added in the garage
Wants it done with the garage repaint.
Electrical is on your not-taken list.
152 miles not driven
3 of these six never needed the truck. That is 152 round-trip miles and about 3.6 hours of windshield time, before any time on site. At the federal business mileage rate of 76 cents a mile the miles alone come to $115.52. Your own hourly figure is yours to add.
Source: IRS, Standard mileage rates: 76 cents a mile for business, 1 July to 31 December 2026 (IR-2026-29). Read 20 September 2026.
Six made-up requests from one made-up week. You still measure, price and say no when no is the answer.
1:15PM
At the supplier
Missed call, 1:15 PMWalt, BexleyNoted on the job
Rain moves the whole week.
The forecast turns at supper and the evening goes on phone calls. Here the forecast is read against each job's own limits, the moves are drafted, and you press send.
50%
3 of 8 jobs at risk this week.
Mon
10% rain, 61° / 44°
Walt
Exterior paint, day 2 of 3
Needs a dry day, and no low under 35°F for 48 hours
Edie
Hall and stairs, interior
Weather does not stop it
Tue
70% rain, 58° / 47°
Walt
Exterior paint, day 3 of 3
70% chance of rain, at or over your 50%.
Priya
Roof repair, back slope
70% chance of rain, at or over your 50%.
Wed
40% rain, 55° / 39°
Gus
Deck stain, two coats
Needs a dry day (your rule)
Thu
10% rain, 49° / 33°
Imani
Exterior trim paint
Low of 33°F that night, under the paint's 35°F floor within 48 hours.
Cal
Drywall patches, kitchen
Weather does not stop it
Fri
15% rain, 54° / 38°
Noor
Driveway pressure wash
Weather does not stop it
“Avoid using if rain or snow is expected within 2-3 hours. Do not apply at air or surface temperatures below 35°F (1.7°C) or when air or surface temperatures may drop below 35°F (1.7°C) within 48 hours.”
One exterior paint’s own limits. Yours go on the job the same way, from the can you use.
Source: Sherwin-Williams, Duration Exterior Acrylic Satin, product data sheet 102.14B, 3/2026. Read 20 September 2026.
“All of the information presented via the API is intended to be open data, free to use for any purpose.”
Where a real forecast comes from: hourly, seven days out, for the job’s own address.
Source: National Weather Service, API web service documentation. Read 20 September 2026.
Your scheduling app can already move a day of visits and text the customers once you decide. This is the step before that: which jobs, why, and to when.
A made-up forecast over a made-up week. A real one is read from the National Weather Service for each job's address. The roofing and stain rule is the owner’s own setting; no maker’s figure is quoted for it.
3:32PM
On a ladder in Bexley
Missed call, 3:32 PMImani, ClintonvilleBooked
Two federal rules start at the first phone call.
Nobody asked what year the house was built until the crew was already scraping. Ike asks on the call, and the paperwork that follows is on the job before you arrive.
1949
On the job before Ray arrives
4 things prepared
Built 1949: before 1978
Flagged on the job from this call.
“Target housing means any housing constructed prior to 1978”
Source: 40 CFR 745.103, definitions: target housing. Read 20 September 2026.
Lead pamphlet out, signed acknowledgment back
Ike sends the pamphlet with the estimate confirmation and puts both clocks on the job: not more than 60 days before the start, and at least 7 days before if it goes by post with a certificate of mailing instead.
“No more than 60 days before beginning renovation activities in any residential dwelling unit of target housing, the firm performing the renovation must: (1) Provide the owner of the unit with the pamphlet, and comply with one of the following: (i) Obtain, from the owner, a written acknowledgment that the owner has received the pamphlet. (ii) Obtain a certificate of mailing at least 7 days prior to the renovation.”
Source: 40 CFR 745.84(a), information distribution requirements. Read 20 September 2026.
A record that is kept
The acknowledgment is filed against the job with its date.
“for a period of 3 years following completion of the renovation”
Source: 40 CFR 745.86(a), recordkeeping. Read 20 September 2026.
The certification is yours
Ike holds none and says so. The work itself is done lead-safe by Ray's certified people.
“anyone paid to perform work that disturbs painted surfaces in homes, childcare facilities and preschools built before 1978 be certified”
Source: US EPA, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program (updated 17 June 2026). Read 20 September 2026.
Signed at the kitchen table: the cancellation notice goes on the contract
Ike attaches the notice wording and the cancel-by date to the estimate packet, and no start date is offered inside the three business days unless you say so.
“You, the buyer, may cancel this transaction at any time prior to midnight of the third business day after the date of this transaction.”
Source: 16 CFR 429.1(a), the cancellation statement. Read 20 September 2026.
Why it is on the ticket
The federal definition of a door-to-door sale reaches a sale made at the buyer's home even when the buyer invited you. The same section lists exclusions, and whether one fits your sale is your attorney's call.
“in which the seller or his representative personally solicits the sale, including those in response to or following an invitation by the buyer”
Source: 16 CFR 429.0(a), door-to-door sale. Read 20 September 2026.
The price floor at a home
The definition starts at this price when the sale is made at the buyer's home.
“a purchase price of $25 or more if the sale is made at the buyer's residence”
Source: 16 CFR 429.0(a), door-to-door sale. Read 20 September 2026.
Not legal advice, and Ike decides nothing. The panel quotes the federal text and puts the paperwork on the job; you, your certified renovator and your attorney decide whether a rule applies. EPA runs the lead program in most states, Ohio among them; Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin run their own, which we have not read. Ohio also has a home solicitation sales law (Ohio Revised Code 1345.21 to 1345.28). Its official site refused every connection on the day we checked, so it is named here and not quoted.
Source: US EPA, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program (updated 17 June 2026). Read 20 September 2026.
5:48PM
Driving home
Missed call, 5:48 PMNadia, WorthingtonBooked
Check what you already pay for.
The 5:48 call was a plain booking. Deeplathe answers that call, books the job, and handles the change, 24/7. A field-service app may answer one too. Hear it here.
Sold as an add-on
An AI that answers calls and texts, books a job and takes a message
The main field-service apps sell this themselves as a paid add-on. Deeplathe answers, books, and reschedules too, 24/7.
Already in your app
Quote follow-ups, invoice reminders, appointment reminders
Standard on the mid-tier plans. We do not sell them.
Already in your app
Moving a day of visits and texting the customers
Your scheduler does this once you decide. Deciding is the part it leaves to you.
Sold as an add-on
Campaigns to past customers, and review requests
Sold by the same apps as a marketing add-on.
Not found in it
Sorting estimate requests by your drive, your job size and your not-taken list
Requests get captured. We found nothing that ranks them before you drive.
Not found in it
Reading tomorrow's forecast against each job's own limits and drafting the moves
Not on the pages we read.
Not found in it
Asking the year built on the first call and putting the lead paperwork on the job
Not on the pages we read.
Read on the vendors' own pricing and help pages on 20 September 2026. Not found means not on the pages we read, which is not proof that nobody sells it. If your crew runs on a paper diary, a group text and an accounting program, none of the top four rows is yours yet, and Ike covers the first.
7:00PM
At the kitchen table
What it would cost you.
Move the sliders to your own month. Every figure comes off the published price list, and where the honest answer is custom it says so.
Fits Standard, $749 a month.
StandardYour answers
Website + the call desk, working as one
Starts at
$749/mo
- minutes on the phone450
- emails3,400
- text messages1,200
- documents read2,000
No setup fee. Or $6,741 for the year, 3 months free.
Pro
Full site with SEO + the call desk and its evening checks
Starts at
$1,499/mo
- minutes on the phone1,300
- emails8,500
- text messages2,500
- documents read5,400
No setup fee. Or $13,491 for the year, 3 months free.
Enterprise
Custom site and custom agent, scoped and run as one
Starts at
Custom
- no ceilingscoped to you
The number does not exist until the scope does.
- You see a working demo before you pay anything.
- One monthly fee covers the demo, building your version, and keeping it running. No setup fee.
- Stop at the end of any month.
- 30 days money back from go-live, prorated for the days it ran.
Estimated from the published price list, not a quote. What gets built is different for every crew, and that is what the fifteen minutes is for.