Who it is for / Mechanics and garages
An AI receptionist for mechanics and garages.
Under a car, you cannot take a call. While You Work answers the calls you miss in your business name, finds out what the problem is, where the car is and how urgent it is, and sends you the details a minute later.
Hear a sample call free, no card needed, and you keep your own number. Ready to put it on your own line? Start a free 7-day trial, no card.
The first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 a month plus VAT for their first 12 months, then £69. Plans start at £39. Your line switches on as soon as you finish the set-up form, with a 7-day free trial first and a 14-day money-back guarantee once you pay.
On every call
What your receptionist asks
- What is wrong with the car, in the caller’s own words
- Where the car is, at least the postcode or area
- How urgent it is
- The best number to ring back, read back to check it
- Your labour or diagnostic rate, only if you have set one and they ask
Urgent jobs
Breakdowns go to the top
- A car that has broken down
- A caller who needs the car for a journey that cannot wait
On Pro and Business, urgent calls are texted to you straight away, and every call is emailed to you.
An example week
A week of calls to a garage
A garage phone rings all day and most of it is short: a booking, a symptom, a question about a car already on the ramp. The receptionist handles the routine so the workshop keeps moving.
- Monday, 8.05am: an MOT and service for next week, registration and preferred day taken.
- Tuesday: a driver with a warning light and a rough idle, asking if it is safe to drive. Symptoms noted, told you will ring back.
- Wednesday, 12.30pm: a customer asking whether their car is ready. Message taken with the registration, marked as an existing customer.
- Thursday: a parts supplier confirming a delivery. Message, not an enquiry.
- Friday, 5.20pm: a breakdown on a driveway that will not start, needs a look Monday. Details taken.
The maths
What a missed call costs mechanics
Say you miss 5 calls a week and two in five of those callers would have booked a service or repair worth about £250.
5 calls × 40% × £250 = £500 a week. × 52 weeks ÷ 12 = £2,167 a month of work going to someone else. An example: put your own numbers into the missed-call calculator.
A driver with a warning light rings until someone answers. The garage that picks up gets the car and, usually, the next MOT too.
Setting your own prices? See what mechanics charge in the UK, with rates and job prices from published price guides.
Timing
When a garage's phone rings
First thing in the morning, lunchtime, and the end of the month when MOTs fall due. The busiest half hours are the ones when both technicians are under a car.
What callers hear
An example call, word for word
The receptionist asks one thing at a time, checks the number back and never makes up a price. The details reach you by email a minute after the call, and by text straight away when it is urgent, on Pro and Business.
Emailed to you a minute later
Leanne, 07700 900508, LE4 Leicester. Grinding noise when braking, needs the car for work, as soon as possible.
Receptionist: Hi, you’re through to Parkway Motors. Jas is out on a job, so I’m the automated assistant taking the details for a call back. Calls are recorded so nothing gets missed. What’s your name?
Caller: Hi, it’s Leanne. My car’s making a grinding noise when I brake.
Receptionist: Thanks, Leanne. When would you like someone to look at it?
Caller: As soon as possible, I need it for work.
Receptionist: I’ll mark that as needed soon. What’s your postcode?
Caller: LE4, in Leicester.
Receptionist: And what’s the best number for Jas to ring you on?
Caller: 07700 900 508.
Receptionist: So that’s 07700 900 508. Is that right?
Caller: Yes, that’s right.
Receptionist: Thanks, Leanne. Jas will ring you back to book it in, and I’m sending you a text now to confirm.
Set up
Three steps, and you keep your number
Tell us about your business
A short form made for mechanics:
- Your business name and first name
- Working hours and the area you cover
- What you do, in plain words
- Your call-out fee, only if you want callers told
- Whether you take emergencies out of hours
- Anything else callers should know
- Makes you specialise in, if any
- MOT, servicing, diagnostics, tyres: what you offer
- Whether you collect and deliver
Switch on divert
One code on your mobile sends calls you do not answer within 20 seconds to your While You Work line. Turn it off whenever you like.
Get the details in a minute
Every caller is greeted in your business name. You get the details a minute later, and the caller gets a text saying you will ring back.
Questions
Questions from mechanics
Can it book MOTs and services?
Yes, on the Business plan. You set job types such as an MOT or a full service, and it books them into your real free times. On Pro it can text the caller your booking link instead, and on Starter it takes the details and tells the caller you will ring back.
How much does it cost?
Starter is £39, Pro £69 and Business £129 a month + VAT, for 50, 150 or 400 calls a month. The first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 a month + VAT for their first 12 months. There is no contract, and if you cancel within 14 days of your line going live you get a full refund.
Can it take an MOT booking?
It takes the registration, the work needed and the preferred day, and you confirm the slot when you ring back. On the Business plan it books straight into your diary.
What if a customer rings to ask whether their car is ready?
It takes the name and registration as a message and marks the call as an existing customer, so you know it is a quick ring back rather than a new job.
More detail: how the AI receptionist works, the call answering service behind it, what a virtual receptionist does, what to charge as a mechanic, what a missed call costs, UK call answering prices and how we compare.
Source: Fix Radio survey of more than 220 UK tradespeople, reported by PHAM News, October 2022.
Try it on the calls you miss this week
Free for 7 days, no card, and you keep your own number. The next time you are under a sink or up a ladder, your receptionist takes the call and the details are in your inbox before you have washed your hands. Plans from £39 a month plus VAT after that, and the first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 plus VAT for 12 months.
Also set up for plumbers and heating engineers, electricians, builders, roofers, locksmiths, carpenters and joiners, and for every other kind of business.