// CONTRACTORS
After-Hours AI Receptionist for Canadian Trades
It's 9pm on a Tuesday in February. A pipe just burst in a basement in Winnipeg. The homeowner Googles "emergency plumber near me" and starts calling. The first three companies go to voicemail. The fourth — using an AI receptionist — picks up, triages, and dispatches a tech for first thing in the morning. That fourth company just made $1,400 while the other three slept through it.
After-hours is when trades make their money
Roughly 60% of emergency trades calls in Canada happen outside 9-to-5. Frozen pipes at night. Furnace failures on weekends. Power outages on stat holidays. Roof leaks during weekend storms. These are high-value, time-sensitive jobs — and they go to whoever picks up first.
Your two traditional options both lose. Voicemail loses roughly 80% of emergency callers — they hang up and dial the next number. A human after-hours answering service costs $400–$1,200/month, charges per minute, and still can't book directly into your calendar or quote your standard emergency rate.
What an after-hours AI receptionist does for trades
An AI receptionist takes over your phone the moment your office closes and gives it back when you open in the morning. Every after-hours call gets a live answer within two rings. The AI runs your emergency triage script: what's the issue, what's the address, is it active flooding/fire/no-heat, do you have pets at home, are you a current customer.
For true emergencies, it dispatches — either by ringing your on-call tech's cell directly or sending a structured SMS with the intake summary. For non-urgent calls, it books the first available appointment and sends a confirmation. Either way, you wake up to a clean dashboard of every call, transcript, and booked job.
Triage rules for Canadian trades
We configure urgency rules per trade. HVAC: no-heat below -10°C is auto-dispatch in winter; cooling failure during a heatwave is auto-dispatch in summer; everything else is next-day. Plumbing: active leak or burst pipe is auto-dispatch; clogged drain is next-day. Electrical: sparking, smoke, or full panel-out is auto-dispatch; non-emergency wiring is scheduled. Roofing: active interior leak is auto-dispatch; quote requests are scheduled.
We also set caller-type rules. Existing customers might get faster dispatch. Commercial accounts might get a different on-call rotation. New residential leads might get a different price quote. The AI follows whatever rules you build.
Why Canadian trades pick AI over a service
- +Never miss an emergency
Every after-hours call answered live within two rings.
- +Smart triage
Only real emergencies wake you up. Non-urgent calls get booked for next day.
- +Bookings, not just messages
Calls land as confirmed appointments in your calendar, not as voicemails to chase.
- +Lower cost than a service
Predictable monthly fee. No per-minute meter running during a 20-minute storm-night call.
- +Bilingual coverage
French calls handled automatically — critical in QC, NB, and eastern ON.
- +Works with your stack
Integrates with Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, and major CRMs used by Canadian trades.
Why Underdog Engine is built for Canadian trades
Underdog Creative Solutions started as a marketing shop for trades businesses in Saskatchewan. Every feature in the Engine — the triage rules, the weather-aware urgency, the bilingual handling, the CRM integrations — was added because a real Canadian contractor asked for it. We're a phone call away in Canadian business hours when something needs adjusting. No offshore support ticket queue.
Pricing
Pricing starts at $150 CAD/month. View all plans →