The kitchen enquiry rings while you are standing in someone else’s kitchen.
Nuteq opens by asking whether the call is about a new project or one already underway. New work gets scoped and booked for an on-site estimate. Calls about a live job go to the project manager with the address and the problem attached.
How does an AI receptionist help a general contractor?
A general contractor’s line carries two kinds of calls that need opposite handling, and the owner is usually on a job site when either one rings. An AI receptionist for general contractors separates them in the first sentence. Nuteq asks whether the caller has a new project or one already underway. For new work it asks what a good estimator asks: the kind of project and what should change, the property address, whether the caller owns it, when they hope to start or finish, the budget range if they care to share one, and whether plans, drawings, or a permit exist. Then it books the on-site estimate. For a job in progress it takes the name, the project address, and the question, and passes it to the project manager. Subcontractors, suppliers, and inspectors leave a message tied to the project it concerns. Nobody gets a price for work that has not been seen.
Updated
Answers
Phone, text messages, WhatsApp, and website chat
First question
New project, or one already underway
Captures
Scope, address, ownership, timeline, budget range, plans or permit
Books
On-site estimates and project consultations
Ballparks
None for work nobody has seen
Use cases
The calls a remodeling office gets between site visits
new project
A couple wants a bathroom gutted and asks for a rough number
Explains that the estimate comes after someone sees the room, gathers scope and timeline, and offers a visit.
On-site estimate booked
addition
A homeowner with architect drawings wants a builder for an addition
Notes that plans exist, asks whether a permit has been filed, and books a project consultation.
Consultation booked
current job
A client mid-renovation asks why the tile has not been delivered
Takes the name, the project address, and the question, and passes it to the project manager without guessing at a date.
Message for the project manager
subcontractor
The electrician needs to know if rough-in can start Thursday
Records the name, the company, which project it concerns, and the message, so it lands with whoever runs that job.
Message filed to the project
urgent
Water is running through the ceiling at a house you are renovating
Takes the address and what is happening, marks it urgent, and offers to connect the caller to the project manager or whoever is on call.
Flagged urgent, transfer offered
after hours
Someone calls about finishing a basement at nine on a Sunday
Runs the same intake as a weekday call and books the first estimate window you have open.
Estimate booked for the week
Example call record
Priya Venkataraman
Office line · phone · 2:36
On-site estimate booked
new project
kitchen remodel
estimate
AgentThank you for calling Stonebridge Builders. Are you calling about a new project or one that is already underway?
CallerA new one. We want to redo the kitchen and take out the wall between it and the dining room. What would that run us, roughly?
AgentI cannot give a figure for a kitchen nobody has walked through, and a wall coming out makes that even more true. The estimate comes after a site visit. Do you own the house, and do you have any drawings yet?
CallerWe own it. No drawings, just a lot of saved photos. We were hoping to be done before the holidays.
AgentI have noted that. Is there a budget range you are working within? It is fine if you would rather not say.
CallerI would rather hear what it takes first.
AgentUnderstood, I have left that open. I can book an on-site estimate for Tuesday at ten at the Alder Street address. Does that suit you?
CallerTuesday at ten is good.
Call summary
Priya called about a kitchen remodel that includes removing the wall to the dining room. She owns the home, has no drawings, hopes to finish before the holidays, and preferred not to give a budget. The receptionist declined to estimate a cost over the phone and booked an on-site estimate for Tuesday at ten.
Sorted the call as a new project
Captured scope, ownership, timeline, and that there are no drawings
Declined to give a ballpark for unseen work
Booked a Tuesday on-site estimate
Nuteq vs a contractor answering service vs voicemail
How Nuteq compares with a typical answering service and voicemail
Question
Nuteq
Typical answering service
Voicemail
New project or live job
Asked first, then handled two different ways
Usually one message form for every caller
You find out when you listen
What the estimator knows before the visit
Scope, address, ownership, timeline, budget range, plans or permit
Name, number, and a line of notes; depth varies by provider
Whatever the caller thought to say
The "roughly how much" question
No figure for unseen work, and a site visit offered instead
Usually deferred to a callback
Unanswered
Site visits
Booked during the call, into windows you opened
Handed back to your office to schedule
Not scheduled
A leak at a job in progress
Marked urgent, with a transfer to the number you set
A message marked urgent; dispatch rules vary by provider
Heard after the damage is done
One agent on every channel
Phone
Answers the office line while you are on site, and sorts new projects from jobs in progress before anything else.
Text messages
Replies to homeowners who text about a project, and confirms the estimate visit.
WhatsApp
Takes the same project details from clients who prefer WhatsApp, and books the visit.
Website chat
Lets a visitor describe the remodel and pick an estimate window from your site.
How do you set up an AI receptionist for a general contractor?
Nuteq can be answering your office line in about two minutes. Start from the general contractor template, open your estimate windows and list the kinds of projects you take, add the project manager’s number for urgent calls, try a call in your browser, then forward the line.
1
Sign up and start from the general contractor template, which already asks about scope, ownership, timeline, budget range, and plans.
2
Open your on-site estimate windows, list the project types and areas you take, and set the number urgent job-site calls should reach.
3
Call your agent from the browser as a homeowner and as a subcontractor, then forward the office line or add a new local number.
Questions general contractors ask
Is Nuteq a contractor answering service?
Nuteq does the job of a contractor answering service and goes a step further. It answers every call, asks the questions an estimator would ask about the project, and books the site visit during the conversation instead of leaving you a name and a number.
How is it different from a construction answering service?
Nuteq differs from a typical construction answering service in what it hands back. Rather than a short typed message, you get the scope, address, timeline, and budget range, a booked estimate, and a recording with a transcript and summary.
Will it give a ballpark price for a remodel?
Nuteq will not give a price, a ballpark, or a per-square-foot figure for work nobody has seen. It tells the caller the estimate comes after a site visit, then offers to book that visit.
Can it tell a new lead from a client with a job in progress?
Nuteq asks that as its opening question. A new project gets the full intake and an estimate visit, while a call about a job underway is taken as a message for the project manager with the name, address, and question.
What happens when a subcontractor or inspector calls?
Nuteq takes the caller’s name, their company, the project the call concerns, and the message. It does not answer scheduling or code questions on your behalf, so the note goes to whoever runs that job.
What does it do with an emergency at a job site?
Nuteq tells a caller reporting a gas smell, fire, exposed live wiring, structural failure, or injury to get clear and contact emergency services or the utility first. For a leak or an unsecured property, it marks the call urgent and offers a transfer.
Does it connect to Buildertrend or Procore?
Nuteq does not connect to construction management software today. Estimate visits and consultations are booked in the Nuteq calendar and sync to Google Calendar, and each lead is saved in the dashboard with its call.
How much does an AI receptionist for a general contractor cost?
Nuteq prices contractors the same way as every other business, and the current plans are on the pricing page. You can set up the agent and test it in your browser before you forward a single call.
Can I keep the number on my trucks and yard signs?
Nuteq works behind the number you already advertise. Forward that line to your agent and nothing printed has to change, or add a separate local number if you want new-project calls kept apart.