What happens if I exceed the number of calls or texts within a plan?

You will be billed for the additional calls at a standard price of $0.50/call. For example, let's say you have subscribed to a Silver plan that includes 100 calls for each billing period. For a given billing period, if Tradie Pal agents answer 125 calls, the additional 25 calls will be billed at $0.50/call and a total of $12.50 will be added to your monthly bill. The same applies to SMS conversations.

Can I keep my mobile number as the main number and still use Tradie Pal agents to answer calls?

As part of your Tradie Pal subscription you are assigned a unique phone number. This is the number that your Tradie Pal receptionist will answer 24/7. However, if you mobile number is important and you want to keep that as your main business number, you can do that. You will have to setup conditional call forwarding on your mobile phone. Conditional call forwarding allows customers to call your existing mobile number and if you are not able to answer the call, it will forward the call to your Tradie Pal receptionist. To setup conditional call forwarding, you can follow the instructions listed here, or watch this how-to video. Our team will also be happy to help you setup call forwarding. Contact us at support@tradiepal.ai with your subscription details.

How do you measure the usage on SMS conversations?

For billing purposes, all SMS messages exchanged within a 30-minute window with the same recepient are grouped as a single SMS conversation.

Can I change my details once I have entered them during the onboarding process?

Yes, you can update your business information anytime by logging into your account and selecting "Update information" from the dashboard.

Can I change my plan at a later stage?

Yes, you can switch plans any time after your have signed up. Simply login to your account and select "Payments".

Do you support any languages other than English?

Tradie Pal agents are trained in 12 languages. If you wish to receive updates in a different language, you can set it up from the member dashboard. You need to select "Settings" from the left hand menu and change the language preference.

Can we access call transcripts for the calls that are answered by Tradie Pal?

Yes, you have access to complete call transcripts. Simply login to your Tradie Pal account and select call details to view the call transcripts for a specific period.

I don't like the phone number that's been assigned to me. Can I get a new number?

At this stage, it is not possible to change phone numbers that are assigned. We try to acquire numbers that are available at the time you sign-up.

Tradie Pal Hot Tips | Maximize Your Service Efficiency

Tips on getting the most out of your smart receptionist

Here are a few tips on making the most from your receptionist. You can access these features when you call or text your receptionist from your registered mobile:

On the go updates
Checking you current call forwarding rules
Making temporary changes to your call forwarding rules
Changing your call forwarding number
Setting up appointments service so that your agent can book appointments
Making any changes to how your agent books appointments
Checking your schedule
Questions about Tradie Pal and how to use some of the features

On the go updates - Simply call or text your receptionist from your registered mobile phone to give instructions about any aspects of your business. This can be information you want them to remember and pass on to certain clients or all clients. They will note the instructions down and use it when responding to your callers. Here are a few examples on how you can instruct your receptionist by calling or texting them.

“Hey there, I am going to be away next week so please let callers know that I cannot take any booking for next week.”
“Can you make a note that if John Smith calls about his kitchen repair, let him know that it is scheduled for next Wednesday at 10am.”
“Please make a note that if Mel calls about her cab reservation, tell her that it is confirmed for this Saturday, 9am.”

Remember to provide clear instructions so your receptionist can understand them. Your receptionist may clarify certain details and also ask you until when the information is relevant. This helps the receptionist to maintain the most up-to-date information and discard information that is not relevant any longer. They will repeat your instructions and ask you to confirm (yes or no). It is important that you confirm by saying (or texting) yes. This ensures the receptionist has noted down the request and will follow them.

Checking Call forwarding rules - This is applicable if you are using mode of operation - option 1 (using the service number as the primary business line). In this mode of operation, you can setup call forwarding rules during the on-boarding process (or from the customer dashboard) that tells your receptionist when to escalate a call to a human. There are three distinct call forwarding rules:

Forward all calls if user asks - if the receptionist cannot handle the query or if the caller requests to speak with you, the receptionist will initiate a call transfer.
Only forward urgent calls - the receptionist will only transfer a call if it is an urgent matter. All other calls will be handled by the receptionist. Your receptionist will decide if the matter is urgent based on the situation. Usually, if the caller is calling about an issue that cannot wait to be resolved, it is considered as an urgent matter.
Do not forward any calls - the receptionist will not transfer any calls to you. They will try to resolve the caller's query and if not, they will take detailed notes and inform the caller that you will get back to them shortly.

During the on-boarding process or from the customer portal you can setup your call forwarding settings based on your schedule. For example, you can select “Forward urgent calls” during 9am to 4pm from Mon - Fri, and then select “Do not forward any calls” for the rest of the time. You can have up to 3 different rules configured for your account at any one time. For more details see the “Member dashboard” documentation.

Once you have setup the call forwarding rules, your receptionist will follow them and forward calls to your mobile accordingly. If you are unsure which call forwarding rule is active at a given time, you can simply ask your receptionist by calling or texting them:

“Hey, can you tell me what call forwarding rule is active at the moment.”

Your receptionist will tell you the current call forwarding rule that is active that that time.

Changing Call forwarding rules - You can make temporary changes to your call forwarding rule simply by calling or texting your receptionist. Temporary overrides allow you to make changes for a short time period. For example, if you are called into a meeting and do not wish to receive any calls during that time, you can ask your receptionist to not forward any calls for the next hour (or two). This gives you the flexibility to make changes to the call forward settings on the go depending on your current situation and not make any permanent changes to the rules. Here are some examples of how you can request a temporary override to the call forward settings by calling or texting your receptionist:

“Hey there, I am stuck in a client meeting, can you not forward any calls to me for the next 2 hours”.
“Hey mate, my job this afternoon got cancelled, so feel free to forward any calls to me this afternoon”.
“Hey, I have to take care of some family matters today, please don’t forward any calls to me for the rest of today”.

When you request a temporary change to your call forwarding settings, your receptionist will clarify any details such as the start and end time for the changes to take effect if required and repeat the change that you have requested and ask you to confirm it. Only when you confirm, they will update the settings.

Changing call forwarding number - You can make temporary changes to your call forwarding number if you wish by calling or texting your receptionist. You can tell them how long you want to change the forwarding number and the new forwarding number. Here are a few examples of how you can do that:

"Hey there, I am busy for the next two hours. Can you escalate any calls to my business partner's mobile. His number is 0412 345 123".
Hey Ally, I am heading out on a job, so please forward any calls to my business partner." (Your agent will confirm the number if they have it from a previous conversation. If not, they will ask you for their number)

Note: to make permanent changes to your call forwarding number, you must login to your member dashboard and make the change in your service settings.

Setup Appointment bookings - You can ask your receptionist to setup your appointments service so they can book appointments for you. Simply inform your receptionist that you would like them to handle your bookings.

"Hey there, I would like to setup my appointments service so that you can book jobs for me".

They will ask you the following questions related to how you want to manage your bookings:

Your service address: This can be a full address or the name of a suburb or city.
Nature of your appointments: There are three different appointment types. You must select the option that matches your needs:
1. Location aware bookings - Select this option if you travel from one job to another. Your receptionist will try to optimise the bookings and factor in travel time between bookings as they book jobs for you. This ensures that you have enought time to go from one job to the next.
2. Fixed adddress bookings - Select this option, if your appointments are from a fixed address (such as your registered business address). Select this option if you are offering services from your home, your business location or your meetings are online.
3. Overlapping bookings - Select this option, if you can handle multiple bookings at the same time. This is useful, if you have a team of individuals who can provide the service and you don't mind overlapping bookings.
Service region: If you select option 1 (location-aware bookings) or option 3 (overlapping bookings), your receptionist will ask you for a service region. This allows you to specify the region where you provide your services. You can specify the service region as a distance, eg: your service region is about 25 kms radius from your service address. If you specify a service region, your receptionist will always validate the address of the caller and make sure they are within your service region. If you do not want to enfore this check, you can let your receptionist know that you don't have a service region.
Max bookings: This question is only relevant if you selected travel aware appointments (option 1). This is the maximum number of appointments you want to schedule in a day. If you don't want to limit your max bookings per day, you can say, there is no cap on max bookings.
Default time slot: This is the standard time you want to allocate for each appointment. You can always change the appointment duration later if required.
Special conditions: This question is currently not used by your receptionist so refrain from specifying any special conditions as they will be ignored. We will update the documentation once this condition is enforced.

Once all the details are captured, your receptionist will setup a Google calendar and you will receive an email to accept the calendar invite. You will have full access to the calendar and you can sync that calendar with your favourite calendar program.

Note: The calendar invite is sent to your registered email address. If this email is a Google email, you will have access to the calendar immediately. If your registered email is not a Google email, you will have to create a new Google account using your email. Once you do that, you will have access to your calendar.

Update Appointment bookings - If you want to make any changes with respect to how you handle your bookings such as changing the default time slot, max bookings, etc, you can call your receptionist and inform them about the changes. You can also check your schedule for a given time period by asking your receptionist your schedule.

"Hey, I want to make a few changes with regards to how you book appointments. Can you do that for me".
"Hey, how's my schedule looking for the rest of today?".
"Hey there, can you tell me my schedule for this coming Friday?".

Questions about Tradie Pal - Your receptionist can also answer any questions that you may have about how to use Tradie Pal. If you are unsure about any feature or how to use certain functionality, you can always check with your receptionist. They are trained to answer any questions related to Tradie Pal and how it works. Some examples of the type of information that you can ask your receptionist:

“Hey there, how do I change my registered mobile number.”
“Hey, can you tell me how to change my plan from Silver to Gold.”
“Hey, what happens if I exceed my calls?”
“Hey there, if I cancel my service and then reinstate it, can I get the same service number as before?”

It is important that you call or text your Tradie Pal receptionist from your registered mobile phone. This allows them to verify your identity and then respond to your questions.