The problem
After-hours messages come in through three channels and the on-call tech can't read all of them while driving. Some are real emergencies (no heat, water on the floor, sparking outlet). Most can wait until morning. Today the tech either checks everything or misses the one that mattered.
What Cowork does
- An hourly task runs from 6 PM to 7 AM and reads new voicemail transcripts, texts and inbox messages.
- It flags messages that match the shop's emergency words and situations, written down with the owner (no heat below a set temperature, active leak, burning smell, no power to the whole house).
- It sends one email or summary to the on-call tech with the urgent ones first, including phone number and address.
- Everything else becomes a morning list for the office, with a reply draft where there is an email address.
Where the draft lands
An hourly on-call summary email overnight and a morning list for the office.
What stays with you
Deciding whether to roll a truck, calling the customer, and anything involving safety.
Urgent (1): 11:20 PM, Linda Park, 77 Crest Rd, (555) 610-2290. Text: "No heat, house is 54 degrees, two kids." Matches rule: no heat below 60.
Morning list (3): thermostat question, quote request for a mini-split, invoice question. Reply drafts saved for 2.
Watch-outs
- Hourly is the fastest a Cowork schedule runs. A message can sit up to an hour. Keep the phone's own emergency line or answering service for anything life-safety.
- Never tell customers what to do in an emergency from an AI draft. Safety instructions come from the tech.
Questions owners ask
Can it page the tech?
It sends an email. If the tech's phone alerts on email from that address, that works as a page. True paging needs another tool.
Is this an answering service?
No. It sorts messages that already came in. It doesn't answer calls.