AI receptionist · Newcastle
Newcastle tradies: mine subsidence, an earthquake city, and a phone that rings all day.
Most of Newcastle and Lake Macquarie sits in a declared Mine Subsidence District, which means paperwork before a slab goes down. Receptly answers every call you can’t, knows the Hunter suburbs and the NSW rules, and books it in.
1300 556 520Ring it now and say the hot water’s gone in Merewether. See what it asks.
The Newcastle problem
The Hunter is spread out, and the calls come from all of it
A Newcastle business isn’t just Newcastle. It’s Lake Macquarie down to Belmont, Maitland out west, Port Stephens up north, and half a day of driving if you take the wrong two jobs in the wrong order. On the tools you can’t answer at all, and in the ute you can answer but can’t write an address down. Either way the caller rings the next name, and around here the next name is somebody’s brother-in-law.
The work mix is unusual too. Mine subsidence paperwork on extensions, heavy industrial around Mayfield and Kooragang, coastal salt damage from Merewether to Nelson Bay, and student and rental stock through Hamilton and Islington. Four different sets of questions, and a voicemail that asks none of them.
Local knowledge
It knows Newcastle and the Hunter
It’s set up for Newcastle before it takes a call. Not a generic script with the city name dropped in: the suburbs, the 02 numbers, the way work is spread, and the things a caller from Newcastle will ask.
- How far you’ll go It asks the suburb and works out the run: inner Newcastle (Newcastle East, Cooks Hill, Hamilton, Islington, Mayfield, Wickham), the beaches (Merewether, Bar Beach, Stockton, Redhead), Lake Macquarie (Charlestown, Kotara, Adamstown, Warners Bay, Belmont, Cardiff, Toronto), the west (Wallsend, Maryland, Fletcher, Thornton, Maitland, Cessnock) and the north (Raymond Terrace, Medowie, Nelson Bay, Salamander Bay). You set the edge, and it stops booking past it.
- Mine subsidence, asked up front If the call is about an extension, a new slab, a pool, a shed or a retaining wall, it asks the address and flags that a Mine Subsidence District approval may be needed from Subsidence Advisory NSW before work starts. It doesn’t give a ruling on any address, because that’s not a phone call’s job. It just makes sure neither of you finds out about it after the concrete’s ordered.
- Salt and the coast Between Stockton and Nelson Bay, salt air is a standing job factor. It asks how close to the water the property is when the job is roofing, guttering, fixings, air con or anything metal outside, so you can price what the site is actually going to do to the materials.
- Who to ring when it’s not your job No water in the street here is Hunter Water on 1300 657 000, twenty-four hours, not Sydney Water. Wires down or the whole block dark is Ausgrid on 13 13 88. A gas smell is Jemena on 131 909. Storm damage is the SES on 132 500. The receptionist gives them the right one and still takes their details for you.
NSW rules
The NSW rules it respects
Licences
Plumbers, electricians and builders in the Hunter are licensed by NSW Fair Trading, same as Sydney, and Newcastle callers check. The receptionist reads yours out when asked, never claims one you don’t hold, and never promises a certificate it can’t issue.
Recording calls
NSW is an all-party-consent state under the Surveillance Devices Act 2007. Every call opens with a short announcement that it’s an automated receptionist and the call is recorded, so callers know before they say anything. Details in our call recording disclosure.
Quoting
It doesn’t quote. NSW home building law puts obligations on written quotes above certain values, and subsidence-district work has conditions nobody can price blind. It captures what you need and tells the caller you’ll confirm.
Your trade
Set up for your trade, in Newcastle
Every Newcastle setup starts from a trade script we’ve already built, then gets your suburbs, your hours and your rules on top. See how it works for plumbers, electricians, air conditioning, roofing, painters, landscaping, pest control, locksmiths, builders.
How it works
One call. We do the rest.
- One call with usWe’re in Sydney; setup is a phone call wherever you are. We learn how you run: the jobs you take, the suburbs you cover, what’s urgent, what gets quoted.
- Your number stays the sameKeep the number on the van. Calls you don’t pick up in a few rings divert to the receptionist.
- Live within the weekWe listen to the first month of calls and tune it. Anything it can’t handle, it takes a message and texts you.
Pricing
Less than one missed Hunter job a month
Starts the day it goes live. Nothing charged until it’s answered your calls for a week. Cancel inside the week and you pay nothing, setup included.
Less than one missed Hunter job a month. A lot less than a receptionist.
No surprise bills: go over two months running and we tell you before we move you up. Full pricing and what’s included.
Book a setup callWork out what missed calls are costing you with the missed call calculator. Other cities: all locations.
Hear it take a Newcastle call
Ring the number and say the hot water’s gone in Merewether.
1300 556 520