An HVAC answering service that can book the visit, not just take a message.
When the AC quits at 10 PM, the homeowner calls the first company that picks up. An AI receptionist answers every call in seconds, asks your questions, books the visit and sends real emergencies to whoever is on call.
Kestrel Air, Orange County
New, and upfront about it.
Ammett opened in 2026, so you won't find client logos here yet. You deal with one person, Sergei Kovtun, in Aliso Viejo. How the pilot works →
- A free written audit before you pay anything
- A fixed-price $2,500 pilot for our first three clients
- Month to month, 30 days' notice
- Every account and number in your name
Why HVAC calls are different
An HVAC call is rarely a casual question. A system is down, the house is hot or cold, and the caller is ready to book. That makes the first company to answer the likely winner, and it makes the worst times to miss a call, a heat wave, a cold snap, a Sunday night, the busiest ones.
Most HVAC offices handle this with a mix of a dispatcher in the day, a cell phone on call at night and voicemail the rest of the time. It works until the phones get busy. Then callers hear a ring, a voicemail greeting and move on to the next result on Google.
What the AI receptionist does on a call
It answers in your company’s name within a couple of rings, says it’s an AI assistant and that the call is recorded, and then asks the questions your best dispatcher would ask:
- What’s happening: no cooling, no heat, a noise, a leak, a thermostat that’s blank.
- The system: furnace, heat pump, central AC or mini-split, and roughly how old.
- Who’s affected: an elderly parent, a baby, a medical need. You decide what makes a call a priority.
- Where and when: address, ZIP inside your service area, and the window that works.
Then it books the visit into your calendar or field-service software, texts the homeowner a confirmation and sends you a short summary with the transcript and the recording.
Emergencies follow your rules, not ours
You set the rules once and we write them into the agent word for word. A typical setup: a gas smell or a carbon monoxide alarm gets safety instructions first, then goes straight to your on-call tech. No heat when it’s below freezing goes to on-call too. Everything else gets the next open window. If your on-call tech doesn’t pick up, the agent tries the next number on your list and tells the caller what happens next.
Maintenance plans and the shoulder season
Calls in spring and fall are different: tune-ups, maintenance plan renewals, “my system is making a noise but still works”. The agent can book these into your slow-day windows, explain what your maintenance plan includes and take renewals as a request for your office to confirm. It does not sell or change plans on its own.
What you see the next morning
Every call becomes a short card: who called, what’s wrong, how urgent, what was booked, plus the transcript and the recording. With the Book plan you also get a weekly review: we read the calls, fix the answers that were weak and tell you what people asked about most.
What it does not do
It doesn’t diagnose systems, quote repair prices it hasn’t been given, or call anyone who didn’t contact you first. We never use it for cold calls or texts. And it doesn’t replace your dispatcher; it covers the calls your dispatcher can’t get to.
AI receptionist, answering service or voicemail?
| Compared | AI receptionist (Ammett) | Live answering service | Voicemail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picks up | Every call, in seconds, 24/7 | Usually, with hold times at peaks | Never |
| Books the visit | Yes, into your calendar or FSM | Often takes a message for you to call back | No |
| Knows your rules | Your questions and emergency rules, word for word | A script, read by whoever is on shift | No |
| Heat-wave Monday | Answers 30 calls at once | Queues and overflow fees | Mailbox fills up |
| What you get after | Summary, transcript, recording | A message slip | A recording, if they left one |
| Typical cost | From $249/mo plus setup | Per call or per minute, by plan | Free |
Live answering prices vary by provider and plan; check current pricing before you compare. Some companies use both: AI first, a person as backup.
What it costs.
Done for you, on your number. Calls live in about a week; texting starts once carrier registration clears, usually 2–3 weeks. Month to month, 30 days' notice. Phone and texting fees bill to accounts in your name where possible.
Answer
Every call answered, day and night.
from $249/mo
Setup $500 · 300 voice minutes a month
Owner-operators and small offices that can't pick up every call.
- Answers 24/7, or only after hours and when you're busy
- Says it's an AI assistant and that the call is recorded
- A script for your trade: the 5–7 questions you'd ask
- Answers from your approved FAQ: hours, area, services
- Urgent calls (gas smell, flooding) transferred to you
- Lead summary, transcript and recording by text and email
- Texts the caller your booking link if they ask for one
- English and Spanish, spam calls filtered
- We review 10 calls a month and tune the script
Not included: Booking into your calendar, texts and chat, reports.
Over the limit: $0.25 per extra minute.
Book
Most businesses start hereCalls booked straight onto your calendar.
from $590/mo
Setup $1,500 · 600 minutes + 500 texts or chats a month
Teams of 2–15 with a calendar or field-service software.
- Everything in Answer
- Books into your calendar or Jobber; Housecall Pro where your plan has API access
- Knows your job types, time windows and service area
- Reschedules, cancels and sends visit reminders
- Texts back missed calls and answers texts on your number
- Chat on your website, same answers as the phone
- On-call rules: who gets which urgent call, in what order
- Call review and script fixes every week in month one, then every two weeks
- Monthly report: calls, after hours, booked, missed
Not included: Social DMs, estimate follow-up, review requests.
Over the limit: $0.22 per minute, $0.05 per message.
Front Desk
Every channel answered, every lead followed up.
from $1,190/mo
Setup $2,500 · 1,200 minutes + 1,500 messages a month
Offices running ads and getting leads from many places.
- Everything in Book
- One agent for calls, texts, web forms, website chat, Instagram and Facebook messages
- Fast first replies to new form leads, and to LSA, Yelp and Thumbtack leads where the platform allows a connection
- Follows up on open estimates, only with people who asked
- Asks happy customers for a review after the job
- Updates your CRM: new customer, notes, stage
- Up to 2 agents, for example voice and messages, or two locations
- 30-minute monthly call with Sergei
- Human backup through a live answering service on request, billed by that service
Not included: Running your ads, listings and website: that's Operator.
Over the limit: $0.20 per minute, $0.04 per message.
First reply within 5 minutes, or your setup fee back. On any AI receptionist plan: if, in the first 30 days after go-live, a call or message on a channel your plan covers waits more than 5 minutes for a first reply because of the agent, we refund your setup fee. Outages at your phone carrier or the platforms are excluded.
Getting fewer than five calls a day and happy to set things up yourself? A $49–149 app like Rosie or Jobber's receptionist may be all you need, and we'll tell you so in the audit. What an AI receptionist costs →
Keep reading.
- IndustryEverything we run for HVAC
- ServiceAI Agents: how it works
- Same tradeGoogle Ads and PPC for HVAC
- Same tradeSocial media for HVAC companies
- Same tradeWebsite design for HVAC companies
- RelatedAfter-hours answering service
- GuideHow much does an AI receptionist cost?
- GuideAI receptionist vs answering service
Not sure where to start? · 1 minute
What kind of business do you run?
Tap yours. Four more quick questions, then Sergei builds your free audit around the answers.
Questions, answered.
We got burned by an agency. Why is this different?
Fair question. Month to month with 30 days' notice, no 12-month contract. Your phone number stays in your name, and so do recordings and transcripts. To switch the agent off, you stop call forwarding on your line. You deal with Sergei, not an account manager. And if the free audit shows you don't need us, it says so.
Will homeowners know they're talking to an AI?
Yes. The first thing it says is that it's an AI assistant and that the call is recorded. We disclose it on every call as a rule: it avoids surprises. California's bot-disclosure law (SB 1001) is written for online bots; we apply the same rule to calls. What a caller with a broken AC wants most is someone who answers, asks the right questions and gives them a time.
What happens with a real emergency, like a gas smell?
You decide the rules. A gas smell or CO alarm gets safety instructions first (leave the house, call the gas company or 911), then the call goes straight to your on-call number. If no one picks up, it tries the next person on your list.
Can it book into ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber?
Jobber, Housecall Pro and Google or Outlook calendars, yes, on the Book plan and up. ServiceTitan depends on your account's API access; we check it in the audit before we promise anything.
Does it quote prices?
Only what you approve, for example your diagnostic fee or a maintenance plan price. It never guesses at a repair or replacement price; those go to a tech or to you.
What about our existing answering service?
Keep it if it works. Many companies start with the AI on after-hours calls only and compare a month of summaries side by side.
How fast can it be live?
About a week: one 45-minute call to get your questions and rules, a few test calls you make yourself, then we forward your line.
Do you work outside Orange County?
Yes, anywhere in the US. The setup is a 45-minute call and a few test calls, all remote. In Orange County we're also happy to meet in person.
How many minutes will I need?
Rough math: calls a day × about 3 minutes × 30. A business taking 25 calls a day uses about 2,000 minutes a month if the agent answers everything, and closer to 400–600 if it covers only after hours and overflow, which is where most start. We tell you how many minutes you used each month (on Book and Front Desk it's in the monthly report), and we look at the numbers with you before you change plans.
See where customers slip away, and where your hours go.
A free, written audit of how people find you, how fast you answer and what could run on its own.
Prefer to talk first? Call or text Sergei directly. See plans →
Not sure what you need?