Why a text-back receptionist suits electricians

What does an electrician's day look like from the phone's point of view?

From the phone's point of view, an electrician's day goes like this. The phone is in the van, or in a jacket on the floor. You're in a loft with a head torch, or you've got a board off, the house is dark and the customer is standing behind you. The phone rings. Even if you hear it, you're not answering it with a screwdriver in one hand and a tester in the other.

So it rings out. The caller gets your voicemail, or nothing. Some leave a message. Most don't. They had a fault, or a socket they wanted moved, or a landlord's EICR due next month, and they rang the first number they found. If it wasn't answered, they ring the second.

What does a missed enquiry turn into?

Three things, usually. A job someone else does. A message you ring back at seven that night, when the customer has already booked someone, or doesn't pick up a number they don't know. Or a text from you at a red light that says 'who's this?', which isn't much of a first impression either. None of those is a disaster on its own. Over a year, it's a lot of work that walked past the van.

The fix doesn't need to be clever. The caller doesn't need to speak to anyone. They need to know you've seen them, and to be able to say what the job is and when suits, without waiting for you to come out of the loft.

What does Mabel actually say to the caller?

When a call to your Mabel number rings out, the caller hears one short spoken message: thanks for calling, you're on a job, a text is on its way. Then the call ends and this arrives, with your name and business in place of the example:

Sorry we missed your call to Kerr Electrical. Sean is on a job. Book in a minute here: mabelhq.co.uk/b/Ab3dE5gH7j Or just reply to this text and we'll take your details here.

The link goes to a one-page booking form. If they'd rather text, they reply and Mabel takes it from there by text: which job from your list, a few words about it, the postcode and house number, then a choice of times that are actually free in your calendar. It reads the booking back, they reply YES, and you get a text with the job to confirm when your hands are free.

It never answers in a voice, never quotes a price and never promises anything you haven't set up. The questions are the same every time, in the same order, so a customer gets the same booking whether they text at 8am or 11pm.

Which jobs can it book for an electrician?

At set-up you pick the jobs you get most, and roughly how long each takes. The list for electricians starts like this, with the times a new account suggests:

• Electrical fault: 1h
• Electrics keep tripping: 1h
• Socket added: 1h
• Socket replaced: 30 min
• Light fitting replaced: 1h
• Downlights fitted: 3h
• Light switch replaced: 30 min
• Outside light fitted: 1h

The times matter because Mabel uses them to find a slot. A socket swap fits in a gap, an EICR needs a morning, a fuse box replacement takes the day. Set them once and change them later in Settings.

What counts as urgent for an electrician?

A new electrician's account starts with these urgent words: gas smell, smell gas, carbon monoxide, sparks, burning smell, smoke, no power, shock, tripping, fuse box hot and exposed wires. You can change them. If a customer's text uses one, you get a text straight away with what they wrote, and they read this:

This sounds urgent, so we've let Sean know straight away, and you'll get a call back as soon as possible.

The gas and carbon monoxide words sit on every trade's list, including yours, because a customer with a CO alarm going off doesn't always ring the right trade. A text that mentions them gets the gas emergency number in Mabel's reply, every time.

What about EICRs, consumer units and EV chargers?

Electrical work the law reserves for a registered person, such as new circuits, rewires, consumer units and EV chargers, is only offered by accounts that have told us their scheme. When you get approved, you add your NICEIC, NAPIT or other registration and we check it by hand, with your photo ID and insurance, before your number goes live.

An account with no certifying body can't put that work on its menu, and a customer asking for it by text or on the form reads this:

That needs a registered engineer, so we can't book it for this business.

You're told, and no job is made. It's a blunt line on purpose. Mabel books jobs; it doesn't decide who's qualified, and it doesn't promise certified work for an account that can't do it.

Is there a catch?

Two honest ones. A missed-call text only reaches a mobile: a landline caller hears that you'll see they rang and will call back, and that call is still yours to make. And some callers will always ring the next number rather than read a text. Mabel is for everyone who'd rather have a time booked than a voicemail.

• Mabel for electricians