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Orvius vs an answering service
For heating and cooling, plumbing and electrical shops.
An answering service puts a person on your line who reads your script and passes the message on. Orvius answers as your shop, asks the questions your dispatcher would and books the work.
| Topic | Orvius | An answering service |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | Orvius, as your shop's name, on the number customers already call. | An agent at a shared call center, usually reading a script for many businesses. |
| Booking | Books the job into your open windows, but only once it has the caller's name, a number that reaches them and the street address. | Often takes a message for you to call back. Booking into your calendar is an add-on at many services, if offered. |
| Emergencies | A gas smell, a carbon monoxide alarm, sparking or burning, and sewage backing up aren't booked: the caller hears the safety step first, then you're called. | Follows the escalation steps you write for them. |
| Returning customers | Greets a caller it knows by name in the first sentence. | Depends on the agent and the notes you give the service. |
| What you get after | A text with who called, what they need and when they're booked, plus the call's transcript in your inbox. | A message by text or email, with what the agent wrote down. |
| Price | From $199 a month with 300 answered calls included, then 50¢ a call. Cancel and refund in the first 30 days. | Usually billed by the minute or by the call, often with a monthly minimum. |
When an answering service is the better choice
- You want a human voice on every call, whatever the call is.
- Many of your calls are unusual requests a script can't cover.
When Orvius is
- Most of your calls are the same handful of jobs, and you want them booked, not messaged.
- Your phone rings at night and on weekends, when a booked job is worth the most.
Also compare: Orvius vs voicemail · Orvius vs hiring a receptionist
Hear it on a real call.
Call the live line. It answers as Summit Heating & Air, our demo shop, exactly the way it would answer yours.