An AI receptionist for locksmiths that answers the lockout call and gives the price up front
A locksmith's phone rings at 11 pm from someone standing outside their own door, and that caller hires whoever picks up and says a number. Unlike an answering service that takes a message, this is an AI receptionist that answers on the second ring, gives your lockout price from your own sheet, and gets your on-call locksmith on the line. Here's how it handles that call, how it books the daytime work, and what it won't do.
Ballpark prices by phone and text, and the Quick Quote page, work when you turn on the estimator in Settings (included on Elite, a $20/month add-on on Basic and Pro). With it off, Alex books the visit instead of giving a price.
Where locksmiths actually lose the job
Nobody searches for a locksmith until they need one in the next twenty minutes. The caller is locked out of the house with groceries on the step, or out of the car in a parking garage, and they call the first three results. The first one to answer and say a number gets the job. The other two never knew they were in the running.
That's the trade's whole phone problem in one sentence, and it's why the trade has a reputation problem too: the call centers that answer first and say "$19 service call" are the ones that send a stranger who drills the lock and charges $400. A real local locksmith who answers with a straight price wins against that every time, if the phone gets answered. HomeGuide, "How Much Does a Locksmith Cost? (2026)" puts a house lockout at $75 to $200 or more and a car lockout at $60 to $150 during business hours, with after-hours rates two to three times higher. Each one is small. There are a lot of them, and they come at night.
The daytime work is the other half: rekeying after a move or a breakup, new deadbolts, a smart lock, a spare car key. Those callers want a price and a time, and they're calling while you're at someone else's door.
What the AI does on a locksmith call
The AI answers as your company, in about two rings, on every call at once, day or night. For a lockout it asks what a dispatcher asks: house or car, the address or where the car is, whether anyone's in danger or a child is locked in, what kind of lock or what year, make and model, and the best number to reach them. You decide what it tells them to have ready; for most locksmiths that's ID or something with the address on it, because you're going to ask for it at the door.
Then it answers the question that wins or loses the call: what it costs. It reads from your price sheet and says it like a dispatcher would: "A house lockout during business hours usually runs about seventy-five to one seventy-five. The locksmith confirms the price before starting any work." Evening, weekend and overnight calls price higher, high-security locks price higher, and the sheet says so. It never gives a firm price, never skips the "confirmed before starting" line, and never promises an arrival time; your locksmith gives the ETA when he takes the call.
A lockout follows your emergency rules. The first on-call phone gets a text briefing (caller, where they are, house or car, what lock), then rings; the locksmith hears the briefing and presses 1 to take the call. No answer, Alex rings the next phone, up to three in order. If nobody picks up, the caller leaves a message and the transcript reaches every on-call phone by text within about a minute. Emergency texts alert the same phones, and a locksmith can reply CALL to be connected from your business number.
Daytime work gets a ballpark and a booking. Rekeying is priced per lock with a minimum for the trip; lock and deadbolt replacement per lock, hardware included; smart locks installed, less if they bought the lock; car keys by type (plain metal, transponder, or a smart key or fob), with a bump if every key is lost. It checks your service area, then books into open arrival windows on your Google Calendar, with jobs per window matched to your vans. With auto-assign on, each job goes to a free locksmith with a calendar invite and a briefing text.
Some jobs never get a phone price, and the AI knows which: safes, commercial and master key systems, break-in damage, and ignition work. Those get a visit booked instead. Callers who find you online can do the same on your website: the Quick Quote asks how many locks or what kind of key, shows a range, and lets them pick a time.
What happens after the call
Once your locksmith takes the lockout call, the customer has talked to a person and has an ETA. The scheduled customer gets a confirmation text with the window, and a reminder the day before they can reply to (once you turn on appointment confirmation texts). Your locksmith's morning prep card has the job, the lock type, the count and the address, with a reminder to check ID at the door.
A quote that didn't book, say a whole-house rekey the customer wanted to think about, goes into a follow-up text sequence at 24 hours, 3, 5 and 10 days, which stops the moment they reply. Missed calls get a text back within seconds. On Elite, outbound campaigns work your past-customer list (the people you rekeyed after a move are the people who'll want a smart lock), and every number you publish is tracked as its own lead source.
What it doesn't do: verify ownership (that's you, at the door, with their ID), give an arrival time, open a lock over the phone, or take payment. Those stay with your locksmith and your invoicing.
A week on the phone, locksmith edition
This is an example of how the system handles a week, not a customer's results.
Tuesday, 11:20 pm. A caller is locked out of her apartment with a sleeping toddler inside. Alex asks the address and whether the child is safe, says a house lockout overnight usually runs about one fifty to three fifty and the locksmith confirms before starting, and reminds her to have ID ready. Your on-call phone gets the briefing and rings; you press 1, give her a twenty-minute ETA, and go.
Wednesday, 10:05 am. You're installing a deadbolt. A caller just bought a house and wants every lock rekeyed. Alex asks how many locks (six), gives the per-lock ballpark and the total range, and books Friday's 8 to 10 window. At 2:40 a caller lost the only key to a 2019 pickup. Alex says a transponder key with no working key runs more, gives the range, and books the first open window Thursday. Saturday, a caller wants a safe opened. No price; Alex books a visit.
What AI Front Desk Helper does besides answer the phone
Answering the phone is the entry point, not the product. Here is the rest of what runs once a contractor is on AI Front Desk Helper:
- Booking that respects your calendar. Alex checks your own Google Calendar and offers real open times, so it never books a slot you're already on a job for. Jobs per time slot, arrival windows, appointment length, same-day booking and service days by ZIP code are all settings. Reschedules and cancellations move or remove the event.
- Crews, not just one calendar. Optional auto-assign books each job to a free crew member in turn, using their own calendar and work days, and adds them to the event. Repeating visits (weekly, every two weeks, monthly) can be paused for one customer or for the season.
- After-hours emergencies. You write what counts as an emergency and list up to three on-call phones. Alex rings them in order with a text briefing, and the tech presses 1 to take the call. Emergency texts and website chats alert the same phones, and a tech can reply CALL to be connected.
- Photos by text. Customers can text a photo to your number. Alex saves it to their card, forwards an emergency photo to the on-call phones, sends your Quick Quote link for a job it can price, and offers a visit for anything else.
- Straight answers on price. With the estimator turned on, for junk removal, window cleaning, pressure washing, house cleaning, pest control, garage doors, pool service, flooring, concrete, window installation, stump grinding and lawn care, Alex gives a ballpark from your own price sheet and says the crew confirms on site. Trades that price on site can set a service call fee, and Alex answers financing and insurance questions from what you set. No number you didn't give it.
- Instant online quotes. A branded quote-and-book page for your business (yours looks like quote.yourcompany.com) where customers get a ballpark and pick a time, day or night. Built in for painting, roofing, siding, fencing, gutters and the twelve trades above, and switched on with the estimator (included on Elite, a $20/month add-on on Basic and Pro).
- Estimate follow-up that doesn't quit. Text sequences at 24 hours, 3, 5 and 10 days on every quote that hasn't closed, written like a contractor, stopping the moment the customer replies.
- Objection detection. "Too expensive" or "need to think about it" triggers a recovery script instead of a polite goodbye.
- Outbound campaigns. AI calls and texts to your past-customer list for seasonal reactivation, win-backs and referral asks. You set the campaign; it dials.
- Google Business Profile, handled. Every new review gets an owner reply drafted for you; profile posts can be drafted, approved and scheduled weeks ahead; a profile health audit shows how you stack up against nearby competitors.
- Revenue coaching by lead source. Every phone number is tied to where it came from (Angi, LSA, Facebook, referral, yard sign), so the dashboard shows which marketing produces booked revenue and which to cut.
- Customer DISC profiles. Every caller and texter gets a buying-style read (D, I, S or C) from what they actually said, with a confidence flag, so you walk into the estimate knowing how to sell to them.
- Franchise HQ. One rollup across every location for multi-unit operators.
- Reseller program. Agencies can offer the whole system under their own brand. How it works.
- Optional add-on: AI Rep Coach. Records in-home estimates and coaches the people who sell, with manager review and team analytics. Sold separately, per seat.
Setup for a locksmith
In Settings, pick Locksmith as your trade. That loads the locksmith price sheet. Turn on the estimator in Settings, and Alex uses it on calls and texts and the locksmith Quick Quote goes on your website. Click See the prices the AI quotes to read the exact sheet. It starts from 2026 national prices (higher in high-cost states, lower in low-cost ones), and you move each service up or down by percentage until it matches what you charge; the evening and overnight rates are percentages too, so set them to yours. Apply the recommended scheduling (two-hour arrival windows, same-day with two hours' notice), add your locksmiths in Crew Management and turn on auto-assign, or set jobs per window to your number of vans. Add up to three on-call phones in order and write what counts as urgent in your own words (a lockout, a child locked in, a break-in). Forward your existing number or port it.
A straight answer about where this comes from: AI Front Desk Helper was built and tested inside my painting company. The locksmith price sheet and Quick Quote were added in October 2026, with starting prices from HomeGuide and Housecall Pro's 2026 guides. Everything on this page is what the system does today; we don't have results from locksmiths to publish yet, and we won't make them up.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $297/mo | 24/7 AI call answering, Google Calendar booking with free/busy checks by phone and text, missed-call text-back, lead capture and CRM sync, call transcripts. |
| Pro | $497/mo | Everything in Basic plus SMS follow-up sequences (24h / 3d / 5d / 10d), website AI chat widget, appointment reminders, Facebook Messenger. |
| Elite | $997/mo | Everything in Pro plus outbound AI campaigns (win-backs, seasonal reactivation, referral asks), AI revenue coaching by lead source, Google review response writer, objection detection, referral autopilot, franchise HQ rollup. |
Annual billing is two months free. Call minutes included every month: 500 on Basic, 1,200 on Pro, 3,000 on Elite (extra minutes $0.30). No setup fee, month to month.
Which plan for a locksmith
Most locksmiths belong on Pro. A lockout business runs on answering and booking, and every plan answers, quotes from your sheet and books into arrival windows; Pro adds the reminders and the follow-up on rekey and smart-lock quotes. Basic answers every call, gives the price, books the job and captures the lead, without reminders or follow-up. Elite adds campaigns to past customers, review replies and revenue by lead source, worth it once you have a real customer list and real ad spend.
Questions locksmiths ask
Will it give a lockout price over the phone?
Yes, from your price sheet, with the evening, weekend or overnight rate applied when that's when they're calling, and always with "the locksmith confirms the price before starting." It never makes up a number and never gives a firm total.
Does it promise an arrival time?
No. It says your locksmith will call or text with the ETA, and then rings your on-call phone with a briefing so you can give the real one.
What happens on a lockout at 2 am?
It follows your emergency rules: a text briefing to your first on-call phone, then a call you take by pressing 1, then the next phone if you don't answer, up to three. If nobody picks up, the caller leaves a message and the transcript reaches every on-call phone by text.
Does it check that the caller owns the place?
No. You can have it tell the caller to have ID or something with the address ready, because you'll ask at the door. Verifying is your job, in person.
Can it price car keys?
By type: plain metal, transponder (chip), or smart key and fob, with a bump when all keys are lost. Ignition work and anything it can't identify gets a visit instead of a price.
What about safes and commercial work?
No phone price. Safes, master key systems, access control, panic bars and break-in repairs are booked as a visit.
Can I run more than one locksmith?
Yes. Set jobs per window to your number of vans, or add your locksmiths in Crew Management and turn on auto-assign so each job goes to a free one with a calendar invite and a briefing text.
Fifteen minutes. We call your business line, run a real locksmith call, and show you what happens after it. You decide.
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