Home / Services
What happens on every night call
When you miss a call after hours, Inland After Hours answers it under your company name. It takes the caller's name, address, problem and callback number, reads them back, puts real emergencies through to your cell, and emails you every call with the recording. Setup is one 15-minute call with you.
Four things happen. You do one of them.
You forward your phone. The rest runs without you.
You forward your phone
One setting on your own phone, done together on the setup call. Forward every call when you close, or only the calls you miss. Switch it off yourself any night.
We answer the call
Under your company name. Name, address, callback number, what's wrong, and whether it can wait until morning. It never quotes a price or promises an arrival time.
Real emergencies ring you
A burst pipe, no heat in a cold house, a roof open to the snow: if it's on your list and the caller needs someone tonight, it puts them through to your cell. Everyone else hears when you'll call back.
You wake up to the log
An email for every call with the details, a short summary and the recording, sent to any inbox you choose.
What's waiting in your inbox at 7:30
One email per call, written while you slept. Nothing to log in to, nothing to learn.
- Caller's name and callback number
- Service address, read back to them
- What's wrong, in their words
- Tonight or morning, their answer
- Whether we put them through to you
- The recording, one tap
Emergencies reach you. You decide which.
On the setup call you pick what counts as tonight for your trade, and the hours your cell may ring.
- Your list, your hours. Only calls on your emergency list ring you, and only when the caller needs someone tonight.
- Safety first. Gas smell, a carbon monoxide alarm, sparks or downed lines: the caller is told to get out and call 911 or Avista first. Then it reaches you.
- If you don't pick up. The caller is told you'll call right back, and the email for that call is marked URGENT.
- Everything else waits. Estimates, quotes and repairs that can wait are written down for the morning.
What it says, and what it won't
It sounds like a calm, careful front desk, because that's all it tries to be.
It will
- Answer with your company name
- Tell every caller the call is recorded
- Read the name, address and number back
- Tell callers when you'll call back
- Say it's an automated assistant if asked
It won't
- Quote a price or a fee
- Diagnose the problem
- Promise an arrival time
- Pretend to be a person
- Book jobs into your calendar
Set up on one call
About 15 minutes on the phone. We set up forwarding with you and test it live before we hang up, and test calls are free.
Forward when you close
Turn forwarding on at closing time and off in the morning. Every after-hours call goes to the desk. Simple, and you choose the night.
Only the calls you miss
Your phone rings first. If you don't answer, the call rolls to the desk, day or night. Good if you still pick up when you can.
Want a change later? A new emergency list, new hours or a new callback time: text us and we change it the same day.
Voicemail, an answering service, an AI app, or us
Four ways to handle the calls you miss, compared on what matters at 2 am.
| Question | Voicemail | Live answering service | Self-serve AI app | Inland After Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who picks up at 2 am | A beep | A person at a call center | An AI voice | An AI voice, under your company name |
| Gets the address, read back | Only if they leave a message | Usually | Depends on your setup | Every call |
| Puts emergencies through to you | No | Yes | Often only on higher plans | Yes, on every plan |
| How you pay | Free | By the minute, with overage | Monthly, with minute caps | Flat monthly, no overage |
| Setup | None | Scripts, often a setup fee | You do it yourself | Done with you on one call |
| Where they are | Your phone | Mostly national call centers | Online | Spokane |
Try it on your own nights
$49 for 30 days, set up with you. Not worth it? Text us within 30 days and the $49 comes back.