How an AI receptionist answers calls for an auto repair shop

Why the phone is hard to answer in a shop

In most independent repair shops, the people who could answer the phone are the same people doing the work. The service advisor is walking a customer through an estimate, one mechanic is under a lift and another is on a road test. The phone rings anyway.

Calls to a shop are rarely complicated. Someone wants an oil change on Friday, asks whether you work on their make, needs to know your hours or wants to talk about a noise their car is making. But each one that goes to voicemail is a customer who may call the next shop on the list.

An AI receptionist answers those calls on your shop’s number, handles the routine ones itself and gets the rest to the right person with the details already written down.

What happens when a customer calls

Here is how a typical shop call runs in WiseUnit.

• The receptionist answers immediately with the greeting you wrote, for example the shop’s name and a short line on what it can help with.
• The caller says what they need. The receptionist asks the follow-up questions you set, such as their name, the car’s make and model, and what the problem is.
• If it is a question your knowledge covers (opening hours, which makes you service, how drop-off works, payment options), it answers with the wording you approved.
• If the caller wants to bring the car in, it checks your calendar during the call, offers an open slot and books it. It tells the caller the slot is booked only once the calendar has it.
• If the caller needs a mechanic or the service advisor, it transfers the call to your transfer number. If nobody can take it, it records a callback request with the reason, the preferred callback time and a priority.
• The transcript and the outcome, such as “Appointment booked” or “Callback requested”, are saved in your call history.

What to teach it about your shop

The receptionist answers from the facts, website pages and documents you add and approve. For a repair shop, the most useful information is usually the things customers ask before they decide to come in.

If you are starting from scratch, our guide on how to train an AI receptionist on your business walks through what to add first.

• Opening hours, including Saturdays and holiday closures.
• The services you offer and the ones you don’t, for example whether you do tires, alignments, diagnostics or bodywork.
• Which makes and types of vehicle you work on.
• Prices you are happy to quote on the phone, such as a standard oil change or a diagnostic fee, and a clear line for everything else: “The service advisor will give you a quote after an inspection.”
• How drop-off and pick-up work, and any after-hours key drop.
• Payment options and anything about warranties you want said the same way every time.

Booking service appointments

WiseUnit books into Google Calendar, Calendly or Cal.com. With Calendly you need a paid Calendly plan, and with Calendly or Cal.com the receptionist asks the caller for an email address, because the booking needs one.

The receptionist offers the open slots your calendar shows, so keep the calendar honest. If you can take only two cars for diagnostics on a Monday morning, the calendar should show only two slots.

It books new appointments. It does not move or cancel existing ones, so a customer who wants to change a booking can be put through to the shop or left as a callback request.

Calls that still need a person

Some shop calls can’t be answered from general information. “Is my car ready?”, “What did the mechanic find?” and “Can you approve the extra work?” all depend on the specific job. WiseUnit does not look into your shop management system or job cards, so these calls are transferred or turned into a callback with the customer’s name, car and question.

You decide when a call goes through. Each receptionist has one transfer number, and the instructions say which situations should be put through. A breakdown on the highway or a customer who is already at the shop can be transferred straight away. You can also allow transfers outside business hours if someone is on call.

Everything else ends in an outcome your service advisor can act on between jobs: a booked slot, an answered question or a callback request sorted by priority.

Evenings, weekends and other languages

Many drivers call about their car after work, which is when the shop is closed. The receptionist answers every call 24/7, so evening calls get the same answers, bookings and callback requests as calls at 10 AM.

Each receptionist speaks one language: English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Polish or Turkish. If your customers call in more than one, you can run a receptionist for each, since every plan includes unlimited receptionists.

Before anything reaches callers, changes stay in draft until you publish them. After calls start coming in, call summaries, call analytics and the list of unanswered questions show you what customers ask that your knowledge doesn’t cover yet, so you can approve an answer once and have it used on every call after that.

Getting started

Connect a phone number, add your hours, services and prices, connect your calendar, set the transfer number and publish. Then call your own shop and listen to how it handles an oil change booking and a “Is my car ready?” call.

WiseUnit plans start at €119 a month excluding VAT, or €99 a month on annual billing, with 1,000 included minutes on Starter.

See how it works for garages and dealerships on the automotive page, or compare plans on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions