Questions, answered.

Yes. Nothing is ported. Your number, phone, carrier and plan stay the same. It uses call forwarding, a standard setting on Australian mobiles, so only the calls you don't answer come to me.

Yes, on any mobile on Telstra, Optus or Vodafone, iPhone or Android. Some prepaid plans only let you forward to voicemail, so I check your plan before you pay anything. On iPhone, turn off "Silence Unknown Callers" or those calls won't reach me.

That's what it's for. Let it ring, or hit decline, and the call comes to me. If you ring the caller back yourself while it's still texting them, reply "ok" to the alert and it goes quiet.

Callers can still leave a message. It's taken instead of your carrier's voicemail, and you get a link to listen to it.

One phone call with me and one code for you to dial. I set up the number, your wording, hours and skip list, then text you the code. We test it together before you pay.

No, not if she's on your skip list. When I ring to set you up, I take the numbers of family, mates and suppliers, and you can add more in the app any time. Anyone else gets a plain first text: "Sorry I missed your call, it's Dave from Harbour Plumbing. Is this about a job?" If they say no, it stops there and they go on your skip list. The same number won't be texted twice in two weeks.

A text from an Australian mobile number set up for your business. It has your first name and business name and ends with "Reply STOP to opt out." If they ask whether it's automated, they're told yes.

You get an URGENT alert straight away, even after hours. That covers things like a burst pipe, flooding, no power, sparks or a gas smell. The caller is told to ring 000 if anyone is in danger, and given no other safety advice.

Callers are told you're closed and when you're back, and that they can reply URGENT. Non-urgent jobs are sent to you when you open, so your phone stays quiet at night.

Yes. Every job comes to you by text with the caller’s answers, photos and voicemail links, and the free tradie app shows the same list. Chats are kept for 90 days.

Not yet for everyone. It's in pilot with limited spots, and I'm taking expressions of interest. Register with the form and I'll ring you when a spot opens. Missed-call text-back is available today.

Yes, that's how the pilot is designed. Its first sentence is: "Hi, you've reached Harbour Plumbing. I'm Dave's AI assistant." If a caller asks whether it's a real person, it says no.

On the pilot, only if the caller says it's OK. NSW law needs everyone on a call to agree to a recording, so the assistant asks straight after saying it's an AI. If they say no, nothing is recorded and only the job details are kept, the same as a person writing a message down.

No. On the pilot it offers the times you've said you're free, then texts you: "New job: blocked drain, Dee Why. Tue 2pm? Reply Y, N or a time." The caller only gets a confirmation after you reply yes.

It takes a message and texts it to you straight away, marked as a callback. It never pretends to be you.

No. It only mentions a call-out fee if you've given it one. For anything else it says you quote once you've seen the job.

Text-back is A$149 a month. The AI receptionist pilot is A$249 a month with 80 answered calls, then A$1.50 a call. Setup is A$300, and on the pilot your first month is A$149 with no setup fee. No GST is charged.

Not until it's working on your phone. I set it up, we test it together with a real call, and then I send the first invoice.

On text-back, new chats stop at 300 texts but you still get every caller's number, with a heads-up at 80%. On the AI receptionist pilot, calls past 80 are A$1.50 each. Nothing extra is charged on text-back unless you say yes.

Text or email me. There’s no lock-in and no notice period, so you won’t be billed again. To switch the forwarding off yourself, dial ##004# (##002# on Optus).

It's set up to follow the rules that apply to it. It only texts people who have just called you, and only about their call. No marketing. Every text says who it's from and how to opt out, and a STOP reply works straight away. The AI receptionist pilot is designed to say it's an AI in its first sentence and ask before recording.