After-hours and emergency calls: a guide for small businesses

Many of the calls that matter most come in when you're closed: a boiler that fails on a Sunday, a pet that's eaten something at 9pm, a seller who finally has time to call agents after work. How you handle them decides whether you get the work, and whether you get any rest.

In short: decide what counts as urgent, what you charge for emergency work and who's on call. Ask every urgent caller the same few questions, send anyone in danger to 999 first, and book everyone else a call-back for the next working morning.

Decide what you'll do out of hours

Before the calls come, decide your rules and write them down:

• What counts as urgent for your business (no heating with a baby in the house; a burst pipe; a lockout; severe pain), and what can wait until the morning.
• Whether you take urgent work out of hours at all, and what you charge for it. Work out a fair rate with the call-out charge calculator.
• Who is on call, and how they're told.
• When everyone else gets a call back: first thing the next working day is a promise you can keep.

The first 60 seconds of an urgent call

Ask the same few questions every time, in this order:

1. Is anyone in danger? If there's a risk to life, a gas smell or a fire, tell them to call 999 or the gas emergency line (0800 111 999) first.
2. What's happened, and when?
3. Where are they? The full address and postcode.
4. Their name and a number you can reach them on.
5. What they need now, and whether it can safely wait until the morning.

Real emergencies or price checks?

Some out-of-hours callers want help now; others are ringing round for prices. A few questions tell them apart without being rude: what's happened, whether it's getting worse, and when they need someone. Give price checkers your normal-hours rate and a time you'll call back. Give real emergencies a clear next step and your out-of-hours charge before you set off.

When to pass the call to a person

Hand over straight away when someone is in danger, very distressed, or the problem can't wait. For everything else, a booked call-back is better than an interrupted evening: the caller knows exactly when they'll hear from you.

Don't leave callers with voicemail

Out of hours, a voicemail greeting should at least say when you're open, what to do in an emergency, and when you'll call back. The voicemail greeting generator writes one in a minute.

An AI receptionist goes further: it answers every call, asks your questions, takes the details and books call-backs into your diary, and sends you a summary straight away, so you can decide what needs you tonight and what can wait. Sam's AI receptionist works this way.