Heater access and visit chase for plumbers
Quick summary
- You are under a sink. Thursday's balcony access and the mixer list still have to be chased.
- The list is a named address, a visit reminder, or a missing key. Not a second opinion on the heater.
- Every call starts with the address or the name on the job. If they do not recognise them, the call stops.
- It does not say how long you will be. Missing access is a yes or no. What the tank needs is a callback.
- If they ask whether they can open the gas, the assistant writes the question down and says you will look at the heater.
- SMS does the first reminder. The voice call is for the balcony that has still not confirmed two days out.
TL;DR
You are under a sink. Six heater files still need balcony access and Thursday's mixer never confirmed someone will be in. Nobody is going to spend the afternoon ringing. An assistant works the list you give it: address or name on the job, one purpose. It asks whether the balcony will be open. It does not say what the tank needs, whether they should open the gas, or when you will arrive. If they ask, it writes the question down and says the plumber will look at the heater. It will not ring a neighbour about someone else's stopcock.
Key takeaways
- Build each list from your own jobs: address or name, the number on the file, and one purpose.
- Do not put a personal mobile on a heater chase unless that number is the number on the file.
- Write the purpose as a reminder or a chase, not as a question about the tank.
- If the client asks whether they can open the gas, the assistant ends the call and flags you to call back.
- Check the book before you speak a time. Do not read Thursday off last week's pad.
- Keep leak prices and gas sequences off the script. You will look at the heater.
The lists on the dash while the joint is open
The last nut is not tight. Six heater files still need balcony access. Thursday’s mixer never confirmed someone will be in. You are not going to spend the afternoon ringing.
That is the outbound problem on this van. Not a campaign. Not a hunt for new work. A list of people you already know, an address you have already written down, and nobody free to ring because both hands are under a sink.
The person who would chase, if you have one, is on another stack. The phone still has to do the second chase: will the balcony be open, will someone be in, we still have Thursday for the tank. Those calls do not happen. When someone does make them in a hurry, they reach a neighbour, or they start answering whether to open the gas so the file can move.
One purpose per number
Each row on the list is one job and one reason.
Access. Balcony open, key with the named person, manager on site for the stack. Yes or no. A new time only if the book has one.
Reminder. We still have Thursday at 10:00 for the kitchen leak, or for the mixer. Will someone be in. What to leave clear.
Papers. Landlord approval for a heater swap, if you asked for it as a document. The assistant names the item you wrote. It does not decide that a photo of the tank proves the element.
Not on this list: a cold call to see whether they want a mixer too. Not a “how is the leak today”. Not a neighbour’s mobile you copied off the intercom.
If the person who answers does not recognise the address or the name, the call stops. You do not brief a neighbour about a stopcock.
What the chase is not allowed to become
They will ask whether they can open the gas until you come. They will ask how long you will be on Thursday. They will mention that the kitchen is wet again and ask whether to undo the trap.
The assistant writes those questions down and ends the chase purpose. It does not answer them to be helpful. A recorded “open the yellow tap” on an outbound call is still yours. A recorded “it looks like the element from the photo” is a sentence you then spend the visit taking back.
Missing access is a yes or no. What the tank needs is a callback. How long is a question you answer when you know the street that morning.
Do not put a lighting sequence on the outbound script “in case they ask”. It will be said.
Building managers and the wrong mobile
A stack job often has the manager’s number and three residents who would like to help. Only the number on the file gets the chase.
A heater on a balcony often has the owner, the tenant, and a neighbour with a spare key. Only the number you marked as the access contact gets the reminder about the balcony.
A leak visit in a rental has the guest and the host. If the file says the guest, do not ring the host to ask whether the cabinet is still wet. If the file says the host, do not ring a guest who is not on the job.
The assistant opens with the van name and the address. If they do not recognise it, goodbye. That is how a neighbour does not hear that the stopcock on the second floor is in the book.
SMS first, voice when the balcony is still silent
Most reminders should be a text. Thursday 10:00, heater visit, leave the balcony open, reply if that has changed. The voice call is for the file that has not answered two days out, or for the manager who never confirms in writing.
The SMS goes in the language of the original booking. A German visit with a Greek reminder is a locked balcony.
Do not put a price in the reminder. Do not put “you can open the gas if you need a shower” in the reminder. The text is the time, the type, and the access.
If they reply with a gas question, that reply is a flag to you, not a new outbound script.
After a freeze the list is not the inbound overflow
The morning after a cold night, the inbound phone is wet floors. The outbound list is still Thursday’s balcony and last week’s missing keys. Do not let the assistant mix them.
A chase that starts “we saw it was cold, is your pipe all right?” is a new inbound job wearing an outbound hat. If they then describe gas by the heater, you now have a valve conversation you started.
Keep the outbound purpose narrow. If they volunteer a burst, the assistant stops the chase, takes the address as a new wet-floor note, and puts that on your phone. It does not finish the key reminder while they are standing in water.
What you put on the list tonight
Address or name. The number on the file. One purpose: access, reminder, or papers. The visit type already in the book. The language of the original call.
Not a photo caption. Not a leak figure. Not a gas tap to try. Not a neighbour.
Then let the assistant work that list while you tighten the last nut. You get the transcript, whether they confirmed, and the questions it refused.
Rates live on the pricing section of the home page. They are not repeated here.
When Thursday is still in the book and the balcony is not
Two days out, the heater is still sitting on Thursday at ten. Nobody has said the balcony will be open. If you do nothing, you climb to the third floor in Pagrati, you wait at a locked door, and you lose the hour you could have given to a leak in the same district.
That is the chase that earns its place. Not a marketing call. A yes or no on a named address. If they say the key is with a named neighbour, the assistant writes that name into the note. If they say they cannot make Thursday, the assistant checks the book and offers a free heater hour, or takes a callback if the book is unreachable.
If they say they will “just leave the balcony on the latch”, the assistant does not turn that into security advice. It notes what they said. You decide whether that is access you will accept.
Photos that are documents, not a diagnosis
You asked for a photo of the tank because you want it on the file before you travel, not because the assistant will read the element off the picture.
The chase names the item. “We still do not have confirmation the balcony at Formionos 33 will be open.” That is access. “Does the photo show a failed element?” is a diagnosis. The second sentence does not belong on this call.
If they send the photo during the chase, the assistant thanks them and says the plumber will look at it. It does not name a part on the line.
A file that moves because the key is confirmed is a file that keeps Thursday. A file that moves because someone guessed the element from a picture is a file you will undo on the visit.
What a good outbound week looks like
The inbound phone still takes wet floors. The book still holds heaters. The dash list is shorter on Wednesday than it was on Monday, because five people were asked a yes-or-no and three answered.
You did not spend the afternoon ringing. You did not brief a neighbour. You did not record a gas valve. You did not quote a leak from a puddle photo.
The three who answered either confirmed the balcony or moved the hour while there was still time to give it to someone else. The two who did not answer are still on the list for one more pass, then they come off, because a chase that never reaches anyone is not a reason to keep Thursday blocked.
That is the work. Address, one purpose, stop when they ask about the heater.
AI receptionist, in-house staff, or a call centre
| CITT | In-house | Call centre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access chase before a heater visit | Yes, from your list | When someone has time | If you write a script |
| Mixer and leak reminders | Yes | Yes | Sometimes |
| Starts with the address or the name | Yes | Yes | If you insist |
| Names a gas valve to hurry access | Never — you look at the heater | You do, after you see it | A risk if the script drifts |
| Answers how long you will be | No — flags you | You do, when you know the street | Must not; sometimes does |
| Offers a visit the book does not have | No — checks the book, or takes a callback | If they check | Often from last week's pad |
| Rings a neighbour about someone else's stopcock | No — only the number on the file | Only if you said so | A risk if the list was not read |
What unchased balcony keys cost one week
Worked from these assumptions — change any of them and the answer changes:
- One van, 12 open heater or mixer files, each waiting on a balcony key, someone at home, or the manager.
- This example treats 5 of those 12 as still missing two days later.
- A file that sits incomplete, or is pulled when the balcony is locked at ten, wastes about €100 of reserved time — put your own figure in, not ours.
- A two-day outbound chase recovers half of those missing files. Challenge this first; vans vary.
- 5 files still open on paper, two days out.
- Half recovered — 2 files that move on the access they needed, this example rounds down.
- 2 × €100 = €200 of reserved time protected, in one week. Use 3 if your recovery is better.
- Several such weeks a year — this example counts six.
About €1,200 a year of van time, from calls that only ask whether the balcony will be open.
What it costs
CITT is pay as you go: no packages, no minimum, no contract. The current rates — the monthly fee per number and the per-minute rate — are on the pricing section of the home page, which is the only place they are published.
Frequently asked questions
Can it tell them which heater papers are missing?
It can name the item you put on the list — balcony access, the landlord's approval, a photo of the tank if you asked for it as a document. It should not rebuild the visit on the call, and it should not decide that a particular photo proves the element is gone. If they ask whether they should open the gas, that is a callback. You will look at the heater.
What if they ask whether they can open the gas, on the chase call?
The assistant does not answer. It says the plumber will look at the heater, takes the question in their words, and ends the chase. A chase that becomes a valve conversation has no person on the balcony and no view of the coupling. The transcript still helps — you return a real question rather than “they rang”.
Can it offer a new time for the visit?
Yes, if you allow that purpose and if it checks the book before it offers a time. It still does not tell them what the tank needs beyond the list you entered. A reminder that starts pricing the leak has stopped being a reminder.
Does it still ask for the address when we ring?
Yes. The call opens with the van name, the address or the name on the job, and it stops if the person on the line does not recognise them. That is how you avoid briefing a neighbour about a stopcock, or a tenant about a manager's stack.
Can it chase a leak visit from an existing client?
As a reminder, yes: we have a time this week, will someone be in, here is what to leave clear. Not as a sentence that they should undo the trap first. “We still have Thursday at 10:00 for the kitchen cabinet” is reception. “Open the gas so you have hot water until we come” is valve advice.
Who decides who is on the list?
The van. The assistant does not invent people to ring. You export or tick the jobs that need a reminder or a chase, with one purpose each. A list that mixes “will the balcony be open” with “see if they want a mixer too” is two jobs, and only the first one belongs here.
