AI phone receptionist for solar and PV
Quick summary
- You are on a terrace with the tape on the parapet. Both hands are on the measure. That is when the published number rings about a photo of a roof.
- The first split is a new array, an existing system that has stopped, or papers with the grid — those are three jobs, not one free morning.
- A photo of tiles is not a kilowatt-hour figure. The assistant books a survey. It does not invent production from the picture.
- Someone who wants a quote this week will not wait on voicemail. They ring the next installer.
- It checks the book you already use before it offers a morning, writes the visit in, and texts what papers to have ready.
- After a grant announcement, several people ring at once. It answers every line at once.
TL;DR
You are on a Greek terrace with the tape on the parapet. The phone in your pocket rings. Someone has sent a photo of a roof and wants to know how many kilowatt-hours that will make, or whether they are three-phase, or where the net-metering papers stand. This is a lead, not a flood in a basement. They will not leave a message. They will ring the next installer on the listing. An assistant answers in the caller's language, asks whether this is a new array, an existing system that has stopped, or papers, takes the roof type and whether the supply is three-phase, and books a survey only if that morning is free. It never quotes kilowatt-hours from a photo. The figure, if any, is yours, after the tape and the papers.
Key takeaways
- Put the assistant on the number on the van and the shop window, with a forward-on-no-answer rule, so a free pair of hands still takes the call.
- Teach it the first split: new array, existing system stopped, or papers with the grid — then roof type and three-phase or not.
- Give it the sentence verbatim: it cannot quote kilowatt-hours from a photo. The tape has to go on the roof.
- Let it book surveys and paper drop-offs. Keep the production figure, the payback, and “we can connect next month” as a callback.
- After a grant announcement, and in March when people start looking at roofs, shorten the ring-time so the third caller is not listening to a busy tone.
- Mark two kinds of visit: a roof survey that needs you on the terrace, and a short paper or inverter look that does not.
What an AI phone receptionist does in a solar shop
You are on a terrace in a Greek suburb. The tape is on the parapet. Both hands are on the measure. The phone in your pocket rings. Across town the other person is at a desk with a folder of grid papers. There is no third pair of hands at the beige phone on the shop desk.
You put the assistant on the number already on the van and on the window next to the sample module. It answers when you cannot. Then it does one of two things. It books a survey that is actually free. Or it takes a request you will price after the tape has been on the roof.
The first question is not “what morning would you like?”. The first question is whether this is a new array, an existing system that has stopped, or papers with the grid. A photo of tiles is not a kilowatt-hour figure. A red inverter is not a flood. A missing stamp on a net-metering file is not a survey morning. An assistant that opens with a free hour will put a photo-price into a terrace morning and leave the person who needed papers without a note.
A caller who rang in English gets the confirmation in English. A caller who rang in Greek gets it in Greek. The assistant works in 70+ languages. The SMS follows the language of the call.
This is a lead shop. People are not standing in sewage. They hang up anyway, because the next installer is in the same search and will invent a figure from the same photo.
On the terrace with the tape, and the phone still ringing
One of you has the tape on a parapet. The other is in the shop with a folder the grid sent back. The published number still rings.
It is a burst. March, when people start looking at roofs. The week a grant story runs. The afternoon a building manager sends three flats out with your card. A second line with the same two hands still leaves the third caller on a busy tone.
The person who sent a photo of a terrace this afternoon will not wait on voicemail. They have your number and two other shops in the same search. They hang up and dial the next one. The person whose inverter has been red since Sunday will not leave a message either, even though that is not a flood.
People whose arrays you already fitted will often wait. A person who cannot get a survey, and a person who cannot start the papers, will not. If those two wait behind the terrace you are already measuring, the new array is gone, and the papers arrive as an angry visit at five — or the next shop has already put a tape on that parapet.
Whoever takes the survey often takes the order. That is why a missed photo-call is not only a missed note.
New array, stopped system, or papers — then the roof
New array. They want a price for something you have not seen. A flat terrace, a tiled roof, a field, a carport. The assistant asks which roof, which floor, three-phase or not if they know, and the address. It books a survey only if that morning is free. It does not invent kilowatt-hours from a photo, a description, or “it is about eighty square metres, south”. It does not promise a connection month. The figure is yours, after the tape.
Existing system stopped. The inverter is red, the display is dark, production looks low on the app. This is still not an emergency unless they smell burning or see smoke. The assistant takes what they see, in their words, and books a look or flags you. It does not decode the code. It does not give a reset sequence. It does not say the array is finished from a description of a lamp.
Papers. Net-metering, the newer self-consumption file, something the grid asked for, a missing plan. The assistant takes where the file stands, in their words. It does not say the application is approved. It does not invent a connection date. A paper drop is a short visit if you marked that type, not a terrace morning.
People remember the photo. They do not remember whether they are three-phase. Ask. One answer changes the array. None is still a survey request, not a guess from a picture of tiles.
A sentence the assistant is not allowed to say
“How many kilowatt-hours will this roof make?” is the question on this phone. It comes in March. It comes after a grant story. It comes from a manager who photographed the terrace from the landing.
The assistant does not answer it. Not with a range. Not with “a ten-kilowatt array is usually this”. Not with “south-facing terrace is around…”. A number said before the tape has been on the parapet is a number the shop then has to take back when the shade from the next block eats the afternoon, or the supply is single-phase, or the usable area is a walkway.
The line you give it is short: the figure comes after the survey. A photo does not show the roof.
“What is the payback?”, “do we qualify for the grant?”, and “can you connect us next month?” are still figures and dates the assistant must not give. It names the topic so the callback is useful, and refuses the number.
Do not put a production table in the notes. It will read the table out.
March, grants, and everyone at once
March is roofs. By nine, people have started ringing about photos. You are already on a terrace. The pad is already a list of addresses.
A grant story is the same hour, louder. Five people want a number from the same kind of picture.
A manager afternoon is three flats in the same block, all wanting a look at the shared terrace, all expecting a figure from one photo of the landing.
The assistant has to treat that burst as several conversations, not as a queue behind your tape. A survey in that hour is a morning in the book. A paper drop is a shorter visit. If the assistant parks the person who wants a new array behind the tenth paper question, that person rings the next shop.
Shorten the ring-time before forwarding on those mornings. After a grant story the third caller should not hear a busy tone. A Tuesday in November is people asking where last spring’s papers stand, and one person left in the shop.
A figure nobody can give from a photo
When someone describes a roof on the phone — south, they think eighty metres, they sent a picture from the courtyard — the tempting answer is a production number. The assistant does not give one.
Usable area, shade, tilt, three-phase or single, tiles or terrace, whether a battery is in the request — all of those change the work. A number quoted before anyone has put a tape on the parapet is a number you then spend the survey taking back.
It can repeat a published visit fee you typed in and marked as speakable. Unseen arrays, a whole block, a field — those do not get a kilowatt-hour figure on this call. The assistant takes the request and books the survey. Last year’s neighbour is not this roof. The assistant does not quote it.
If they press — “just a round figure, I have the other shop on the other line” — the assistant still refuses. Book them as soon as a morning is free. Flag it if the inverter is red and they are at the house.
A red inverter is not a flood
Some of these callers treat the red lamp like a burst pipe. They want someone in twenty minutes. They want a reset on the phone.
The assistant is not in the garage. It cannot see the display. It cannot decide that the array is dead.
What it can take: the address, what the display shows in their words, whether they smell burning. What it can repeat, if you typed the line in: someone from the shop will call back as soon as they can see the book. Come-now is yours, and rare. This is still a lead-and-service shop, not a tanker.
If they smell burning, or they see smoke at the inverter, that is a transfer. You give the assistant that short list. It collects a name and a number while it is connecting. It does not tell them which switch to throw. It does not give a reset sequence.
A caller who is booking a spring survey, with a working array, is a morning if that morning is free.
Batteries, papers, and “can you connect us in June?”
Battery on an existing array. They want storage on panels you may have fitted, or someone else did. That is a look, not a kilowatt-hour quote. The assistant takes the address and who fitted the array if they know. It does not say the battery will cover the night from a description of the bill.
Papers. The grid sent a letter. Something is missing. The assistant takes which letter, in their words, and books a paper drop or a callback. It does not interpret the letter. It does not say they are approved.
Connect in June. The assistant does not put a connection month in the book. If a signed job exists, that is a different visit type, from a list you control. If it does not, this is still a survey.
August needs its own dates. Do not let the assistant book a survey into a week when the shop is dark.
How CITT handles it
- Your number stays on the van and on the shop window. A forwarding rule sends what you do not answer. Calls the shop picks up never leave, and are never charged.
- Every line is answered at once. A March morning is several conversations, not a stack of busy tones.
- It knows the shop you described. Terraces, tiles, batteries, whether you take fields, who is out on Monday.
- It asks new array, stopped system or papers first, then the roof and three-phase or not, then the address, and only then looks at the book.
- It takes a photo-figure as a survey request, never as kilowatt-hours said out loud.
- It checks the real book before it offers a morning, and writes the visit into the same calendar the shop already uses.
- It confirms by SMS, in the language of the call — 70+ languages — and can remind them which papers to have ready.
- It escalates burning or smoke, a production question, and a connection date as a tagged note or a transfer.
- You get the transcript, the summary, the address, and the roof the caller named.
What it will not do
It will not quote kilowatt-hours from a photo, a description, or last year’s neighbour. It will not name a payback year. It will not say the grid will connect them in June. It will not treat a red inverter as a flood, unless they smell burning. It will not give a reset sequence. It will not treat a survey, a paper drop and an inverter look as the same morning. It will not say they qualify for a grant from a description of the house.
What these calls sound like
The order is the split, then the roof, then three-phase or not, then a morning the book can honour, then the refusal said out loud. There is no production figure over a terrace nobody has measured. There is no “we can connect you in June” to a person who sent a picture from the courtyard. There is no “twenty minutes” to a red lamp in a garage.
If the assistant is friendly and still answers the kilowatt-hour question, you own that number. Put the person who rang about the terrace at 11:10 on a survey, not on the next shop’s pad.
What you set up first
Put the assistant on the number on the van with a forward-on-no-answer rule, so a free pair of hands in the shop still takes the call. Then the three-way split, the roof question, and the sentence that forbids a figure from a photo.
Write down what you actually fit and whether you take fields this month. Give it the fields you want on every note: address, roof type, tiles or terrace, three-phase or not, new or existing, whether they sent a photo, whether the inverter is red, whether they smell burning. Mark two kinds of visit: a roof survey that needs you on the terrace, and a short paper or inverter look.
Give it the same-day phone list: burning, smoke. Do not give it a production table it would read out. Write one line that forbids photo-kWh, payback years, and connection months. Add opening hours, who is out on Monday, August dates, what papers to ask for.
Rates live on the pricing section of the home page. They are not repeated here.
AI receptionist, in-house staff, or a call centre
| CITT | In-house | Call centre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answers while the tape is on a parapet | Always | Only if they can let go of the tape | Yes |
| Several callers after a grant announcement | Every line at once | One, then a busy tone | Depends who was rostered |
| Asks new array, stopped system or papers first | Yes — before it looks at the book | Yes, if they heard the start | Often jumps to what morning |
| Quotes kilowatt-hours from a roof photo | Never — books the survey | Can refuse until they have measured | Often reads a range |
| Treats a red inverter as an emergency | No — a service look, unless they smell burning | Same, if they hear the start | Tempted to dispatch like a flood |
| Speaks the caller's language | 70+ languages | One or two | Whoever is on that shift |
| What it will not do | A kWh from a photo, a payback year, a connection date from the grid | Can look at the roof | Reads whatever is on the sheet |
What one unanswered March morning costs a two-person solar shop
Worked from these assumptions — change any of them and the answer changes:
- Two people, a March weekday after a grant story in the press. Roughly 18 inbound calls before early afternoon.
- About a third arrive while one of you is on a terrace and the other is at a desk with grid papers.
- Of the calls nobody reaches, 5 are new-array leads, 1 is an existing system that has stopped.
- A survey that becomes a signed array is worth about €2,400 of margin here — put your own figure in, this is the number to change first.
- This example treats 2 of the 5 new-array callers as people who never left a message and rang the next installer, and assumes one of those two would have signed.
- 6 solar calls reach nobody on a normal March morning.
- 2 new-array leads do not call back. This example treats 1 as a lost signed array.
- 1 × €2,400 = €2,400 of margin that morning that never reached you.
- March and April mornings like that, say 8 of them — 8 × €2,400.
About €19,200 from those two months, on the conversion above. Put your own margin in. A Tuesday in November is not the same.
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
Do I have to change the number on the van?
No. The number on the van, the shop window and the Google listing stays yours. You add one forwarding rule — every call, or only the ones still ringing after the seconds you choose. If you pick up, the call never leaves and is never charged.
Can it tell them how many kilowatt-hours a roof will make from a photo?
It must not. A photo does not show the usable area, the shade from the next block, whether the supply is three-phase, or what the grid will accept. It takes the roof type, three-phase or not if they know, and the address, and books a survey. The figure is yours, after the tape. If a published visit fee is speakable, you type that in. Unseen arrays do not get a production number on this call.
The inverter is red. Is that an emergency?
Not on this phone, unless they smell burning or see smoke. A red display is a service look or a callback, not a flood. The assistant takes the address and what the display shows, in their words. It does not decode the code. It does not tell them to reset the inverter from a sequence. Burning or smoke is a transfer to a phone you hold, and then to whoever you named for fire.
What if I am already on someone else's terrace?
That is the usual March morning. The assistant answers the overflow. A new-array lead becomes a survey morning that is actually free, or a callback. Papers become a short drop if you marked that type. After a grant announcement, shorten the ring-time so the third caller is not listening to a busy tone.
Can it say when the grid will connect them?
No. Connection dates belong to the grid operator, not to this call. The assistant takes where the papers stand, in their words, and books a look at the file or a callback. It does not invent a month. It does not say the application is approved because they described a stamp.
What do we actually see afterwards?
A transcript, a short summary, whether this was a new array, a stopped system or papers, roof type, three-phase or not if they said, the address, and whatever was booked or left for you. Confirmations go out by SMS in the language of the call.
