An installation company in Arnhem with nine fitters had seen its phone change over three years, from mostly cv-ketel servicing and the occasional leak to long calls from homeowners asking whether a hybrid heat pump would work in a 1930s house in Presikhaaf and what subsidy they could get. The planner answered those calls while also routing fitters to storingen, and the breakdown calls on cold mornings always seemed to arrive in the middle of a twenty-minute conversation about the ISDE.
The businesses in this article are illustrative examples, not named StartAutomate clients.
Key takeaways
- Dutch installers take three kinds of calls at once, which are storingen, maintenance bookings, and long enquiries about heat pumps and sustainability.
- An AI receptionist sorts them, sends urgent breakdowns to the planner, books maintenance, and takes the details for a heat pump site visit.
- It does not advise on which system suits a house or promise subsidy amounts.
Storingen and urgent calls
A breakdown in winter is the call an installer must never miss. The agent asks whether there is any heating or hot water at all, whether the ketel shows an error code, whether anyone vulnerable is in the house, and whether there is any smell of gas, and anyone mentioning gas is told to leave the house and ring the netbeheerder's gas emergency number before anything else.
Genuine storingen go to the planner or the on-call fitter with the address, the error code and the customer's contract status, so the fitter knows before arriving whether it falls under an onderhoudscontract.
Maintenance contract bookings
Annual servicing of boilers and heat pumps fills a large part of the planning, and customers ring to book, move or ask when they are due. The agent books into the planning software the company already runs, which is often Syntess or Gripp, and sends an SMS reminder the day before so the fitter does not ring a doorbell in Velp at nine o'clock to find nobody home.
It can also call customers whose service is overdue, which is the list most installers have and few have time to work through.
Heat pump and subsidy enquiries
Enquiries about heat pumps, solar panels and insulation take time and usually end with a site visit. The agent asks about the house, its energy label, the age of the current ketel, and whether the homeowner has a heat pump, a hybrid, or something else in mind, then books a visit with the adviser who covers that area.
It can explain that subsidies such as the ISDE exist and point to the RVO website, but it does not calculate subsidy amounts or say which system a house needs. Those answers depend on the site visit.
Privacy and customer data
Customer data is processed under the AVG, with EU hosting and a verwerkersovereenkomst, and callers are told they are speaking with a digital assistant at the start of the call.
Complaints, invoices in dispute and anything about a warranty claim go to a person at the office.
Common questions
Can an AI receptionist handle breakdown calls for installers?
Yes. It asks the questions that decide urgency, passes real storingen to your planner or on-call fitter immediately, and books the rest.
Does it work with Syntess or Gripp?
We connect to common Dutch installation and planning software including Syntess and Gripp, depending on the access each allows.
Can it answer questions about heat pump subsidies?
It can explain that subsidies such as the ISDE exist and where to find information, but it does not calculate amounts or recommend systems. That happens at the site visit.