Text Messaging for Plumbers
Text messaging for plumbers means a customer can text the same number they would call, the one on the van, the invoice and your Google listing, and dispatch can answer. Textstr text-enables that number. Each text arrives as an email in the inbox dispatch already uses, and the reply goes back to the customer as a text from your business number. Phone calls are not touched.
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A text to the number on the van
Answered from dispatch, not from under a sink
Calls keep ringing as before. Texts go to the inbox dispatch already reads.
The texts a plumbing company gets
When a customer cannot get through on the phone, or does not want to wait on hold, they text. The questions are nearly always the same few:
Can you come today?
A customer with a dripping ceiling texts instead of calling because they are at work. Dispatch sees it as an email, replies with what is open, and the customer has an answer without stepping out of a meeting.
What time is the tech arriving?
Arrival-window questions are the commonest text of all. Dispatch answers from the inbox in a line, and the customer is not left wondering whether to wait at home.
Do you do emergency calls?
Someone searching late at night texts the number on your website. An auto-reply tells them the message arrived, and the office follows up.
Here is a photo of the leak
A picture of the shutoff, the water heater label or the damage arrives as an attachment on the email. The person quoting knows what they are walking into before the truck rolls.
Why the replies come from email
Plumbers are under sinks, not at a screen. Textstr does not need anyone to install an app or learn a new system. Texts arrive as ordinary email, so whoever already answers the phone and books the jobs answers texts too, from a desk or a phone. If the office splits work between service and new installs, each can have its own inbox.
- Customers text the number already on your van and your website
- No new number to print, and voice keeps working as it does today
- Texts arrive as email, and replies go back as texts from your number
- Photos come through as attachments, and you can send them back
- An auto-reply confirms the text arrived when nobody is free to answer
- A Text Us button on your website, so a visitor can start a conversation that continues by text
What it costs
$200 a month for unlimited users and unlimited messages, with no contract. Nothing is charged until your number is live for texting: usually the same day in Canada, and a few business days in the US while carriers register the number. The pricing page lists what is included.
What Textstr is not
Textstr is not dispatch software. It does not schedule technicians, route trucks or send invoices. If you run a field service platform for that, Textstr sits alongside it and makes sure the texts people send to your number reach a person. If you want the general picture first, read what Textstr is, or the broader page on home services texting.
Frequently asked questions
Can customers text our existing plumbing business number?
Yes. Textstr text-enables your existing landline or toll-free number. Customers text the number they already have, and calls keep ringing as before.
Does dispatch need a new app?
No. Texts arrive as email in the inbox dispatch already reads, and replying to the email sends a text.
Can customers send photos of the problem?
Yes. A photo sent by text arrives as an attachment on the email.
How much does texting cost for a plumbing company?
Textstr is $200 a month for unlimited users and unlimited messages, with no contract. You pay nothing until your number is live.