Built for heating and cooling
Meet the AI hire for your HVAC company
You’re up in the attic. Prentice answers the phone.
Answers customers at any hour. Books service calls and tune-ups. Drafts quotes and invoices for your OK.
Talk to Prenticestart free
Prentice
Prentice
Your AI hire
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Demo: A furnace stops working on a freezing night. See how I check for gas and book the call.
Working with Prentice is like working with a person.
Prentice can be reached by phone, text or email.
Prentice talks with everyone your business works with: customers, your team, even suppliers.
You’re Roy, and you run Kessler Heating and Air.
It’s 11:20 PM, and you’re asleep.
Ravi finds you online. His furnace just stopped working, and it’s 19 degrees out.
Prentice has your no-heat steps and prices. You told Prentice to book night calls for the morning and let you sleep.
- Ravi: Furnace just quit!! 19 out and the house is getting cold
- Prentice: Hi, I’m Prentice, the AI assistant at Kessler Heating and Air. First, if you smell gas, get out of the house and call the gas company. If not, set the thermostat to heat and check the switch by the furnace.
- Ravi: No gas smell. Switch is on, still nothing.
- Prentice: Good, no gas. Roy can be there first thing tomorrow at 7:30 AM. The service call is $129. Want it?
- Ravi: Yes please.
- Prentice: Booked: Roy, tomorrow at 7:30 AM. Keep the doors closed and everyone in one room tonight.
- Prentice: I booked Ravi as your first call this morning at 7:30 AM. His furnace stopped working last night. There’s no gas smell, and I had him check the thermostat and the switch.
Prentice checked for gas and booked the job while you slept.
Demo: Furnaces need a tune-up before it gets cold. See how I book this fall’s tune-ups in a day.
You’re Roy, and you run Kessler Heating and Air.
It’s early October. Last fall you tuned up 24 furnaces, and they’re due again.
Glen is one of those customers.
- You: Text everyone I tuned up last fall. Offer this year’s tune-up for $119.
- Prentice: Hi Glen, I’m Prentice, the AI assistant at Kessler Heating and Air. Roy tuned up your furnace last October. Want this year’s before it gets cold? It’s $119, and we have Thursday at 9 AM or Friday at 1 PM.
- Glen: Yes, good timing. It made a weird rattle last night. Thursday at 9 AM.
- Prentice: Booked: your furnace tune-up is Thursday at 9 AM. I’ll let Roy know about the rattle.
- Prentice: 19 of the 24 customers I texted have booked their fall tune-up. That’s $2,261.
Prentice booked $2,261 of fall tune-ups. You didn’t make one call.
Demo: Your tech finds a cracked furnace during a tune-up. See how I get the new one quoted and booked.
You’re Roy, and you run Kessler Heating and Air.
Omar is one of your techs.
He’s at Cathy’s house for her yearly tune-up.
You’ve given Prentice your furnace prices.
- Omar: At Cathy’s. Heat exchanger is cracked, furnace is 19 yrs old. Not safe to run. Needs a new 80,000 BTU.
- Prentice: Omar says Cathy’s furnace is cracked and not safe. Here’s the quote for your OK: $4,800 installed.
- Prentice: Quote for Cathy · $4,800
- (Approved)
- Prentice: Hi Cathy, I’m Prentice, the AI assistant at Kessler Heating and Air. Here’s the quote for the new furnace Omar talked about: $4,800 installed.
- Prentice: Quote 1042 · Kessler Heating and Air · $4,800
- Cathy: Go ahead. How soon can you do it? I don’t want that old one running.
- Prentice: Our first opening is Tuesday at 8 AM. It takes most of the day. Does that work?
- Cathy: Yes, Tuesday is fine.
- Prentice: You’re booked for Tuesday at 8 AM.
- Prentice: Cathy said yes to the $4,800 furnace. The install is Tuesday at 8 AM.
Prentice turned one text from Omar into a $4,800 furnace job.
Answering the call is just the start
From a dead AC in July to the fall tune-up, Prentice keeps working.
See how I look after a new customer
- I answer a call about an AC that quitSaturday, 4:10pm
- Most answering services stop hereI keep going
- I book the service callRight then
- I send a reminderThe night before
- I tell them when your tech is running lateThe morning of
- I send the repair quoteAfter the visit
- I send the invoiceWhen the job is done
- I follow up on a late paymentTen days later
- I set up their maintenance planWhen they say yes
- I book their fall tune-upIn September
I will draft quotes and invoices, and you approve each one.
Revenue you didn’t have to chase
A new furnace sold, a plan renewed, an invoice paid. Prentice keeps your calendar full.
- PrenticenowMateo said yes to a new furnace, $5,900 installed. It goes in Thursday at 8.
- Prentice1h agoGlen renewed his maintenance plan for another year, $199.
- Prentice2h agoEve’s $412 invoice was just paid after my reminder.
- Prentice3h agoA no-heat call is booked for 2:30 today. $89 service call.
Prentice will earn your trust
My word to you
- I’ll tell every customer I’m an AI.
- I’ll double-check my work.
- I’ll ask you when I’m not sure.
- I’ll work within the boundaries you set.
We know trusting an AI with your customers is a big ask.
So Prentice never works alone. Prentice asks you when unsure, and calls on us for backup.
The Prentice team
Meet the people behind Prentice
We’re small business owners ourselves. We know what it’s like to lose evenings to admin work, and to wish for someone dependable to hand it to. So we built Prentice on three principles.
- Honesty.
- A straight “I’m not sure” beats a confident guess.
- Integrity.
- Treat every homeowner the way you would.
- Reliability.
- Show up, every time. For 15 years our team has built software thousands of people count on every day.
And when Prentice needs backup, we answer.
Dan & Jonathan
Prentice goes in your contacts
Just save the number, and your whole crew can start talking to Prentice.
Call Text Email
- You
- Your office staff
- Your techs
- Your customers
Your suppliers can text or email Prentice too.
Prentice speaks
- English
- Español
- Français
- Português
Getting started
Your part is small. Prentice does the rest.
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Can you answer a few questions about your business?
Then Prentice can learn it. Prentice writes the job description and shows you a demo for no cost.
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Can you share your schedule, your prices and your maintenance plan?
Then Prentice can run your office. Service calls, tune-ups and reminders by your rules. Quotes and invoices go out only with your OK.
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When Prentice has earned your trust
Then Prentice can talk to your customers. Forward your calls, or ask Prentice to text or email your customers.
Then you get your evenings back.
Made for heating and cooling
Prentice learns your services, your prices and your maintenance plan, then works in your words.
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No heat, no AC
Answered at any hour. You get the details in one text, and you decide who goes.
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Maintenance plans
Every plan customer’s spring and fall tune-ups booked, with a reminder before each.
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Quotes
Repair and new-system quotes drafted from your prices, sent once you OK them.
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Running late
A tech texts that the job ran long. Prentice tells the customers who are waiting.
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Invoices
Drafted when the job is done, sent with your OK, and followed up when late.
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The first heat wave
Calls and texts answered through the rush, and booked into your open times.
Get closer to your customers
With Prentice, your customers will be able to:
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Ask the small questions they’d hesitate to call you about
“How often should I change my filter?”
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Get an answer at any hour, by call, text or email
“Sorry it’s late, the heat just stopped…”
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Talk with you in their own language
“¿Pueden venir hoy? El aire no enfría.”
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Book a visit on the spot
“The 8 to 10 window is fine.”
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Move a visit without phone tag
“Can we push the tune-up to next week?”
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Hear your prices up front
“What do you charge for a service call?”
When you’re easy to reach, you’re the one they call again.
Costs less than a person
Prentice does the office work, so compare the cost with hiring office help, not with an answering service.
| Hiring a Person | Prentice Solo | Prentice Team | Prentice Crew | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works with | Anyone | Just you | 2-3 people | 4-6 people |
| Counts you and everyone on your team who works with Prentice. Customers never count. | ||||
| Monthly cost | $500 5 hours a week at $25 an hour | $99 | $199 | $399 |
50% off the first month while Prentice learns your business |
||||
| Messages included | As many as they can handle in 5 hours a week | 200 | 500 | 1,200 |
| A message is any text or email, sent or received. Each minute of a call counts as one. | ||||
| Communication methods | Phone, text, email, in person | Phone, text, email | ||
| Customers | As many as they can keep up with | No limit | ||
| Availability | 5 hours a week | Any hour, every day | ||
| Overtime | $25 an hour | $25 for every extra 50 messages | ||
| Offseason | You negotiate fewer hours with them | $39 a month when in Standby modePrentice stays active and will respond to customers. Max 50 messages per month. | ||
| Payroll and taxes | Your responsibility | None | ||
| Commitment | You hire them, and give notice to let them go | NoneCancel anytime. | ||
|
Talk to Prenticestart free
More than 6 people? Register, and Prentice will help you set up a plan. |
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Works with
Anyone
SoloJust you
Team2-3 people
Crew4-6 people
Counts you and everyone on your team who works with Prentice. Customers never count.
Monthly cost
$500 5 hours a week at $25 an hour
Solo$99
Team$199
Crew$399
50% off the first month while Prentice learns your business
Messages included
As many as they can handle in 5 hours a week
Solo200
Team500
Crew1,200
A message is any text or email, sent or received. Each minute of a call counts as one.
Communication methods
Phone, text, email, in person
Phone, text, email
Customers
As many as they can keep up with
No limit
Availability
5 hours a week
Any hour, every day
Overtime
$25 an hour
$25 for every extra 50 messages
Offseason
You negotiate fewer hours with them
$39 a month when in Standby modePrentice stays active and will respond to customers. Max 50 messages per month.
Payroll and taxes
Your responsibility
None
Commitment
You hire them, and give notice to let them go
NoneCancel anytime.
More than 6 people? Register, and Prentice will help you set up a plan.
Questions HVAC owners ask
Will customers know they’re talking to an AI?
Yes. On the first call or text, every customer hears that Prentice is your AI assistant. Prentice never pretends to be you.
What happens with a no-heat call at night?
Prentice answers, asks what’s wrong and how cold the house is, and says what an after-hours visit usually runs, from your prices. If the customer wants someone tonight, you get one text with the address and the details. You decide who goes.
Can Prentice keep up with my maintenance plan?
Yes. Prentice books each plan customer’s spring and fall tune-ups and sends the reminders. Any repair beyond the tune-up is quoted for your OK.
Does Prentice quote jobs?
Yes. Prentice drafts each quote, from a repair to a new system, using your prices and what your tech found. You approve each one before it goes out.
Will Prentice give prices on the phone?
On a call, Prentice can say what a job usually runs, from the prices you gave. Prentice never promises a price on the phone. A firm price goes out as a quote you approve.
Do I need a new phone number?
No. Your business gets a Prentice number of its own. Give that number to customers, or forward your business line to Prentice when you can’t pick up.
More answers on the FAQ.
Let Prentice show you
Chat or call. Prentice will ask about your services, your prices and your maintenance plan.
Talk to Prenticestart free