Free 14-day trial — use code IRIS-UCQ3UK
How it works
How the after-hours desk works
On your phone. No one comes to the shop.
After-hours calls still come in. Voicemail loses the job. Answer with Iris picks up. After hours she asks if they need someone now or it can wait until you open, and says your trip fee only if they say now and you typed one. During shop hours she asks now vs the calendar — she does not talk like it is night. You get the name, cell, address, and problem on your screen. Emergencies copy you now. Jobs that can wait stay on that same screen — one hour before you open you get an email of last night’s jobs.
One shop can run more than one trade on the same desk. Check HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing on Account. Tag each tech with what they cover. She hears the problem and texts the person who covers that trade — the plumber for a burst pipe, not the AC guy. Two problems in one call: she asks which is more urgent. A trade you do not do: she does not page your tech. She tells them what you handle, and texts you.
01
Create a shop account
Email and password on our site. Free — no card, no signup fee. This is step 1. You can stop here.
02
Set up the shop on the desk
Shop name, the trades you do, zips you cover, after-hours trip fee if you charge one (or leave it blank), billing address. Add techs on Schedule, tag what they cover, tap the week. Two techs and no rotation: emergencies text you. Still nothing charged.
03
Enter payment
Card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay on the shop desk. This is the first charge. Monthly bills now; annual is 20% off prepaid. A trial code we issued skips the charge — card still on file, $0 until the trial ends. No code = you pay here. You cannot forward the line until this step is done.
04
Forward the shop line
Pick the carrier on that phone (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, or Other). Turn Iris on fills that carrier’s code — not a one-size *72. Tap Call. Then call the shop from another phone. If Iris greets you, check the box. Stop with Turn Iris off. Shop line and a cell: do this on each phone. We cannot flip the carrier from the app.
05
Booked Desk — morning calendar + board
Connect Jobber, Housecall Pro, or Cal.com on Schedule → Job board. Cal.com is only if she should book onto Google, Outlook, or Apple. She offers two morning times and puts the one they pick on that calendar. On Schedule: Appointment length (default 1 hour) is the Jobber block; Jobs at the same time (default 1) is how many can start together. Visits land unassigned so you place the truck. Tonight’s emergency is still a text to the tech who covers that trade. Night Desk takes the job only. Step-by-step Cal.com is behind a dropdown on /setup — it is not under Account. Match iris-job length to Appointment length.
06
On-call board (Schedule)
Desk → Schedule. Add techs: name + cell. Cap 12. They never log in. More than one trade: tag what each tech covers or they are not paged. Pick the shop time zone — the week, calendar, job texts, and notes all use that clock. Shop hours default Monday–Friday 8am–5pm. Appointment length default 1 hour (1.5 / 2 / 3 if you need it). Jobs at the same time default 1 — raise it if two trucks can both be out at 9am. Tap the week — one person per day, or one per trade if you run more than one. Two techs and tonight is Off: she pages you. Tonight if someone swapped for a few hours — HVAC and plumbing can each have their own person.
07
What happens on a night call
Same path every time. She does not invent a fee, a tech, or a zip check.
- Greets with the shop name. After hours she asks once: wait until open, or need someone now.
- Trip fee only after they say tonight, and only if you typed one. They decline → next appointment on Booked/Shop, morning callback on Night Desk. No page.
- Name and cell, then street, city, and zip in one question. She reads the address back.
- Out of zip: she still takes the job, tells them the shop will confirm — no hang-up, no book, no tonight page.
- Covered-zip emergency with someone on the board → texts the tech who covers that trade (YES/NO). No YES in 8 minutes → next tech who covers it → you.
- Morning jobs land on the desk. At open: one text and a matching email.
- Booked / Shop Desk: a picked morning time goes on Jobber, Housecall Pro, or your calendar. Night Desk does not put times on the calendar.
Pages tonight’s tech
- Burst pipe, flood, sewage
- No heat
- No cooling with kids or elderly in a dangerously hot house
- Sparking / electrical hazard — no fire
- No working toilet in a one-bathroom home
- A roof actively letting water into the house
- Water at the air handler or ceiling
Waits for morning
- A drip, a slow drain, a quote, a tune-up
- Filter, noise, quote, tune-up
- “Can someone come in the morning?”
Booked appointments are always morning. Gas, CO, smoke or fire, injury, or someone trapped: hang up, get everyone out, call 911. She does not collect an address and she never pages a tech. The shop gets a 911 card. She is not 911.
08
Recording and Spanish
Every call is recorded and transcribed. Desk → Recent calls. Spanish on the phone if they speak it. Job card stays English. She never rings tonight’s cell. Emergencies are a text + YES/NO.
09
Call it yourself
Use a zip you cover to hear the full path. A zip you do not cover: she still takes the job, tells them the shop will confirm, and texts you — she does not hang up. After hours: confirm she asks now vs wait until open BEFORE any trip fee. If you set a trip fee, she says that amount only after they say they need someone now — then waits for yes on the charge, not another now. Morning jobs never hear a fee. During shop hours she asks now vs the calendar and she never mentions a trip fee. Street, city, and zip in one question. After the address: gate or a dog, then the trade follow-up. She never takes a card. She never invents a fee. Confirm she never says a tech is on the way. A morning test-call should land on the desk, not ping you at 2am.