Buyer’s guides · updated
Missed calls: a 2026 guide for plumbers, electricians and salons
When you are on a job site or with a client, you have four options: voicemail, forwarding to a cell phone, an answering service with live operators, or an AI voice agent. Voicemail costs almost nothing, but the caller has to be willing to leave a message and wait for your call back; an answering service gives a human voice, usually billed per minute or per call; an AI agent answers right away, takes the address and the urgency or the appointment, and texts you a summary. For a plumber or an electrician, what matters is that emergencies get transferred to you; for a salon, that the appointment goes straight into your calendar.
Published by Zen Solutions (Laval), which sells one of these services. We rank nobody here: prices come from the vendors’ own pages, rules from the text of the law, with the links. Spotted an error? Write to info@zen-solutions.net.
The 4 options, side by side
| Option | For the caller | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Voicemail | Hears your greeting, has to leave a message and wait | A message to listen to, a call to return |
| Forward to a cell | Rings on your cell phone | The call, if you can answer at that moment |
| Answering service (operators) | A person takes the message | A written message; cost per minute or per call |
| AI voice agent | Answered right away, questions answered, appointment or emergency taken | A summary by text or email, the appointment in your calendar, emergencies transferred |
For a plumber or an electrician
- Emergencies first. You decide what is urgent — an active leak, a power outage, a burning smell — and the agent transfers those calls to you or to whoever is on call.
- Everything else, written down. The address, the problem, the best time to come by or call back, and the number — in a summary you read between two jobs.
- No quotes over the phone. The agent does not set a firm price; it books the estimate visit.
For a hair salon or a barbershop
- The appointment goes straight into your calendar: the service, its length, the stylist.
- Moving or cancelling without interrupting you mid-cut, and offering the freed slot.
- A text confirmation, and your prices quoted exactly as you set them.
Questions to ask
- How do I define what is urgent, and who gets the transferred call?
- What happens if I do not answer the transfer?
- What do I receive after each call, and where?
- Does the agent write into my calendar?
- What does a month cost with my number of calls?
Hear an example
These businesses are fictional: we built them so you can hear an agent before you talk to anyone. Call, ask your real questions, ask for an appointment.
- Plomberie Vanneau (plumbing) — 450 232-2590 · the page
- Clairwatt Électrique (electrical) — 450 234-9760 · the page
- Maison Cardère (hair salon / barber) — 450 367-6325 · the page
Where Zen Solutions stands
We sell this service, so we do not rank ourselves. The facts: Zen Solutions is a Québec company based in Laval; the agent is configured for your business by a person. $99.98 + tax a month, or $999.98 + tax a year from month two, with $20 of AI + SMS usage included every month (about 150 minutes of calls), then $0.133 per call minute and $0.036 per text. Setup and training free, no commitment, and 30 days to be sure: first month refunded if it isn’t right. Free 7-day trial, no credit card. Our agent answers at 438 544-5191 — call it the way you would call the others.
To estimate what your unanswered calls cost you, with your own numbers: the missed-call calculator.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I stop missing calls when I am on a job site?
- Forward unanswered calls from your line to an AI voice agent or an answering service. The AI agent answers right away, takes the address, the problem and the urgency, transfers emergencies to you and texts you a summary for the rest.
- Can an AI agent recognize an emergency?
- It follows the rules you give it (an active leak, an outage, a burning smell, and so on) and transfers those calls. It does not judge beyond your rules: when in doubt, it transfers or takes a priority message.
- Do I keep my number?
- Yes. The simplest way: conditional call forwarding — when you do not answer or the line is busy, the call goes to the agent.
Sources
Checked on October 1, 2026. This guide summarizes public rules and prices; it is not legal advice.