What the agent handles
- Takes quote requests
- Answers order status calls
- Routes supplier and vendor calls
- Takes job applicant enquiries
- Emails drawing submission instructions
Trades and industrial
AI receptionist for manufacturers and fabricators
Takes quote requests and order status calls for plants and fabrication shops, and routes supplier, customer and job applicant calls to the right department.
CallerWe need a quote on two hundred brackets, I can send the drawing over.
CallerWhere's our order? It was supposed to ship Tuesday.
CallerI'm calling about the general labour posting, are you still hiring?
Where calls go
SalesEstimatingShipping and receivingProductionHuman resources
Warm transfer: When a customer calls about a quality problem with a shipment, the agent warm-transfers to the quality manager.
What it books
Plant tours and sales meetings
Why manufacturers and fabricators miss calls, and what an AI receptionist changes
In a plant or fabrication shop, the front office is often one person handling reception, shipping paperwork, purchasing and payroll questions. When that person is in the shipping office printing a bill of lading or walking a carrier to the dock, the phone rings out. The estimator is on the floor checking a weld, and the owner is on the press brake. Meanwhile a buyer wants a quote, a customer wants to know where a shipment is, and three people are asking about the general labour posting.
A RealVoice AI receptionist for manufacturers sorts those calls and takes the details that matter. For a request for quote, it asks for the part, the material (mild steel, stainless, aluminum), the quantity, gauge or thickness, finish such as powder coat or galvanizing, the drawing format and the date they need parts, then emails the caller instructions for sending drawings. It books plant tours and sales meetings, sends supplier and sales rep calls to purchasing, and tells job applicants what's open and how to apply.
During setup, the team connects it to your plant's ERP or order system, so a customer who calls with a PO number hears where the order stands: in production, ready to ship or shipped, with the tracking number sent by text. Lead times on new work stay with your estimator, and anything the system doesn't answer goes to shipping and receiving. A customer reporting a quality problem with a shipment is warm-transferred to your quality manager with the PO and the problem read out first.
Example call, start to finish
- CallerHi, this is Marc Gagnon, purchasing at Westfield Ag in Winnipeg. Our order of mounting brackets was supposed to ship Tuesday and we haven't seen a tracking number.
- AI receptionistThanks, Marc. Do you have the PO number handy? I'll look it up.
- CallerIt's PO 7731.
- AI receptionistPO 7731 shows the brackets went out yesterday afternoon with the carrier. I'll text you the tracking number right after this call.
- CallerGood. And honestly, I'm calling about the last batch too. About a third of them had the holes out of position and we couldn't use them.
- AI receptionistI'm sorry to hear that. A quality problem like that should go straight to our quality manager, Diane. Can I put you through to her now?
- CallerYes, please.
- AI receptionistConnecting you to Diane now, and the tracking number for PO 7731 is on its way to your phone.
- AI receptionist(privately, to Diane) Marc Gagnon, Westfield Ag, Winnipeg. Last bracket shipment had hole positions off on about a third of parts. PO 7731 shipped yesterday; tracking number sent to him by text. Connecting.
After the call: Diane takes the call already knowing the customer and the defect. Marc has the PO 7731 tracking number by text, so nobody in shipping has to call him back, and the summary and recording are saved in the RealVoice portal for sales and quality to review.
How it fits your day
- Shift start
- At 7 a.m. and again at shift change, sick calls and supervisor messages are taken and sent to production, while the front office handles the people at the door.
- Requests for quote
- RFQs arrive with material, quantity, finish and due date already written up, and the caller has instructions for sending drawings to your estimating inbox.
- Shipping and receiving
- Customers chasing a PO hear its status and get a tracking number by text, and carriers confirming a pickup are routed to shipping, with a callback note left if nobody is at the dock desk.
- Hiring
- Callers asking about a general labour or welder posting hear what's open and how to apply, instead of tying up the front office every few minutes.
Your software
Today it books plant tours and sales meetings into the RealVoice schedule in the portal, keeps RFQ notes, order status messages and recordings there, and texts visitors a confirmation. If your plant runs Epicor Kinetic, JobBOSS2, SYSPRO or Sage 300, the team can set up a connection to it; custom integrations are quoted separately.
What a missed call costs
One request for quote on a production run of brackets, enclosures or frames can be worth $40,000 or more, and a buyer who can't reach you sends the drawing to the next shop on the supplier list. If two RFQ calls a month go to voicemail and you would normally win one of them, that is a dozen new jobs a year quoted by someone else. Try it with your own job sizes on the missed-call calculator on our homepage.
Questions manufacturers and fabricators ask
Can it tell a customer when their order ships?
Yes, once the team connects it to your ERP or production schedule during setup. It looks up the PO, reads back the ship date or status and texts the tracking number when the order has left. Questions the system can't answer go to shipping by warm transfer or callback note.
Can it take RFQs with drawings?
It collects the part, material, quantity, finish and due date on the call, and emails the caller instructions for sending drawings to your estimating inbox. The estimator sends the quote.
How does it handle sales reps and supplier calls?
You decide who gets through. Supplier and vendor calls are routed to purchasing, and cold sales calls can be taken as messages so they don't interrupt anyone.
Can it handle job applicant calls?
Yes. It tells callers which positions are open, the shifts and how to apply, from the information you keep updated, and sends anything else to human resources.
Does it serve customers who call in French?
Yes. It handles French and English, plus many other languages, and confirms with the caller before switching, which helps plants that ship across Quebec and the rest of Canada.
Hear it as your own manufacturer's front desk
Request a free demo call and the agent will phone you, set up as a business like yours.