Back in Issue #1 I flagged the AI that answers your phone. This week I pulled the whole thing apart properly — the full video's on the channel. Here's what actually matters.
What it is
ServiceM8's Phone Agent. An AI receptionist that picks up your business line and talks to callers like a staff member. Comes named Kora — you can rename it and pick how it speaks. It answers common questions, takes messages into your ServiceM8 inbox, texts callers your booking link or submits the booking itself, transfers urgent stuff to you, and screens out spam calls. Every call gets logged with a summary, a transcript and a recording.
Three modes: Business Hours (answers and screens before your phone rings), After Hours (covers the calls you'd sleep through), and Voicemail (replaces the beep with something that actually takes details). Run one or all three.
The real price: $78 a month
This is an add-on, on an add-on. You need a paid ServiceM8 plan first — $29 a month minimum. Then ServiceM8 Phone, which is its own phone system with its own number. And the Agent skips the cheap phone plan:
Connect — $29/mo. No Agent.
Connect Plus — $49/mo. Agent included. 500 call minutes, then 8c a minute.
Unlimited — $199/mo. Agent included, unlimited minutes.
So the cheapest way to the AI receptionist is $29 + $49 = $78 a month, GST in. Nobody puts that number on the poster. Still — if it saves you one decent job a month, it's paid for itself. That's the bet.
Catch two: it only knows what you type
The Agent won't read your website. It won't read your job history. The FAQ list you type into it is its entire world. Leave that empty and it answers your customers like a labourer on day one. You're writing its brain — and updating it every time your prices or hours change.
The FAQ list I'd load into it (copy this)
What suburbs do you cover? — List them. Name the ones you won't travel to.
Do you do emergency call-outs? — Yes or no, and the after-hours rate if it's different.
What's your call-out fee? — A dollar figure. "Depends" makes the Agent useless.
Are you licensed and insured? — Yes, plus your licence number.
Do you do free quotes? — How quoting works at your outfit, in one line.
What are your hours? — Real hours, including whether you answer weekends.
How soon can you come out? — Your honest lead time this month.
Do you take card? — Payment options, in plain words.
Write the answers the way you'd say them on the phone. Then use the Test Call button — it rings your own phone and you play the customer. Do the telemarketer act. Fake an emergency. Ask for Dave. Keep tuning it until it stops embarrassing you.
Catch three: the setting you can't turn off
Every call the Agent answers gets recorded. No off switch — even if call recording is off everywhere else in your account. Recording laws in Australia differ state to state, so set your welcome message to say "calls are recorded" before it takes a single real call. Worth telling callers they're talking to an AI, too. Ten seconds of setup that keeps you out of strife.
Practical bits
It's an internet phone system. The Phone app is iPhone and iPad only — no Android phone app — or you run it through Chrome on a desktop. You can divert or port your existing number across. There's a 14-day ServiceM8 trial and Phone is free for your first month, so you can test the lot for $0.
Verdict
The Agent itself is the real deal by tradie software standards. It books work, filters junk, and logs everything. The catch isn't the tech — it's the stack of subscriptions you climb to reach it. Dropping calls because you're on the tools all day? Worth the trial — start with After Hours mode, that's where jobs actually go missing. Work all comes by text and word of mouth? $78 a month is a receptionist you don't need.
Full teardown video: https://youtu.be/jlxEgiVkEfo
Not affiliated with ServiceM8. Prices in AUD including GST, checked against official ServiceM8 pages on 4 July 2026.