What does an assistant change about a storm week?

Every call is answered rather than some of them, and the cost is assistant minutes from the plan rather than a per-call charge that peaks in exactly the week volume does.

Why is tarp a keyword?

Because a homeowner watching water come in asks for a tarp before they think to ask for a roofer. Matching the word people use is the difference between catching that call and missing it.

Should inspections be bookable?

Yes, and it is the highest-value thing to automate in this trade. An inspection is normal urgency, so nobody is waiting on it, and it is the appointment that turns storm work into a replacement.

Can it handle the insurance conversation?

No, and it should not. It takes the name, the number and what they said, and leaves it for a person. Insurance is where confidently wrong software costs somebody a claim.

Residential roofing

Storm damage calls, in the week nobody can answer them

Tarp is in the keyword list because it is what a homeowner asks for before they ask for a roofer. What happens to the calls that all arrive at once.

Written by Christopher Gillig, who files the carrier registrations behind these numbers and configures the assistants. Last reviewed September 16, 2026.

The short answer

Storm damage calls arrive together or not at all, in the same forty-eight hours that every crew is already on a roof. They are matched on eight phrases including tarp, which names a solution rather than a problem because that is what homeowners ask for first. An assistant answers all of them rather than the first three, takes a callback number for each, and where inspections are marked bookable puts them in the diary, which is the appointment that becomes replacement work later.

The words that name this job

The real list, read from the configuration that matches on it. One of these names a product rather than a problem, deliberately.

stormhailwind damageshingles blownshingles offtree felltree ontarp

Urgency by default: emergency
Reply target: 10 minutes
Somebody goes out: Yes

What this call is actually like

Tarp is in the list, alongside storm, hail, wind damage, shingles blown, shingles off, tree fell and tree on. It is the only one naming a solution rather than a problem, and it is there because a homeowner in a storm asks for a tarp before they think to ask for a roofer.
Tree fell and tree on are both listed. They are the same event described from two positions, and a classifier matching literally needs both, because the caller who says a tree is on the house is not the caller who says a tree fell.
These calls arrive together or not at all. A storm produces every one of them in the same forty-eight hours, which is also when every crew is already on a roof, so the busiest hour and the worst answer rate are the same hour.
The caller is ringing three roofers. The one who answers books the inspection, and the other two get a callback request that has already been satisfied by somebody else.

What happens, in order

A storm passes and the phone starts ringing, all of it at once.
If the assistant is on, every call is answered rather than the first three, and each is asked what happened and where the property is.
It takes a name and a callback number for each and reads them back.
Where inspections are marked bookable, it offers times that are genuinely free and books them, which is the appointment that turns this week into replacement work later.
Where they are not, each caller's own description lands on a lead, and a reply naming any of these words raises it immediately.

The messages around it

Real templates from this trade's pack, with a business name filled in exactly as they would send.

missed call textback

This is Cedarline Roofing, sorry we missed your call. What is going on, and where are you? Reply here, or BOOK to book.

The address matters more here than in any other trade, because an estimate cannot be given without knowing which roof, so the location question is in the first message.

emergency ack

Hi Dana, Cedarline Roofing has this and is treating it as urgent. Stay off the roof. If anyone is in danger, call 911.

One instruction, because it is the one homeowners ignore after a storm. Everything else waits for somebody who can see the roof.

Questions

What does an assistant change about a storm week?: Every call is answered rather than some of them, and the cost is assistant minutes from the plan rather than a per-call charge that peaks in exactly the week volume does.
Why is tarp a keyword?: Because a homeowner watching water come in asks for a tarp before they think to ask for a roofer. Matching the word people use is the difference between catching that call and missing it.
Should inspections be bookable?: Yes, and it is the highest-value thing to automate in this trade. An inspection is normal urgency, so nobody is waiting on it, and it is the appointment that turns storm work into a replacement.
Can it handle the insurance conversation?: No, and it should not. It takes the name, the number and what they said, and leaves it for a person. Insurance is where confidently wrong software costs somebody a claim.

Every price is on the site

No quote and no sales call to find out what it costs. Creating the account and setting it up charges nothing: setup is billed when you submit your carrier registration, and the monthly charge starts when your number is live.

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