Jobber's Receptionist or Missed-Call Recovery: which one fits your shop

What Jobber's Receptionist does

Jobber launched Receptionist in August 2025. It answers your calls and texts using what's already in your Jobber account. Per Jobber's help article and feature page, it can:

• Answer calls and texts 24/7, several at once.
• Answer questions from your services, company settings and website FAQs.
• Book and reschedule visits through your online booking settings, and cancel appointments.
• Create a request, or take a message as a task for you, when it can't book.
• Transfer the call, or text you, when a caller says words you pick, like "burst pipe" or "no heat".
• Text callers who hang up early, skipping anyone who replied STOP or got one in the past 24 hours.
• Keep a summary, transcript and recording of each conversation.

Jobber's article also says it may not know every answer, and directs those callers to you.

What it costs (checked October 2026)

Receptionist is a $29-a-month add-on with 30 conversations. After that, Jobber charges 79 cents a conversation on your next renewal invoice, or you can pause it. On the Plus plan it's included with unlimited use.

A call counts when Receptionist actually engages the caller, and a text thread counts once for up to 24 hours. Spam doesn't count. So 50 conversations in a month cost $29 plus 20 at 79 cents: $44.80 on top of your plan.

Jobber's plan articles, updated August 2026, list it as an add-on for Core, Connect and Grow. On monthly billing for one user, Jobber listed Core at $49, Connect at $139 and Grow at $199 a month, and Plus at $499 for five users. Annual billing costs less, and when I checked, Jobber had a sale running until October 30.

What it needs

• A paid Jobber plan. Add-ons aren't available during a Jobber trial.
• A Jobber phone number. Receptionist answers on a dedicated Jobber number. Setup prompts you to create one if you don't have it.
• Forwarding from your existing number. Customers keep calling the number they know. You forward it to the Jobber number through your carrier, after a set number of rings or after hours, or through Google Voice.
• Carrier registration for texting. Jobber's help center says a US business texting from a dedicated number has to register it. That takes your legal name, address and tax ID (sole proprietors can skip the tax ID), a working website or social media page, and links to a privacy policy and terms. Processing can take up to three weeks.
• Online booking turned on if you want it to book, and an admin login to reach its settings.

When Jobber's Receptionist is the right tool

If your shop already runs on Jobber, it's often the right tool. It books into the schedule and client list you already use, learns from settings you've filled in, and costs $29 a month. There's nothing extra to connect.

The part worth getting help with is the setup. For a fixed $250, I set it up in your account, tune its answers to your services, set the wording and hours with Pennsylvania's texting law in mind, forward your existing number, and run test calls before a customer reaches it. Jobber bills you for the add-on as usual.

When Missed-Call Recovery fits better

Missed-Call Recovery is my own service. It fits better in two cases:

• Your shop isn't on Jobber. It needs no field-service software. Missed callers get a text within seconds from a carrier-registered number, an AI assistant answers the calls you can't take, and the job details land on your phone.
• You want it built around you, with one person to call. I write the wording with you, set the hours and where alerts go, and change things when you message me. Quote requests from your website get an instant reply too.

It costs more: $1,250 setup, or $750 after the $500 audit, then $200 a month, month to month. The $200 covers the texting number, carrier fees and the assistant's minutes. On price alone, a Jobber shop does better with Jobber's add-on.

The hang-up text and Pennsylvania's texting law

The hang-up text is the piece Pennsylvania's new rules touch. Since October 18, 2026, sales texts can only go out from 9 AM to 7 PM, never on a Sunday or a legal holiday, and any stop request counts as an opt-out. A reply to someone who just called is a gray area. Here's how I'd set it up:

• Keep it about their call. Name your business, mention the missed call and ask what they need. No deals, prices or links. Jobber lets you edit the wording.
• Say it's automated. Jobber encourages this but doesn't require it. Pennsylvania's law bans computer-generated messages that deceive or mislead.
• Settle the hours. Jobber's help article doesn't describe a setting that limits when the hang-up text goes out. The most cautious setup holds replies to new callers from 7 PM to 9 AM, Saturday afternoons, Sundays and legal holidays. If you take emergency calls at night, keep the text to answering the call, and settle the hours with your lawyer.
• Test the stop words. Jobber's article says the text skips anyone who replied STOP to earlier Jobber texts. The law counts any stop request, including QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL and UNSUBSCRIBE, so I test those before go-live.

This is practical guidance. It isn't legal advice, and the contractor's guide covers the rest.