# AI Receptionist for Locksmiths and Towing Companies: Answer Every Emergency Call, Day or Night Source: https://voksha.com/blog/ai-receptionist-for-locksmiths-and-towing/ Published: 2026-10-19 > Locksmith and towing calls are urgent and arrive at all hours. Here is how an AI receptionist answers every one, captures the location and job, and gets it to your driver fast. Nobody shops around for a locksmith at 2am. A driver locked out in a parking lot, or stuck on the shoulder with a flat and no spare, calls the first number that looks right and hires whoever answers. That makes locksmith and towing two of the most phone-dependent businesses there are: every unanswered call is a job that goes to a competitor within minutes. An AI receptionist answers every call on the first ring, day or night, captures exactly where the caller is and what they need, and gets it to you or your driver immediately. **AI receptionist for locksmiths and towing:** an AI voice agent that answers an emergency service business's phone 24/7, collects the caller's location, vehicle or lock details and callback number, handles common questions, and passes urgent jobs to the owner or on-call driver right away. ## Key Takeaways - 32% of business calls arrive outside 9-to-5 weekday hours and 23% at weekends ([Voksha After-Hours Economy Report](https://voksha.com/research/after-hours-economy/)). For lockouts and breakdowns, the share outside office hours is the core of the business, not an edge case. - Emergency callers decide in minutes: the business that answers and gives a clear next step wins the job ([speed to lead and callback time](https://voksha.com/blog/speed-to-lead-missed-call-callback-time/)). - Voksha answers on the first ring and responds in under 200 ms, so a stressed caller is not left listening to a phone tree ([24/7 coverage](https://voksha.com/blog/24-7-ai-phone-system-sub-200ms-response/)). - You keep your existing number; plans start at $14/month for 15 calls, then $1 per call ([Voksha pricing](https://voksha.com/pricing/)). ## Why Is the Phone So Hard to Cover in These Businesses? Locksmiths and towing operators have the same problem from two directions: 1. **Calls come at any hour.** Lockouts happen after a late shift; breakdowns happen on the highway at night. A one-person or small operation cannot staff the phone around the clock. 2. **You are usually already on a job.** Driving, under a car, or rekeying a lock, you cannot safely answer and take down an address. 3. **Voicemail loses the job.** An emergency caller will not wait for a callback. If the phone goes to voicemail, they hang up and dial the next listing. Every one of those missed calls has a real price, which the breakdown in [the true cost of missed calls](https://voksha.com/blog/true-cost-of-missed-calls-revenue-loss/) helps you estimate for your own call volume. ## What Should the AI Capture on an Emergency Call? The goal is to give you, or your driver, everything needed to roll without calling the customer back for basics: - **Location first:** the street address, cross streets, a landmark or the highway and mile marker. - **The job:** car, home or business lockout; key replacement; tow, jump start, tyre change or winch-out. - **Vehicle or lock details:** make, model and colour for vehicles; the type of door or lock for locksmith calls. - **Callback number and name,** confirmed back to the caller. - **Urgency and safety:** whether the caller is somewhere unsafe, so you can prioritise. - **The answers callers always ask:** your service area, rough arrival time and how you take payment, using only the facts you provide. Then the AI sends you a summary right away. Set the questions in your script once; the guide to [writing an AI receptionist script](https://voksha.com/blog/how-to-write-perfect-ai-receptionist-script-for-business/) shows the format. ## Should the AI Quote Prices? Price is the first question many callers ask. Give the AI the facts you are comfortable stating, such as a call-out fee or "price depends on the vehicle and distance, we confirm before we start." Avoid letting it guess. A clear, honest answer builds trust with a stressed caller far better than a vague one. ## How Do You Set It Up? 1. **Describe your services and service area,** plus the questions you always ask. 2. **Choose how calls reach the AI:** forward every call after hours, or forward on no answer so you take the calls you can and the AI catches the rest. 3. **Forward your existing number.** Your listing, truck lettering and website stay the same ([forwarding guide](https://voksha.com/blog/how-to-forward-business-phone-to-ai-receptionist/)). 4. **Test it** with a fake lockout from your own phone, at night if you like. Most operators are live the same day; see the [5-minute setup guide](https://voksha.com/blog/how-to-set-up-ai-phone-answering-system-under-5-minutes/). ## Voicemail vs Answering Service vs AI Receptionist | Option | Answers at 2am? | Captures location and job? | Typical monthly cost | |---|---|---|---| | Voicemail | No: callers hang up | Rarely | Free, but lost jobs | | Human answering service | Usually, depending on plan | Yes | Often hundreds of dollars a month | | Voksha AI receptionist | Yes, every call | Yes, with a summary to you | From $14, then $1 per call | If you are weighing the options, [AI vs live answering services](https://voksha.com/blog/ai-answering-service-vs-live-answering-service/) goes deeper, and [voicemail alternatives](https://voksha.com/blog/top-5-voicemail-alternatives-capture-leads/) covers simpler fixes. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Can it handle calls while I am driving? Yes. That is the main use: you stay focused on the road or the job, the AI answers, and you get the caller's details and location in a summary to act on when it is safe. ### Will it tell callers how long until someone arrives? Only what you tell it to say, for example a typical arrival window for your area. It will not invent a time. ### Do I have to change my phone number? No. You forward your current number, so your ads, listing and truck lettering stay the same. ### What if a call is not an emergency? The same agent handles routine calls too, like rekeying quotes, key copies or booking a non-urgent tow, and captures the details for you to follow up. ### How much does it cost? Plans start at $14/month for 15 calls, and Premium is $99/month for 150 calls, then $1 per call. See the [pricing page](https://voksha.com/pricing/) for the full plans. ## The Bottom Line In emergency services, the job goes to whoever answers. An AI receptionist means every lockout and breakdown caller, at any hour, reaches someone who takes the location and details and gets them to you fast. [Try Voksha](https://voksha.com/pricing/) with a test call tonight.