Garage Receptionist
Collect the details before the car arrives.
A phone and text receptionist that matches each caller to their customer and vehicle records and reserves an inspection or an approved standard service in a bay with enough time. It records the symptoms in the customer’s own words for the technician and never diagnoses the vehicle or prices an unknown fault.
A real customer situation
A driver calls while the mechanic is under a car: there’s a noise when braking and they want to bring it in tomorrow. Someone has to find the right vehicle, check the workshop has a bay free and write down what the customer heard — usually by stopping work.
Where the owner wants to be
Every call ends with a verified vehicle, the symptoms written down and either a confirmed inspection in a bay that fits or a person handling it. The technician starts with a briefing, not a phone message.
What it handles
- Matches callers and vehicles, and asks when more than one vehicle fits
- Collects missing registration and odometer details before booking
- Maps symptoms to approved appointment types with set durations
- Offers only slots with a free bay long enough for the job
- Hands safety concerns straight to the service adviser
What it deliberately does not do
- Never diagnoses a fault or quotes a repair price — the technician assesses first
- Never picks between matching vehicles without the customer confirming
- Does not book when the customer reports an urgent safety concern
Interactive demo
Try it with sample data
No sign-up needed. Pick a scenario, change the inputs, then play the customer and the owner. The right-hand panel only shows what the workflow actually recorded.
Interactive simulation using a sample workshop calendar and customer file. No call is connected, no message is sent and no real booking is created.
Choose a scenario
Returning customer, Corolla on file, wants to come in tomorrow.
“Toyota — model not stated” matches two vehicles for a returning customer.
Returning = Sam Whitfield (C-1042).
Thursday is fully booked.
Customer side · Phone call or text
Press “Run scenario” to start. Every message and record here comes from sample data.
Workflow and harness
How Garage Receptionist runs
Reference schematic for the proposed workflow. Blue steps do the work, purple paths handle exceptions and returns, and amber checks are the harness controls that a step cannot pass without.
Overview — business stages
Read the full flow as text
- Call or message (business step)
Capture caller ID and request. Output: Enquiry. Leads to: Match customer and vehicle. - Match customer and vehicle (business step)
Match customer by phone, vehicle by model/rego. Output: Customer and vehicle record. Leads to: Capture reported symptoms; Multiple vehicle matches; Missing vehicle details. - Capture reported symptoms (business step)
Record verbatim; flag safety concerns. Output: Reported symptoms record. Leads to: Select permitted appointment type; Safety concern. - Select permitted appointment type (business step)
Map to approved types with set durations. Output: Appointment type and length. Leads to: Check workshop capacity. - Check workshop capacity (business step)
Bay free for the full duration. Output: Eligible slots. Leads to: Book inspection and intake note; No suitable bay. - Book inspection and intake note (business step)
One write per operation key; confirmation held. Output: Booking + technician briefing. - Multiple vehicle matches (exception or return path)
Ask the customer which one. Output: Confirmed vehicle. Leads to: Match customer and vehicle (confirm). - Missing vehicle details (exception or return path)
Ask before booking. Output: Completed vehicle record. Leads to: Match customer and vehicle (ask). - Safety concern (exception or return path)
Stop; configured handoff to service adviser. Output: Live transfer or urgent callback. - No suitable bay (exception or return path)
Offer the next day with capacity. Output: Alternative slots. Leads to: Check workshop capacity (alternative day). - Verified vehicle match (harness check)
Exactly one confirmed vehicle. Output: Verified vehicle ID. Leads to: Match customer and vehicle (required check). - No automated diagnosis (harness check)
No diagnosis; no price for an unknown fault. Output: Approved type only. Leads to: Select permitted appointment type (required check). - Workshop confirmation (harness check)
Receipt required before confirming. Output: Booking reference. Leads to: Book inspection and intake note (required check).
Harness controls
- Identity and vehicle matching; ambiguous matches need customer confirmation
- Diagnosis stays with the technician; no price for an unknown fault
- Only approved appointment types, each with a set duration
- Safety concerns follow the configured adviser handoff
- Bookings are confirmed only after a verified calendar write
Systems and data
Production connects telephony or chat, the garage management system, customer and vehicle history and the workshop calendar. The demo uses a fictional customer file for Northside Auto, a fixed capacity table and an outbox that holds every message.
Demo boundary
External calls, customer messages, payments and business writes use synthetic fixtures and an on-screen outbox. The demo shows only verified demo state. Custom production connections are a paid implementation deliverable.
What gets delivered
The records your business receives
Booking confirmation
Inspection type, day, time and reference, with a note that an estimate follows the technician’s check.
Safety handoff
Live transfer or urgent callback task for the service adviser, with the customer’s words and vehicle record.
Technician briefing
Vehicle, odometer, reported symptoms verbatim, appointment length and a record that no diagnosis or price was given.
Custom deployment
Configured for your business during a paid implementation. Integrations are confirmed during discovery, never assumed.
Your business rules
- Your approved appointment types, durations and bay rules
- Which symptoms count as urgent safety concerns and who takes them
- Your customer and vehicle matching rules
- Opening hours, capacity and how far ahead to book
Systems we connect
Measurement
We measure completed business against a baseline, not messages sent. No results are promised before discovery.
Business results
- Completed inspection bookings
- Reduction in intake interruptions for the workshop
Operational reliability
- Bookings made on an unconfirmed vehicle (target: zero)
- Safety concerns booked without a handoff (target: zero)
- Duplicate calendar writes (target: zero)
Want this answering calls for your workshop?
Book a call about Garage Receptionist. We start with discovery: your current process, volumes, systems and who handles exceptions. The proposal then defines the integrations, approvals and acceptance tests before anything goes live.