A door that won't open is somebody's morning, gone
Vandial answers every call, establishes whether there's a car stuck behind the door, and separates a broken spring from a dead opener before anyone loads a van. Same-day when it has to be, tomorrow when it doesn't.
From $99 a month · Robocalls are never billed
Incoming callHannah Boyd“The door goes down halfway and comes straight back up.”
Booked — same day 2–4, car trapped, priority
- Car inside
- makes it today's job rather than next week's. The call decides which
- 7-9am
- when a night's failures are all discovered at once
- $0
- billed for robocalls and sales calls, on every plan
This is what your callers hear
The same receptionist a garage door company gets, answering as the trades we already run. Yours is in the middle — press play.
One garage door call, and what it left behind
Answered on the second ring. Every field below was captured during the call — nobody typed it in afterwards.
“The door goes down halfway and comes straight back up.”
Classified0:12
- new job
- vehicle trapped
- same-day
Captured0:40
- reverses halfway, LiftMaster, sectional, vehicle inside
Booked0:55
- Google Calendar
- today 2–4
- priority
Booked — same day 2–4, car trapped, priority
Read the whole garage door call, line by line
- 0:02Hannah Boyd: The door goes down halfway and comes straight back up.
- 0:05Vandial: Got it. Is there a car stuck inside, or can you still get it out?
- 0:10Hannah Boyd: My car's in there and I need it for the school run.
- 0:12Classified — new job · vehicle trapped · same-day
- 0:18Vandial: Have you tried the manual release cord — the red handle hanging from the rail?
- 0:24Hannah Boyd: I didn't know there was one.
- 0:31Vandial: It'll let you lift it by hand. What make is the opener, if it's written on the motor?
- 0:40Captured — reverses halfway, LiftMaster, sectional, vehicle inside
- 0:49Vandial: I've got someone to you this afternoon between 2 and 4 — the service call is $79.
- 0:55Booked — Google Calendar · today 2–4 · priority
Answered, understood, booked
One number, picked up on the second ring — at 2am, on a Sunday, while you're already working. By the time the caller hangs up, it is in your calendar.
It answers
Answered at seven in the morning, when the door has failed overnight and the caller is already late.
- 0:00Incoming call
- 0:02Answered by Vandial2 rings
- 0:05“Hello, Marlow Plumbing.”
It understands
It asks whether a car is trapped, tries the manual release with them, and works out which part has actually gone.
- Job
- Water heater — leaking
- Where
- 14 Marlow Street
- Access
- Side gate, dog in yard
- Urgency
- Today if possible
- Still on
It books
Booked same-day if the car is stuck, tomorrow if it isn't — with the opener make and door type already recorded.
Text to Dave · 13:01
You’re booked for today, 1–2pm. Reply R to move it.
It asks what you would ask
These are the questions the agent runs for garage door companies, and the operational reason each one exists. Change them, add your own, or take them out — they are configuration, not code.
Is a car trapped inside?
The single question that decides whether this is a same-day job or a Thursday one, and callers rarely lead with it.
Is it the spring, the opener, or the track?
Three different parts, three different vans. Guessing means a second visit.
Have you tried the manual release?
Frees the car in thirty seconds and turns an emergency into a booked appointment — which is better for both of you.
What make is the opener, and roughly how old?
Decides whether the board is stocked or ordered before the technician sets off.
Sectional, roller or up-and-over — and how wide?
Panel and spring sizing. The wrong spring on the van is a wasted trip in a trade where the parts are heavy.
Is the door stuck open or stuck shut?
A door stuck open is an unsecured house overnight. That changes the priority regardless of the car.
More than a garage door answering service
An answering service takes a message and charges you for it. Vandial knows your prices, your patch and your diary — so it books the job, or puts a real emergency straight through to you.
It picks up out of hours, and while your line is busy
Garage door calls cluster in the first hour of the day and after the first frost. Vandial takes them all at once, so the customer who rings at 7:05 does not get the voicemail that sends them to the next company on the list.
It knows your prices, your patch and your hours
Tell it your service-call fee, the brands you carry, whether you do commercial doors and how far you travel. It answers those before they become a callback that never happens.
What it knows
Service call
$79, off the repair
Service area
25 miles
Same-day cutoff
2pm
Openers we stock
LiftMaster, Chamberlain, Genie
What matters reaches you. The rest waits
A trapped car and an unsecured open door are urgent. A noisy door is not. You set the line, and everything below it is written up for the morning rather than ringing your mobile.
Your rule: if they say gas, flood or no heat — ring Sam, then me.
Every call written up, tagged and searchable
Every call transcribed and recorded, with the door type, opener make and symptom attached. Your technician reads thirty seconds of notes instead of ringing the customer back from the driveway.
Dave Whitfield · Sunday, 4m 12s
Water heater, leaking
Leaking from the base. Booked for Tuesday 1–2pm. Side gate open, dog in the yard. Asked whether the service call fee applies — told $99, waived on repair.
The first cold morning
Springs fail in the cold, and they fail overnight, so they are discovered at seven in the morning by someone who is already late. That is thirty calls in ninety minutes, every one of them same-day, and every one lost to a voicemail box. Vandial answers all of them, sorts the trapped cars from the rest, and hands you a day already sequenced.
When it happens · The first hard frost, and every Monday morning
A normal month, then a surge month
- Billed per minute
- Your baselineTriples with the calls
- The bill peaks in the same week your phone does.
- Billed per call, like a human service
- Per call, every callEvery extra call, billed
- Including the robocalls and the wrong numbers.
- Vandial
- From $99 a monthThe same
- Call flows are unlimited on every paid rung, and there is no per-minute billing. The rungs differ only in how many unique customers you answer for — and a surge is mostly more calls from the same people.
Robocalls and sales calls are identified and zero-rated on every plan. They never count toward your included customers and never create a customer record.
What it will never do
You are handing your phone to something that talks to your customers when you are not there. These are the lines it does not cross in garage door, and the words it uses instead.
It never talks anyone through a spring
A torsion spring under tension is the part of this trade that puts people in hospital. The agent will suggest the manual release and nothing else — it does not explain how to wind, unwind, replace or “just have a look at” a spring, however insistent the caller is.
What it actually says
“I'd really rather you didn't touch the spring — those are under a lot of tension. Leave it as it is and we'll have someone there this afternoon.”
A door off its track is a transfer
A door hanging off the track with the spring still loaded is not a booking. It is escalated to you directly, and the caller is told to keep people and vehicles out from under it until someone arrives.
What it actually says
“Please keep everyone out of the garage and don't try to move it. I'm getting hold of the on-call technician now.”
It quotes the service call and nothing further
It states your service-call fee because that is fixed. A spring set, a panel or an opener replacement all depend on what is actually up there, and a price invented on the phone is a price your technician has to argue down in the driveway.
What it actually says
“The service call's $79 and it comes off the repair. What the parts cost depends on what's actually gone — that's what the visit's for.”
The job lands where you already work
Google, Outlook, Apple, Exchange, CalDAV — whichever calendar you already keep. Then your payments, your CRM, and whatever you automate with.
…and a lot more besides
- Warm transfersWarm transfersAnnounced — who is calling and why, before you take the line.
- Spam never billedSpam never billedRobocalls are spotted, zero-rated, and never become a customer.
- A number per sourceA number per sourceVan, yard sign, Google listing — see which line brings the work.
- Team & on-callTeam & on-callTries you, then a second number, then whoever is on call.
- Run it by textRun it by textReply to a text to move a job, block a morning, clear a day.
- Clear a day, everyone toldClear a day, everyone toldCall off a wet Tuesday; every customer is told and re-offered.
- Never invents an answerNever invents an answerNo price or slot it was not given. It takes a message instead.
- Any trade, no codeAny trade, no codeGoal, questions and guardrails are settings, not a rebuild.
What garage door companies say before they say yes
Three objections, in the words they are usually put in. Where the objection is right, it says so.
“Everyone says it's an emergency. It can't tell the difference.”
It asks the one question that decides it: is there a car trapped inside. A stuck vehicle or a door left open overnight is same-day; a door that is noisy or slow is not. You set where that line sits and it applies it the same way at seven in the morning as at four in the afternoon.
“It'll talk someone into touching a spring.”
Never. It will walk a caller to the manual release, which frees a trapped car in thirty seconds and is safe. It will not describe, explain or encourage anything involving a torsion spring, however hard the caller pushes — that is the part of this trade that puts people in hospital.
“All our calls arrive in the same hour. That's the problem.”
That is the hour a single phone line fails. Springs break overnight and get found at seven by thirty people who are already late, and every one is same-day. Answered in parallel they arrive as a sequenced day, instead of one answered call and twenty-nine voicemails.
Garage door questions, answered
What garage door companies ask before handing over their phone number — and what a garage door answering service can and cannot do for you.
Will it talk a customer through fixing it themselves?
Only the manual release, which frees a trapped car safely and takes thirty seconds. It will not go near a spring — torsion springs under tension are the part of this trade that injures people, and no answering service should be describing them over the phone.
How does it know whether to book same-day?
It asks whether a car is trapped and whether the door is stuck open. A trapped vehicle or an open garage overnight is same-day; a door that is noisy or slow is not. You set where that line sits and it applies it consistently.
Can it tell whether it's a spring or an opener?
It captures the symptoms that distinguish them — does it lift at all, does it reverse partway, is there a bang before it stopped — and records the opener make. It does not tell the customer which it is. That is enough for you to send the right van with the right parts.
Does it handle commercial doors as well?
Yes, with different questions. A commercial roller shutter caller gets asked about access, whether the premises can be secured and whether the door is on a loading bay that has to stay operational; a homeowner does not.
What happens to the calls about a new door?
They are qualified and booked as a measure, not treated as a repair. Width, door type, whether the opening is standard and whether they want an opener with it — captured, then a site visit put in the calendar.
Do I have to change how I work?
No. Reply to a text to move a job, block a morning, or clear a day, and every affected customer is told automatically. Most of our users never open the dashboard.
What does it cost?
Three paid rungs — Starter, Professional and Business — differing only in how many unique customers you answer for in a month. Call flows, technicians and full call history are unlimited on all of them. Robocalls are identified and never billed.
Already decided you want AI to answer it?
Then the question is which one, and that is a different page: what a generic AI receptionist gets wrong on a garage door call, and what is configurable about this one.
Not your trade?
The agent's questions, urgency rules, escalations and vocabulary are all configuration. Nothing about a trade is hard-coded, which is why there are 31 of these and not one.