The phone rings on the job site.
fonea picks up.
When the drill is running, the phone rings into the void — and the job goes to the competitor. fonea answers every call, distinguishes a burst pipe from a routine service, captures quote requests with structure, and books site visits straight into your calendar.
What is fonea for Swiss trades?
fonea is an AI phone assistant that answers calls at Swiss trades businesses 24/7, routes emergencies like burst pipes or heating failure to your on-call number immediately, captures quote requests with structure, and books site visits in your calendar — FADP-compliant with data hosted in Switzerland.
The job-site reality
Why tradespeople structurally lose jobs
You cannot hold a drill and a phone at once
Boss on the roof, journeyman under the sink, apprentice on scaffolding — and the phone rings. The three peak windows (07:30–08:30, lunch, 16:00–18:00) hit exactly when nobody can pick up.
30,000 Swiss trades businesses
Voicemail loses 70% of first-time callers
Over 70% of first-time callers leave no message. They dial the next number from Google. The call is gone before you ever saw it.
85% never call back
One lost job = a full year of fonea
Plumbing CHF 500–2,000 per visit, electrical CHF 3,000–10,000, carpentry CHF 5,000–20,000. A single missed large job per year covers fonea several times over.
CHF 4,800–18,000 lost/month
What changes
How fonea relieves your trades business
Every call is picked up
Whether you are under the tub, on the roof, or unloading materials — fonea answers, asks the right questions, and summarises.
Emergencies land on your mobile instantly
Keywords like "burst pipe", "heating failure", or "power outage" trigger direct transfer to your on-call number. The high-margin emergency jobs no longer go to the competitor.
Site visits booked without callback ping-pong
fonea sees your calendar and books site visits, consultations, and service appointments directly. No more phone tag between job-site breaks.
Set up in 30 minutes
How we configure fonea for your business
Kick-off
We capture your trade, services, and service radius (e.g. plumbing, 30 km around Lucerne).
On-call routing
We define the keywords that trigger instant transfer: burst pipe, gas smell, power outage, heating failure. Primary and backup on-call numbers registered.
Integration
Connect to Google Calendar or Microsoft 365. Call forwarding via Swisscom, Sunrise, or Salt — no number change, no new hardware.
Go-live
Test calls for quotes, emergencies, and standard service. Fine-tune scripts. You stay in control and can schedule the assistant by time of day.
Typical call scenarios
How fonea handles trades calls in practice
Emergency burst pipe
fonea recognises the urgency, gives an immediate safety instruction, and connects directly to the on-call number. If unanswered, an urgent SMS and email are dispatched.
Quote request
Structured capture of the key facts for a quote. You do not start from zero, you start with a qualified inquiry that flows straight into your estimating process.
On-site appointment
Direct calendar booking during the call. No callback needed, no lost lead between two trips to the job site.
FADP, data hosted in Switzerland
Why fonea is the right partner for tradespeople
Data hosted in Switzerland
All persistent data (customer data, call logs, transcripts) is hosted with our Swiss infrastructure partner Supabase. Customer data does not leave Switzerland persistently.
Transparent subprocessors
Full list of all vendors (Supabase, Telnyx, ElevenLabs, Google, Anthropic, OpenAI) with data residency and DPF status. 30-day advance notice on every change.
FDPIC-compliant AI disclosure
Every caller is informed at the start of the call that an AI system is handling the call. This announcement cannot be disabled — it is part of our compliance DNA.
You stay in control
Escalation paths, on-call numbers, and scripts are yours to adjust. Monthly cancellation, no minimum term, no hardware investment.
Pricing
Transparent pricing
Included
- 120 minutes AI talk time included
- DE, FR, IT, EN, ES + Swiss German
- Calendar integration & appointment booking
- AI answering machine 24/7
- Interactive AI for customer service
- Email & SMS notifications
- Cancel monthly, no commitment
Included
- 500 minutes AI talk time
- 3 concurrent calls
- 3 phone numbers
- Unlimited assistants
- Unlimited users
Features
- Everything in Basic
- Outbound calls
Included
- From 2,000 minutes
- Custom concurrent calls
- Custom phone numbers
- Unlimited assistants
- Unlimited users
Features
- Everything in Professional
- Custom voice
- Zero Data Retention
- Custom SLA
Frequently asked
What tradespeople should know before using fonea
Can fonea tell an emergency apart from a routine inquiry?
Yes. You define keywords that trigger instant transfer: burst pipe, gas smell, power outage, heating failure, pipe burst. "My tap is dripping" stays a normal service inquiry. "The kitchen is flooded" triggers immediate transfer to the on-call number. The distinction is based on your criteria, not generic rules.
What if I have no reception on the job site and cannot call back?
fonea answers calls on your business number regardless of where you are. After each call you receive a structured summary via push or email: who called, what they want, how urgent it is. As soon as you have reception, you see everything at a glance and decide whom to call back when.
Does fonea understand Swiss German and trade jargon?
Yes. fonea understands all Swiss German dialects and replies in High German or Swiss Standard German. Trade terminology (residual-current device, vapour barrier, pipe lining, heat exchanger) is configured during setup. French, Italian, English, and Spanish are also available — useful for callers from Romandy, Ticino, or clients with international workers.
Is fonea FADP-compliant for small trades businesses?
Yes. All persistent data (customer name, address, job details) is hosted in Switzerland at Supabase. Transient voice processing (STT, LLM, TTS) runs on European servers in Germany with DPF or SCC safeguards. The revised FADP (effective 1 September 2023) and the GDPR are fully respected. The complete subprocessor list is at fonea.ch/subprocessors.
How much setup effort is this for a small business?
Setup takes about 30 minutes. We configure fonea with you: greeting, services, service radius, on-call keywords, and calendar integration. Test calls and fine-tuning happen live — no IT skills required, no hardware, no number change. Call forwarding runs via Swisscom, Sunrise, or Salt.
Does fonea pay off even with few calls per month?
The math is simple: an average trades job is CHF 800–5,000, a single missed large job is CHF 20,000+. If fonea wins you even one additional job per quarter, you have the annual cost back several times over. Break-even sits below one extra job per year.
Can I enable fonea only for fringe hours and job-site days?
Yes. Many trades businesses use fonea selectively for the hours when nobody can be on the phone: during job-site work, lunch, evenings, weekends, and holidays. When your office person is there, you can switch fonea off or run it as overflow when several calls come in simultaneously.
Can fonea also handle inquiries from architects and general contractors?
Yes. fonea recognises from context whether a private client or a business customer is calling and adapts its questions. For business inquiries it captures project name, scope, timeframe, and contact person. You receive a structured summary that flows directly into your estimating process.
Further reading
Handwerk: Kein Auftrag mehr verpasst
KI-Telefonassistent für Schweizer Handwerker: Aufträge annehmen, Notdienst-Anrufe weiterleiten, Offerten qualifizieren. Sanitär, Elektro, Schreinerei.
Verpasste Anrufe: Was sie Ihr KMU wirklich kosten
Verpasste Anrufe kosten Schweizer KMU je nach Branche CHF 3000 bis CHF 80000 pro Monat. Die ehrliche Branchenrechnung mit konkreten CHF-Zahlen.
Aussendienst: Erreichbar trotz Kundenterminen
KI-Telefonassistent für Aussendienstler: Anrufe qualifizieren, priorisieren und zusammenfassen. Ab CHF 90/Monat, DSG-konform.