The office and the vans on one number
Jobs come in by call, text and WhatsApp. The office assigns them in one inbox. Engineers text customers from the business number on their own phones, and your job software sends the updates. Nobody hands out a personal mobile, and no customer lives in one person's pocket.
From £4 a month. Pay only for the calls and texts you use. No minimum term.
Hi Mrs Hale, you're booked in with Ridgeway Heating for Thursday at 10:15. We'll text when the engineer is on the way. Reply here to change it.
£4,576
a month in jobs that go to whoever answers next
- Missed calls a month
- 52
- Lost jobs a month
- 21
- Over a year
- £54,912
One job you win back pays for more than a year of the Line Starter plan.
Quick answers
- What does Line do for a field service business?
- It puts the office and every engineer on one business number. Calls, texts, WhatsApp messages and web chats land in a shared inbox, get assigned to an engineer, and the customer hears back from the same number every time.
- Can engineers text customers without using their own number?
- Yes. The Line app on their own phone sends from the business number. The customer never sees a personal mobile, and the office sees every message.
- Can our job-management software send the texts?
- Yes. Connect it through the SMS API, Zapier, Make or n8n. Booking confirmations and job-done texts then go out from your number when a job changes status.
From the first call to the review
Every stage of a job has a message attached. Line makes sure it comes from the business, reaches the right person and stays on the record.
Every request in one queue
Calls, texts, WhatsApp and web chat land in the shared inbox, one thread per customer. The office sees every new job, whoever it came in to.
Assign the job, hand over the thread
Assign a conversation to an engineer and they get the whole history: address, fault, photos and the office's notes.
The business number in every van
Engineers call and text from the Line app on their own phone. When someone leaves, you remove their access and the customers stay with you.
See the fault before you set off
Customers send photos over WhatsApp: the error code, the leak, the fuse board. The engineer knows which parts to load before starting the van.
Updates from your job software
When a job is booked, moved or closed, your software calls the SMS API and the customer gets the text from your number. Nobody has to remember.
Missed calls on site get a reply
Hands full up a ladder? The caller gets a text straight away, and their reply lands in the inbox for the office to pick up.
Set up in an afternoon
No engineer, no hardware, no contract. Three steps from sign-up to your first call.
- 1
Put everyone on the number
Invite the office team and every engineer. Each person installs the app and answers as the business.
- 2
Bring the channels in
Connect WhatsApp and Web Chat, ring the office group first on calls, and switch on the missed-call text.
- 3
Connect your job software
Send booking, on-the-way and job-done texts through the SMS API or Zapier, or let engineers send them by hand from the app.
Morning. The boiler is showing F22 and we've no heating. Photo of the display attached.
WhatsApp · 07:48Assigned by Kerry in the office
Assigned to Tom for the 10:15 slot. He can see the photo, the address and last year's service note.
Hi Mrs Hale, it's Tom from Ridgeway Heating. I'm on my way and should be with you at about 10:15.
Tom · SMS from the business numberBrilliant, thank you. The side gate is open.
Job closed in the job software
Job-done text with the review link sent from the business number through the SMS API.
A day between the office and the vans
What happens to each message, and who deals with it.
| When this happens | Line does this | So you get |
|---|---|---|
| 7:48am: a customer sends a WhatsApp photo of an error code | The office assigns the thread to the engineer with a free slot at ten. | The engineer sees the fault before leaving and brings the right part. |
| An engineer is under a sink when a new customer rings | The call rings the office group, not the engineer. If nobody picks up, the caller gets a text from the business number. | The enquiry waits in the inbox, not in someone's missed calls. |
| The first job of the day runs over | The engineer texts the next customer a new arrival time from the app. | The customer hears it from the business, and the office can see it was sent. |
| A job is marked complete in the job software | The software calls the SMS API and sends a thank-you text with the review link. | Every customer is asked for a review, every time. |
| An engineer leaves the business | The office removes their access to Line. | Their customer conversations stay in the inbox, and the customers still ring your number. |
Engineers' own mobiles, an office landline, or one shared number
How most small field teams handle customer contact today, and what changes when the office and the vans share one number.
| Engineers' own mobiles | Office landline and callbacks | Line | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The number customers save | Whichever engineer they met | The office, who then ring the engineer | The business number, whoever they speak to |
| Who sees a new job request | Only the engineer it went to | Whoever answered the office phone | The whole team, in the shared inbox |
| Photos of the fault | On the engineer's personal WhatsApp | Emailed in, if at all | In the customer's thread, sent over WhatsApp |
| On-my-way and running-late updates | From a personal number, if the engineer remembers | The office phones the customer | From the business number, sent by the engineer or your job software |
| Missed calls on site | A voicemail checked at lunch | Rings out when the office is busy | An instant text back, with the reply in the inbox |
| When an engineer leaves | Their customers leave with them | History sits in a notebook or someone's head | Remove their access. The threads stay |
Worth knowing
Questions people ask
Straight answers on setup, limits, and what it costs.
Related
WhatsApp for business
Take job requests and photos on WhatsApp, in the shared inbox.
SMS API
Send job updates from your own software.
Shared inbox
Assign every call and message to the right engineer.
Line for tradespeople
How trades run the phones from the van.
Last reviewed . Sources: ICO, electronic and telephone marketing guidance.
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