Hey Ella is the AI voice receptionist from Ella Works. Answers every call in your voice, books leads while you're on the tools, transfers to your mobile when it matters. From A$99/month. Live in 7 minutes.
If you're on the tools, you can't always pick up. The numbers on what that costs are not subtle.
5 missed calls a week × A$800 average job × 30% conversion = A$62,400 in lost work, every year. Most tradies don't realise the number until they see it written down.
If you don't pick up, most callers don't bother with voicemail. They Google the next bloke on the list and book him. You never knew they called.
You charge by the hour for skilled work. Stopping to answer the phone five times a day costs you billable hours and breaks the rhythm of the job.
Hey Ella picks up before the third ring, books the enquiry, and lands the lead in your dashboard with a transcript and AI summary.
You pick a local AU number on signup. Forward your existing business line to it, or hand it out as your direct line — your call.
In your voice, with your business name, with your tone. Caller never hears a phone tree, never hears hold music, never hears "press 1 for…".
Hey Ella captures their name, suburb, scope of work, urgency, and best contact number. Asks the right follow-ups for your trade. Doesn't quote — that's still you.
Full transcript. AI summary. Category (kitchen / bathroom / emergency / warranty / quote enquiry). Ready for you to call back the moment you climb off the ladder.
Pick what fits today. Upgrade when you need more calls or more features. Final dollars finalising Q3 2026 — early-bird pricing locks for the life of your account.
Solo tradies, sole traders. ~80 calls a month is plenty.
Best for 2–10 staff trade businesses. Multi-team routing + caller-confirmation SMS.
Trade businesses scaling, multi-location, or hitting the call cap on Pro.
Want more than just the receptionist? The full Ella Works platform launches Q4 2026 — multi-trade quoting, supplier packs, customer portal, trade portal. Tiers from A$549/mo (Trade Specialist) to A$1,799/mo (Residential Builder) plus Enterprise custom. See platform pricing + join the waitlist →
Three things Hey Ella does that the global AI receptionists can't.
Trained on Australian English, knows the difference between a hot water system and a hot water service, doesn't mistake "no worries" for an actual concern.
Hey Ella knows what HWS, RCD trip, and "the roof's sprung a leak" mean. Doesn't waste your customers' time asking them to spell common trade jargon.
When you outgrow the receptionist, the rest is already built. Multi-trade quoting, supplier packs, customer portal, trade portal — one upgrade away.
The real-world numbers a tradie pays elsewhere for the same volume of calls.
| Option | Monthly cost (~80 calls) | Trade integrations | 24/7 | AU-built |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hey Ella Starter | A$99 | 5 native (ServiceM8 / Tradify-bridge / AroFlo / simPRO / Fergus) | ||
| OfficeHQ (AU human, MyReceptionist 15) | ~A$298 (with 65 overage calls) | None | ||
| VirtualHQ (AU human, VR 100) | A$345 | None | ||
| TransferToAI (AU AI) | A$99 | 1 (ServiceM8 only) | ||
| Johnni AI MINI (AU AI) | A$99 (pricing not on their site) | Multiple, opaque | ||
| Sophiie AI (AU AI, multi-vertical) | ~A$300/mo + ~A$800 setup | ServiceM8 | ||
| Smith.ai AI Starter (US) | ~A$137 | Generic CRMs only | ||
| Goodcall Starter (US) | ~A$114 | Zapier-only for AU trades | ||
| Office Shed (AU human, tradie-specialist VA) | From A$997/mo | ServiceM8 + Tradify trained | 8:30am–5pm only |
Each step is ≤30 seconds on a mobile screen. Hey Ella places a test call to your phone before you finish, so you hear it answer with your business name.
Business name, ABN (auto-fetched), trade type, suburbs you service. ~60 seconds.
Drop your website + Facebook page + Google profile. We scrape them in the background to build Hey Ella's knowledge while you finish setup. ~30 seconds.
Pre-filled from the scrape — your services, suburbs, key offerings. Tweak if needed. ~45 seconds.
Business hours grid, your transfer mobile, after-hours behaviour. ~60 seconds.
Pick a voice (4 options, tap to preview), tone (friendly / professional / no-nonsense), greeting line. ~60 seconds.
Choose from a list of available local numbers in your area code. ~30 seconds.
Hey Ella rings your mobile so you hear it answer with your business name. ~60 seconds.
Yes. The cleanest setup is to forward your existing line to your new Hey Ella AU number — Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, all the major AU carriers support call forwarding. Your customers keep dialling the number they know; Hey Ella picks up. Long term, you can also port your number to us if you want.
Yes — book a 5-minute demo and we'll place a live test call. No script, no slides. You hear the AI answer the phone in real-time and respond to whatever you say. Most tradies are honestly surprised at how natural it sounds.
Hey Ella runs 24/7. You configure what happens when calls come in outside your hours: take the message, offer to book a call-back, or transfer through to your mobile if it's an emergency keyword (e.g. "burst pipe", "no power"). All set in the dashboard.
You set the rules. Default: emergencies, complaints, callers asking for you by name, or the "low confidence" trigger (Hey Ella is unsure how to help) — all transfer to your mobile. Quote enquiries, scheduling, FAQ-type questions are handled by Hey Ella and land in your inbox. You can change the rules any time.
Yes, calls are transcribed and recordings are kept. The default greeting includes "this call may be recorded for quality" — required in SA, VIC, WA where two-party consent applies. We brief the legal positioning per state during onboarding so you're never on the wrong side of the Privacy Act.
Anytime, from the dashboard. Add Q&A pairs, update business hours, change services, tweak the system prompt. Changes are live within seconds — no waiting for retraining.
Hey Ella defaults to "let me get back to you on that" rather than guessing. The question gets flagged in your dashboard so you can either answer the customer directly or add the answer to the knowledge base for next time.
No. Hey Ella is inbound-only. The Crew tier adds outbound capability for things like missed-call call-backs and quote follow-ups, but you control exactly what runs and when. We don't do telemarketing — that's a different category of product entirely.
Yes, all five are native integrations included in every Hey Ella tier (Tradify is currently via an email/SMS bridge since they don't have a public API yet — we'll move to native the day they ship one). Your captured leads land directly into your existing trade software with no copy-paste.
Anytime. No lock-in. Month-to-month billing. Your data exports on request. Your AU number can port out to another provider if you want to keep it. We'd rather lose you cleanly than hold you hostage.
Matt. Directly. (08) 7228 6801. Hey Ella is built and run by Ella Construction Group, the Adelaide builder who built it for our own business first. Real human, real phone, real answers.
Be on the wave-one list. Onboarding through Q4 2026. Early-bird pricing locks in for the life of the account.
Request Early AccessOr call Matt directly: (08) 7228 6801
