Catbird SeatHow contractors scale.
How it works

One number. One crew. One app in your pocket.

Your customers call the same number they always have. The crew picks up, writes everything down and puts it on your phone before you've climbed off the roof. Here's what happens on a call, what you see in the app, and how we get your shop set up.

On a call

The phone rings. You keep working.

Every call to your shop, day or night, goes the same way.

Front Desk Fran picks up

Answered with your shop's name, every time.

Fran answers like she's been at your front desk for years. She gets the caller's name, the address, what's wrong and how bad it is, the way you would.

  • She knows your regulars. When a customer calls back, she already knows it's the upstairs unit you fixed in June.
  • She handles the calls that aren't jobs, too. The supply house, the inspector and your mom each get a message taken and put where it belongs.
  • If it's an emergency, she flags it so you hear about it right away.
Call answered by Fran7:42 PM
Linda P. · returning customerTrane 3-ton upstairs, capacitor replaced in June.
Address
118 Elm Street
Problem
AC blowing warm, upstairs
Urgency
Today
Wants
A visit tomorrow morning
Your phone buzzes

What Fran heard, before you're off the roof.

Every call shows up as a notification on every phone in the shop, with the name, the problem and what the customer wants. Tap it and the whole call is there: a summary, the recording and the transcript.

The customer gets a text recap of what they asked for, so they know your shop heard them and nobody calls the next shop on the list.

Catbird Seat nowLinda P., 118 Elm St. AC blowing warm upstairs. Wants tomorrow AM.
Text to Linda P.7:44 PM

Thanks for calling, Linda. We've got your AC blowing warm upstairs at 118 Elm St. We'll confirm a time for tomorrow morning shortly.

Example. The recap is written for each call.

Call back without phone tag

Tap call back. Your phone rings first.

When you want to talk to a customer yourself, tap call back in the app. Your phone rings, Fran tells you who you're about to talk to, and then she dials the customer and greets them with your shop's name. If you can't take it after all, she tells the customer someone will be in touch.

The call back is recorded and written up on the customer's file, same as the first call. If it goes to voicemail, you'll know.

Call back · Linda P.8:05 PM
Your phone rings8:05:02
Fran: "This is Linda P. on Elm, about the AC."8:05:09
Fran dials Linda and greets her8:05:14
Connected8:05:21

Written up after the call: "Will be there 8 to 10 AM. Linda asked for a text when the tech is on the way."

In the app

The office, on your phone.

Everything the crew does lands in one app. It installs from your browser to your home screen, sends notifications like any other app, and works the same for you, your techs and whoever helps with the books.

Today

What needs you, and nothing that doesn't.

New calls, callers who are waiting on you, and the to-dos your shop owes customers from earlier calls. The crew keeps the list. You work it from the truck.

TodayTuesday
Linda P. · AC blowing warmNew · 7:42 PM
Ray D. · wants a quote on a new unitCall back
Send Priya the filter sizeTo-do, from Monday
Johnstone Supply · coil is inMessage
The customer file

Every call, text and visit in one place.

Each customer gets a file with a short digest at the top: who they are, what equipment they have and what you did last time. Below it, every call, text and job, in order.

The crew never quietly overwrites what you know. If a caller says something different from what's on file, a new address or a different unit, it's flagged for you to decide.

Linda P.Customer since 2024
Digest118 Elm Street. Trane 3-ton upstairs, Carrier furnace downstairs. Prefers texts. Capacitor replaced in June.
Call · AC blowing warmToday
Text · confirmed tune-upJun 12
Job · capacitor replacementJun 10

Linda mentioned a new address on today's call. Keep 118 Elm, or update?

Book it

From call to booked job in a tap.

From any call, tap Book it. Pick the truck and the window, and Dispatch Dotty writes the Ticket and drafts the confirmation text for the customer. Your trucks and who drives them are set up once, so jobs land on the right one.

Book it · Linda P.From today's call
Truck
Truck 2 · Dale
Window
Tomorrow, 8–10 AM
Ticket
No cooling upstairs, Trane 3-ton

You're booked for tomorrow, 8 to 10 AM. Reply C to confirm.

Edit textBook and send
The Board and the Books

Every truck's day, and every dollar, without a desk.

On the Board, Dotty lays out every truck's day on one screen, keeps it on time, and tells you when a window you promised a customer is at risk.

In the Books, Back Office Betty drafts the invoice from the finished ticket and keeps QuickBooks in step. Nothing goes out to a customer until you tap.

The BoardTomorrow
Truck 1 · Marcus3 jobs
Truck 2 · DaleLinda P. 8–10 AM, +2
Truck 3 · RayTune-ups all day

Truck 2 is running long. Linda's 8–10 window is at risk. Text her a new time?

Getting set up

Real people set it up with you.

You don't configure software. A person at Catbird Seat walks your shop through it, and keeps checking the crew's work after you go live.

  1. We learn your shop.

    What you fix, where you drive, your hours, and what counts as an emergency at 2 AM.

  2. We set up the crew.

    Fran learns your shop's name and your rules. Your trucks and who drives them go into the app.

  3. You test it.

    Call in as your own customer. Anything Fran says that doesn't sound like your shop, we change before the next call.

  4. Your number goes live.

    Customers keep calling the number they already have. The crew picks up, and we keep an eye on it with you.

Built for HVAC first. Plumbing and electrical shops run the same way: calls, tickets, trucks and invoices. See if it fits your shop →

Hear it before you believe it.

Call Fran's demo line and play a customer with the AC out on a Saturday night. It takes about two minutes.