Who is calling, and what do they need?
Drivers call to arrange service, ask whether a vehicle is ready, or discuss work already approved. Separate new service requests from status calls so technicians are not the default switchboard.
Keep the top-level menu in the caller’s language. In Auto Attendant each option does one thing: it rings up to three phones one after another (each for 10 to 60 seconds, never together), takes a voicemail, or plays a message and hangs up. Point each option at the person, or the shared phone, that actually handles this call, and add a backup only where a missed call costs you.
How auto repair shop calls actually go
Auto repair calls come in three flavours: someone whose car will not start or is making a worrying noise, someone asking for a price, and a customer checking whether their car is ready. The third kind is the most common and the cheapest to handle if it has its own key, because the answer is on the work order, not in anyone’s head.
A busy service desk cannot answer while handling a customer at the counter. Pointing the booking option at the service desk phone, with voicemail transcripts for the rest, avoids forcing a customer to leave a cold message when the shop is open. Be careful about the opening-hours line: customers call at 7 a.m. for drop-off.
Recommended menu
| Caller’s choice | Role to ring | What it does | Why this route |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Schedule service | service desk | Rings one phone | The service desk phone begins a booking without pulling a technician off a car. |
| 2. Vehicle currently at the shop | service adviser | Rings one phone | The adviser can find the right work order after answering. |
| 3. Parts or supplier call | shop coordinator | Rings one phone | A direct office route keeps supplier calls away from customer booking. |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Shaded text is a fill-in field: replace it with your own.
This example uses 3 menu options. Auto Attendant allows up to seven; add an option only when it sends a distinct kind of caller to a meaningfully different destination. A call that rings every phone you listed without an answer goes to voicemail. The menu can be in English, French or Spanish, and a line can also skip the menu and go straight to one action.
Greeting script
Business name. To schedule service, press 1. If your vehicle is already at the shop, press 2. For a parts or supplier call, press 3.
Shaded text is a fill-in field: replace it with your own.
25 words, about 10 seconds spoken at 150 words per minute. The estimate is calculated from the script above; allow extra time for pauses and clear delivery.
Read each reason before its key, as in “For a new enquiry, press 1”. Replace the shaded fields and any role or service wording before you type the greeting into the menu; a text-to-speech voice reads it to callers.
A worked example
Illustration: a four-bay shop offers 1 for a repair or diagnosis, 2 for a vehicle already in the shop, 3 for parts and billing. Option 2 rings the service advisor. The voicemail for option 1 asks for make, model, year and the symptom, so that the advisor can quote a diagnostic slot before calling back.
The usual gap is the vehicle-ready call: customers call five times because nobody tells them when the car will be done. A route that reaches the advisor, with a text from the shop’s own phone as soon as the work is complete, removes the repeat calls without any new software.
After hours, weekends, and holidays
Say when the shop reopens and whether vehicle-status messages will be reviewed then. Give any agreed drop-off instructions in a separate, current message.
Check opening hours around holidays and state the next time the service desk is staffed. Do not promise an update while the shop is closed.
Outside the hours you set, Auto Attendant plays your closed message and then takes a voicemail or ends the call; it does not forward calls after hours, and holidays are closed all day. Where the advice above mentions an on-call route, either keep that person’s option within your set hours or give the arrangement in the closed message.
Check the greeting after every schedule change. A voicemail arrives by email with the recording attached and a transcript when one is produced, but it does not make the call live or guarantee a response time.
Rules and standards worth knowing
Shops often text customers estimates for approval or notify them when work is complete. Messages sent to customers by automated means can fall under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which sets consent rules for certain calls and texts 1. Auto Attendant places no outgoing calls or texts; this applies to what your staff send afterwards, so get clear consent at the service desk.
If the shop records calls, federal law allows recording where one party consents 2, but many states require all parties to agree, which the Reporters Committee’s state guide summarises 3. Voicemail callers know they are leaving a message; do not extend that assumption to live calls you record elsewhere.
Shop licensing and registration rules are set by states, and the SBA’s guide to licences and permits points you to the right office 4. Accessibility duties for businesses open to the public include effective communication 5; a published email address and a relay-friendly number help customers who cannot use a voice menu.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ by state and change; confirm anything that affects your business with the source or an adviser.
Common menu mistakes
- Sending all calls to technicians during repair work.
- Routing vehicle-status calls to the booking desk without a way to identify the work order.
- Leaving drop-off instructions active after procedures change.
Keep the greeting short, use the same names callers see elsewhere, and make sure every route has a sensible end when nobody picks up.
Check the menu before you publish it
- Give vehicle-ready calls their own key and a named owner.
- Prompt new-repair callers for make, model, year and symptom.
- Decide who sends the “your car is ready” text and obtain consent at the desk.
- Check the opening-hours line against the early drop-off window.
- Confirm that billing calls do not ring the advisor.
Related guides and templates
- Moving company: phone menu guide
- Fitness studio: phone menu guide
- Salon or barbershop: phone menu guide
- Cleaning service: phone menu guide
- Appointment-based business: call-flow template
- Lunch-hour greeting: call-flow template
- General voicemail greeting: call-flow template
- One-person office: call-flow template
- Call routing and menu design
- Missed calls and what they cost
Further reading
Longer research pieces on this topic, each with its own source list and a downloadable PDF.
Articles on this topic
Topics Small business phone Auto attendant Call forwarding Voicemail All topics
Sources
Every regulatory and pricing claim on this page links to the primary source it came from. Figures were checked on the date shown at the top of the page; rules and prices change, so verify before relying on one.
- 47 U.S.C. § 227, Restrictions on use of telephone equipment (Telephone Consumer Protection Act). Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/227 - 18 U.S.C. § 2511, Interception and disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications prohibited (one-party consent exception). Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511 - Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Reporter’s Recording Guide (state-by-state recording consent laws). Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.rcfp.org/reporters-recording-guide/ - US Small Business Administration, Apply for licenses and permits. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/launch-your-business/apply-licenses-permits - ADA.gov, ADA Requirements: Effective Communication. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.ada.gov/resources/effective-communication/