Who is calling, and what do they need?
Prospective clients describe a project, current clients ask about progress, and subcontractors or suppliers may need a site contact. Keep the public menu focused on the callers the business wants to serve.
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 general contractor calls actually go
A general contractor’s phone serves three groups that rarely overlap: homeowners deciding whether to hire the firm, subcontractors and suppliers chasing schedules and payments, and clients with a project underway. Without a menu, the owner personally becomes the switchboard for all three, usually from a job site.
The most valuable thing a menu does here is take the subcontractor and supplier traffic off the sales line. Those callers know their own mobile route and need a simple office contact; new clients need a person who can talk about scope and budget. Keeping them apart improves both experiences.
Recommended menu
| Caller’s choice | Role to ring | What it does | Why this route |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. New project enquiry | project intake lead | Rings one phone | One intake contact can qualify the type of work and arrange a conversation. |
| 2. Current project | project coordinator | Rings one phone | One destination helps existing clients reach the person coordinating updates. |
| 3. Supplier or subcontractor | site coordinator | Rings one phone | One coordinator redirects job-site calls, so suppliers never need a personal number. |
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. For a new project enquiry, press 1. If you are already a client, press 2. For a supplier or subcontractor 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 residential remodelling firm offers 1 for a new project enquiry, 2 for current clients, 3 for subcontractors and suppliers. Option 1 rings the project coordinator. Option 3 goes to the office manager only. The voicemail for option 1 asks for the address, the type of project, and whether the home was built before 1978, because that affects how the estimate is prepared.
A common gap is that nobody owns the after-hours message. A client calling at 6 p.m. about a water leak under their new kitchen sink is not an enquiry; the closed-hours message should say who to call for something that cannot wait until morning.
After hours, weekends, and holidays
State office hours and whether a current job has an on-call site contact. Direct routine estimates and project updates to voicemail outside staffed hours.
Check which active sites have a named contact before listing weekend coverage. Use the next office opening time for general enquiries.
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
Contractors who renovate, repair or paint housing built before 1978 may fall under EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting program, which requires certified firms and lead-safe work practices in covered work 1. That is why asking about the age of the home on first contact is a useful voicemail prompt.
Construction work carries fall hazards, and OSHA’s fall-protection standard sets a six-foot trigger on construction sites 2. The menu consequence is the same as for roofers: field phones are for the office to reach the crew, not for customers to reach a person on a scaffold.
Contractor licensing is set by states and often by local authorities. The Small Business Administration’s guidance on licences and permits is a place to start 3. Do not state a licence number or class in a greeting unless it is current and exactly right; a wrong claim is worse than none.
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
- Building the menu around internal departments rather than caller situations.
- Letting every prospective project ring the site supervisor.
- Promising a project update from an unmonitored voicemail.
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
- Create a separate key for subcontractors and suppliers.
- Make the new-project voicemail ask for address, project type and age of the home.
- Decide who answers a leak or damage report outside office hours.
- Confirm any licence statement in the greeting against the issuing authority.
- Test the menu from a job site with weak reception.
Related guides and templates
- Roofing company: phone menu guide
- Plumbing business: phone menu guide
- Electrician: phone menu guide
- Landscaping business: phone menu guide
- Property management company: phone menu guide
- Main business greeting: call-flow template
- Service versus sales submenu: call-flow template
- Field crew dispatch: call-flow template
- Call routing and menu design
- Small-business phone system setup
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.
- EPA, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.epa.gov/lead/renovation-repair-and-painting-program - 29 CFR § 1926.501, Duty to have fall protection (OSHA construction standard). Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/1926.501 - 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