Collision Front Desk
An AI receptionist for body shops answers a different phone.
A mechanical shop's phone rings with a noise complaint and a time request. A collision shop's phone rings with a person standing next to a damaged car, an adjuster with a question about a supplement, or a customer on day nine of a rental who wants to know one specific thing. Same technology, completely different call set. The call set has to come first.
The Call Set
Seven calls a collision shop gets, and what each one actually requires.
Each row below is a real call type with a different required outcome. Two columns matter: what the receptionist must capture before the call ends, and what has to reach a person while the caller is still on the line. Getting the second column wrong loses a shop a customer.
A new accident
HIGHEST STAKESIs the car drivable, is anyone hurt, where is the car, who else is involved, has the insurer been notified, and a callback number that works. Drivability, injury and location decide everything, in that order.
Any mention of an injury, any question about fault, and any request for a tow the shop does not control. A tow is a commitment about time and money, so a person takes it.
A DRP or insurer referral
ROUTING SENSITIVEWhich insurer, the claim number if one exists, whether the caller is the policyholder or the insurer, the referring adjuster's name, and whether the car is being directed here specifically. "My insurance told me to call you" and "my insurance is sending me to you" are different intakes.
Any call where the insurer is asking the shop to accept or decline a job, and any referral outside normal intake hours. Accepting a DRP job is a manager's decision.
A status call from a customer in a rental
HIGHEST VOLUMEThe vehicle, so the answer is about the right car, and what the caller actually wants: whether the part arrived, whether the insurer approved the supplement, whether it will be done Friday. Three different questions, and a generic answer satisfies none.
Any caller on their second or third call about the same car, and any call where the shop's data shows the repair has passed the promised date. Do not let a system absorb frustration.
An adjuster or appraiser call
NEVER AUTONOMOUSWho is calling, which claim, which vehicle, and what they want: a re-inspection, a supplement question, a parts dispute, or a total-loss valuation. They need a specific person, so the routing target matters more than the message.
All of them. An adjuster call is never a message-taking job. The receptionist identifies the claim and the need, then puts a person on.
A parts or sublet vendor call
CAPTURE AND LOGWhich shop, which job or estimate number, which part or sublet, and the message: an ETA, a price change, a substitution, or a no-show. A glass vendor calling with a date is one of the highest-value calls a collision shop gets, and it usually arrives at the counter, where nobody writes it down.
A vendor calling with a problem: a part that arrived damaged, a sublet that cannot be honored, a price change against an approved estimate. Those change the plan.
A total-loss or diminished-value question
ROUTE ON SIGHTWhether the car is in the shop or the question is arriving cold, the claim number, and whether the customer has already been told the vehicle is a total loss. The job here is to identify the call type, not to discuss numbers.
Always, and to a person with authority. A total-loss or diminished-value conversation is the most sensitive call a collision shop takes, with a customer who is having a bad month.
A tow arrival
CLOCK STARTS HEREWhich car is arriving, on which truck, at what time, and whether anyone at the shop is expecting it. This call is short, and it creates the intake record: the VIN, the location on the lot, and the fact that a vehicle is now the shop's responsibility.
A car nobody has a record of, or a driver reporting damage that was not on the ticket. Both mean the shop needs eyes on the vehicle today.
Escalation Rules
Three triggers that pull a person onto the line, regardless of what was asked.
A call set tells you what to capture. Escalation rules tell you when capturing is the wrong move.
Anything about fault or legal
Who was at fault, whether someone should call a lawyer, what the police report says, whether the other driver's insurer will accept liability. The receptionist captures the facts as stated and transfers. It does not comment, agree, or offer an opinion. A shop's words on fault can end up in a claim file.
An angry customer whose repair ran long
Recognized by language about time lost, rental cost, or a promise someone made. The receptionist cannot fix this and should not try. It apologizes for the hold, confirms the vehicle and the callback number, and hands the call to a person before the customer repeats themselves. The worst outcome here is a confident answer that turns out to be wrong.
An insurer negotiation
A call where an insurer is asking the shop to change, justify, or accept something on the repair: a labor rate, a parts choice, a supplement line, a total-loss threshold. These are negotiation calls. No automated system should be in the position of agreeing to anything; the receptionist's only job is to identify the claim and route it to whoever owns that relationship.
Hard Limits
What an AI receptionist at a body shop must never do.
These are not configuration preferences. They are why a body shop can run one of these without putting its insurer relationships at risk.
Quote a repair
No dollar figure for a repair, a paint job, a part, or a sublet. No range, no ballpark, no what-someone-paid-last-time.
A collision estimate is a document with a lifecycle, and it changes after teardown. A number quoted on the phone is a number that will move.
Promise a completion date
No commitment on when a car will be finished, ready for pickup, or out of paint. Not "probably Friday".
A date given on the phone becomes the promise the customer holds the shop to, and in collision that date depends on parts, supplements and sublets not settled at intake.
Give insurance or legal guidance
No advice on whether to file a claim, whether to accept a settlement, whether a vehicle will be declared a total loss, or what a policy covers.
These answers come from the insurer or the customer's own advisor, never from the shop's front desk.
Everything the receptionist does sits on the other side of that line: it answers, captures, books a slot for a person to confirm, attaches a message to the right car, and routes. The estimate, the supplement, the appraiser conversation and the total-loss discussion stay with your people.
Your calls, before your tools
Give us one week of recorded calls.
We will sort them into the seven types above and show you which ones a person should have taken. That list is the specification for what to automate.
This page covers the calls. The outbound update cadence is on auto body customer update automation, and the work behind the front desk is on auto body shop automation software.