Who answers
Four voices. Pick one and start talking.
Each one answers for the same branch, reads the same 350 properties and writes the same call log. What changes is the person on the other end. Click a name and they pick up in this tab — you will need a microphone, and your browser will ask before anything is heard.
Front desk
Nell
Warm and brisk. No fuss.
She is the voice on the number above, so this is the like-for-like: same words, same records, over the web instead of the line. She gets to the point and gets off the phone.
The diary
Harriet
Crisp and professional.
She runs the calendar. Ring her as Jess Martin and you will be booked in before you have finished the sentence. Ask for a Sunday and watch her hold the line.
Gentle
Alfie
Soft-spoken, unhurried.
The one to try as Dan Hocking with his arrears. He slows down where it matters, never argues, and hands over to a person the moment that is the right thing to do.
Conversational
Ned
Easy and genuine.
The one to push off script. Interrupt him, change your mind halfway, ask him something unfair — he stays in the conversation rather than starting again.
Nell also answers the phone number above. The other three are browser-only for now.
How it works
Your number isn’t in the books. Just say who you are.
When a number the branch recognises rings, whoever is on the front desk greets the caller by name. Yours isn’t in the records, so they will ask instead — tell them your name and the property, and they look the record up from what you say. Every name below has a real record behind it: the tenancy, the open jobs, the quote sitting with the landlord.
That holds whichever way you got in. Nell, Harriet, Alfie and Ned read from the same records — only the voice and the manner change.
You do not have to be word-perfect. The opening lines are a way in, not a password.
Who you pretend to be
Now pick someone to be when they answer.
Those four are the ones who answer. These six are the ones who ring in. Pick one, use their opening line, and whichever one you rang will find their file.
The two lists never cross. You are never Nell. Sarah Pascoe never answers the phone.
Tenant
Sarah Pascoe
14 Fore Street, Penryn TR10 8AB
“It's Sarah Pascoe at 14 Fore Street in Penryn. What's happening with my boiler?”
What to listen for
She knows job 4468 and that the £1,400 quote is sitting with your landlord — and she will not raise a duplicate on top of it.
Then go off script. Ask her something unfair — she copes.
Landlord
Ann Trevithick
Owns 14 Fore Street, Penryn and 2 Chapel Terrace
“It's Ann Trevithick — I own 14 Fore Street. Any news on that boiler quote?”
What to listen for
Status fast, then an offer to put you through to a person faster. Landlords never get parked.
Then leave the script behind. Push her on why nobody has rung you back.
Tenant
Lily Chen
7 Trevethan Road, Falmouth TR11 2AT
“It's Lily Chen at 7 Trevethan Road. The bathroom extractor fan has stopped working.”
What to listen for
A full repair capture — what, where, since when, access — then a job reference read back to you and the text she drafts. She already has your damp job 4471 open, so the fan gets a reference of its own.
Then wander off script. Be vague about the details and make her work for them.
Tenant
Dan Hocking
Flat 3, 22 Killigrew Street, Falmouth TR11 3PN
“It's Dan Hocking, Flat 3, 22 Killigrew Street. I want to dispute my arrears.”
What to listen for
No arguing and no figures read out — straight to a person. This is the sensitive path, and it is the one to test hardest.
Then go off script. Get cross with her, or ask her to take your side.
Contractor
Kev, Kernow Plumbing & Heating
Job 4468 — the boiler at 14 Fore Street, Penryn
“It's Kev from Kernow Plumbing, about job 4468 — any word on that quote?”
What to listen for
She knows the job without you spelling it out, and takes a proper message for the right person at the branch.
Then improvise. Tell her you are outside the property now and nobody is answering.
Applicant
Jess Martin
5 Berkeley Vale, Falmouth — 2-bed, £1,150 a month
“It's Jess Martin — I'd like to view 5 Berkeley Vale in Falmouth this week.”
What to listen for
Thursday 4pm or Friday 11am, booked on the spot, with a confirmation drafted before you hang up.
Then go off script. Ask for a Sunday, or ask whether they take pets.
Try to break it
The interesting part is where the script runs out.
A demo that only survives its own script proves nothing. Mid-call, try any of these — they are the six we would try first.
- Say you can smell gas.
- The safety instruction comes first — windows open, nothing switched on or off, out of the property, then the gas emergency line. It is deliberately not cheerful.
- Say "can I speak to a person" at any point.
- A handoff mid-sentence if need be, with a whisper summary for whoever picks up — in the demo it is written into the call log rather than transferred.
- Be Dan, then ask about someone else's rent.
- She refuses. One caller never hears another caller’s details.
- Ask her to knock £50 off your rent.
- No negotiation, no promises the branch has not made. She can only speak figures the records gave her.
- Ask if she is a robot.
- An honest one-line answer, then straight back to what you rang about.
- Ring after 5:30pm, or on a Sunday.
- Night Keeper answers instead: emergency first, everything else picked up first thing.
After the call
The call proves the voice. The log proves the work.
Within a minute of you hanging up, the branch has the whole call written down. Not a recording nobody listens to — a record a manager can act on:
- The transcript, in full.
- What House/Work HQ decided — who was calling, their role, what they wanted, and how urgent it was.
- What she logged — the job raised, the viewing booked, the message taken, or the handover and its whisper summary.
- The texts she would have sent, drafted and held — nothing leaves the demo.
- The duration, and a one-line “what a human would have done next”.
The log lives inside the branch’s own House/Work HQ account, behind sign-in. On a pilot it is yours — recordings and transcripts included.
Email support@houseworkhq.co.uk — a person reads it, and we will send you the log from your own call.