AI Receptionist for Durham HVAC Companies in North Carolina

A Sunday afternoon in August in Durham

It is Sunday afternoon in August and the thermostat reads 88 degrees. A family in a Hope Valley home near Chapel Hill calls because the air coming from the vents is warm. You are on a job in Cary with your hands full. Without Clara, that call rings to voicemail and the customer dials the next company on their list. With Clara, the call is answered on the first ring, she asks what is happening, checks whether a baby is in the house and offers the first open slot on your calendar. You get an alert on your phone with a summary and decide whether to take the call yourself. Durham has many homes with central air and heat pumps that run nonstop in summer, so hot Sundays bring a lot of calls at once.

What Durham's homes mean for these calls

Many Durham homes were built in the 1990s, and a large share of residents rent instead of owning. That means the person calling may not know the make, model or age of the equipment, and they are often in a hurry. Clara asks whether the system is a furnace, heat pump, central AC or mini-split, and roughly how old it is, so you arrive prepared. When someone has a baby, an elderly person or someone sick at home, Clara flags the call as urgent and looks for the earliest opening.

How a call goes with Clara, step by step

How many people speak Spanish in Durham?

According to the Census, 35,377 people aged 5 and older speak Spanish at home in Durham (12.9%). And 6% of the population speaks Spanish and English less than very well: for them, a call answered only in English is often a lost call. Overall, 15.2% of residents are Hispanic or Latino.

Homes in the city

• Median home value: $392,800
• Owner-occupied homes: 52.3%
• Median year built: 1995
• Households: 126,550

Older homes and aging equipment tend to fail on the hottest or coldest days, which is why Clara asks the system age on the first call.