Pool Runs

Communications add-on

AI phone answering for pool service that runs on your own local number, with the minutes included.

$50a month

That includes 400 voice minutes, shared by your team and the AI voice agent, and 1,000 text messages every month.

You get a local number registered for texting, a phone in the Pool Runs app for your team, and an AI voice agent that picks up when nobody can. It matches the caller to their account and drafts the work order for your office to confirm.

See Demo See pricing

Communications is an add-on to Pool Runs, which starts from $45/month with 50 properties included.

Sample call · Saguaro Pool Care · mock data

Past 400 minutes
$0.15 a minute
Past 1,000 texts
3¢ a text
Extra numbers
$5 a month each
Bring your number
Porting is free
What's in Communications

The $50 covers the whole phone side, and you set it up once.

You get one number, a phone for your team, the AI voice agent and a log of every call. Your minutes and texts all come out of the same monthly allowance.

A local number that's registered for texting and shows your name.

Pick a local number or transfer the one you have. You enter your business details once, Pool Runs files the texting registration with the carriers, and you set the business name customers see when you call.

A phone in the app that works at the desk or on the route.

Call from the browser with the customer's record open, or answer on the Pool Runs phone app with their next visit, open work and balance on screen.

The AI voice agent answers on the plan you pick for each line.

Ring your team first, let it answer straight away, or give it the line after hours. It can take messages only, or read visits and balances and draft work orders.

See the AI voice agent

Every call is logged, and the lines you choose are recorded and transcribed.

Call history shows who called, which line they rang and who handled it: your team, the AI voice agent or voicemail. Switch recording on for a line and its calls are recorded and transcribed, with a recording notice you can play to callers.

Texts that go out for you

On the way, and done

When your tech taps on-the-way the customer gets a text, and they get another when the visit is complete.

The portal link

The AI voice agent texts it to a caller, but only to a number that's already on their record.

A text after voicemail

Turn it on per line and callers who leave a voicemail get a text back.

Two-way conversations

The shared inbox, where your team and customers text back and forth, comes with Engage. Take both add-ons for $80 a month on one number.

See Engage
The AI voice agent's day

Here's one day on the main line, with what the agent did and what it won't do.

These are six sample calls on a line that rings the team first and takes messages only after hours. Every limit below is built in, whatever the caller says.

See everything the AI voice agent does
Saguaro main line · ThursdayBusiness hoursAfter hours
7 am9 am11 am1 pm3 pm5 pm7 pm9 pm123456
7:52am · 1
Team first
Okafor pool

Dana K. picked up in the phone app before it rang through.

Team call · 3:05
Your team's calls draw from the same 400 minutes.
10:14am · 2
Nobody free, so the agent answered
Linda Henderson

Her pump has been grinding since this morning. It matched her number, confirmed her name and drafted the repair for Thursday.

Draft · WO-1184
It's only a draft, and the office sets the date and the tech.
12:31pm · 3
Nobody free, so the agent answered
Okafor pool

They asked when the tech is coming. After the name check, it read the next visit: Tuesday, October 20.

Answered
Account details wait until the name matches.
2:05pm · 4
Nobody free, so the agent answered
New caller, Gilbert

She wants weekly service, so it took her name, number and address and saved her as a prospect.

Prospect saved
It never says whether a number is on file.
4:48pm · 5
Nobody free, so the agent answered
Linda Henderson

She asked for Dana K. by name, but the transfer rang out, so it took a message for her.

Message · office alerted
It tries one transfer, then takes a message.
8:20pm · 6
After hours: messages only
Okafor pool

The water turned green after the storm. It took the message and marked it urgent, and the office got an app notification.

Urgent message
After hours it only takes messages, because that's the line's plan.

Built-in limits

What it won't do, however the call goes.

It never books on its own.

A day the caller asks for is saved on a draft work order. Nothing is scheduled until your office confirms it.

It checks the name first.

Before visits, history or a balance, it asks who it's speaking with. You can turn that check off.

It only talks about the caller's own account.

It says nothing about other customers, and nothing it didn't look up for the person on the line.

It only texts numbers on the record.

The portal link goes to the number calling, only if it's on the customer's record, and carries no account details.

It tries a transfer once.

If nobody picks up, it says so and takes a message instead of trying again.

It doesn't guess.

If it doesn't know, it says so. Asked what it is, it says it's your business's virtual assistant.

Sample day · Saguaro Pool Care · mock data

Usage, plainly

You get 400 minutes and 1,000 texts a month, and after that it's $0.15 a minute and 3¢ a text.

That's the whole meter. Usage past the allowance goes on your monthly invoice, and the allowance starts over each month on your billing date.

A phone headset
Voice minutes
400a month, pooled

Your team's calls in the app, in and out, and every call the AI voice agent takes share one pool. Call time adds up by the second and rounds up once for the month, and you choose the percentages that alert your team.

Then $0.15 a minute
A phone showing a text conversation
Text messages
1,000a month

Only the texts you send count, and texts customers send you don't. Each text counts as one message, however long it is, and texts get alerts of their own.

Then 3¢ a text
Extra numbers
$5 a month eachAdd a sales line, a second location or the number on the truck wrap to the same plan.
Porting
FreeBring the number you have, and keep your current service on until the switch.

Usage analytics

See exactly where your minutes and texts go, broken out by phone line, call direction and sender.

Usage & billing opens on the current billing period, and you can pick any past month to compare. Download any month as a CSV when you want the numbers in a spreadsheet.

Minutes by line
You see each phone line's minutes, split into incoming and outgoing calls, beside its count of completed calls.
Who answered
The call count shows who picked up: your team, the AI voice agent or voicemail.
Texts by sender
You see how many texts each person on your team sent, and how many your automations sent.
Alerts you set
You set up to five alert percentages for minutes and another five for texts, and a point past 100% warns you about overage. Each one alerts your team the first time usage reaches it in a billing period.
Usage & billingOct 3 – Nov 2 · current period
Billing period
Pooled minutes213 / 400187 left
Texts sent439 / 1,000561 left
Completed calls164Voicemail included

Minutes by line

LineMinutesIncoming minutesOutgoing minutesCalls
Main line(480) 555-010017112843131
Sales line(480) 555-017742152733

Who answered

Your team
103
AI voice agent
52
Voicemail
9

Texts by sender

SenderTexts
Automations251
Miguel R.112
Dana K.76

Usage alerts

Phone minutes
75%

Your team gets an alert at 300 of 400 minutes.

Text messages
90%

Your team gets an alert at 900 of 1,000 texts.

Sample usage · Saguaro Pool Care · mock data
Side by side

Here's how texting and AI phone answering compare, with the fine print in the footnotes.

This table shows what pool and field service software includes for texting and an AI that answers the phone, and what it costs. Every mark comes from that company's own pages, and the small numbers explain the details.

IncludedPaid add-onHigher plan onlyNot on their site
Texting and AI phone answering compared
Pool RunsSkimmerPool BrainJobberHousecall ProPool Office ManagerPoolTrac
Phone and texting
AI answers the phoneIncluded: In the $50, with 400 minutes1Add-on: $99 add-on, inbound calls only2Not found: Not on their siteAdd-on: $29 add-on3Add-on: Add-on, price not published4Not found: Not on their siteNot found: Not on their site
What the AI does with a requestDrafts a work order for your office to confirm5Captures the lead and transfers urgent calls2Not applicable: –Books the visit, and answers texts too3Answers calls and chats4Not applicable: –Not applicable: –
Two-way texting with customersAdd-on: With Engage, $80 for both6Not found: One-way texts only7Not found: One-way texts only8Higher plan only: Grow plan, $1999Included: Every plan, after registration10Add-on: From $10; replies not stated11Not found: Not on their site
Built forIncluded: Pool serviceIncluded: Pool serviceIncluded: Pool serviceHome servicesHome servicesIncluded: Pool serviceIncluded: Pool service
  1. 1Communications is $50 a month with 400 voice minutes, shared by your team and the AI voice agent, and 1,000 text messages. Past that, minutes are $0.15 and texts $0.03 each, on your monthly invoice.
  2. 2Skimmer calls $99 a launch price for AI Phone. Its page describes answering inbound calls 24/7, capturing leads, recognising existing customers and transferring urgent calls. It has no texting.
  3. 3Jobber's AI Receptionist answers calls and texts 24/7 and books visits. It's $29 a month, and included in Jobber's Plus plan, from $499 a month for 5 users.
  4. 4Housecall Pro's CSR AI answers calls and chats. Its price is tailored and not published, and its Voice phone system has no published price either.
  5. 5Pool Runs' AI voice agent saves the caller's request as a draft work order. Your office confirms the date and assigns the tech.
  6. 6Communications sends texts from your number, such as on-the-way texts and the portal link. Two-way conversations happen in the shared inbox, which comes with Engage. Both add-ons together are $80 a month and share one number.
  7. 7Skimmer's service texts and Marketing Suite texts are one-way. Its help center says customers can't reply to them.
  8. 8Pool Brain sends a one-way “On the Way” text from the tech app.
  9. 9Two-way texting is on Jobber's Grow plan, $199 a month for 1 user at monthly billing.
  10. 10Housecall Pro texting works on every plan after you complete its texting registration.
  11. 11Pool Office Manager's texting starts at $10 a month plus usage. Its site doesn't say customers can reply.

Read on each company's pricing, feature and help pages on October 17, 2026, at monthly billing. “Not on their site” means we found no mention of it, not that it can't exist. JobTread, which is construction project software, lists neither. Prices and plans change, so check each site before you decide.

Questions

These are the questions owners ask before they add Communications.

What's in the Communications add-on?

For $50 a month you get a local number with the texting registration filed for you, a phone in the Pool Runs web and phone apps, the AI voice agent, call history with recordings and transcripts on the lines you record, on-the-way and visit-complete texts, 400 voice minutes and 1,000 text messages. Two-way conversations in the shared inbox come with Engage, and both add-ons together are $80 a month.

What happens if we go over our minutes or texts?

Minutes past 400 are $0.15 each and texts past 1,000 are $0.03 each, added to your monthly invoice. You choose the percentages of your minutes and texts that send your team an alert, and Usage & billing shows where every minute and text went. If you regularly pass about 900 minutes, Communications with 1,000 minutes for $125 a month, or 2,500 for $275, costs less.

Do texts our customers send us count?

No. Only the texts you send count toward the 1,000 a month, and each one counts as one message, however long it is.

Can we keep our current business number?

Yes. Porting it is free, and it can be your included number. Keep your current phone service on until the switch, and set up the line's call plan before it arrives. Each extra number is $5 a month.

Why isn't Communications part of the free trial?

It needs a dedicated number and carrier approval for texting, which usually takes one to two weeks, but there's no registration fee. You can try the rest of Pool Runs free for 30 days and add Communications when you're ready.

Does the AI voice agent book appointments?

No. It drafts a work order with the property, the problem and the day the caller would like, and tells them the office will confirm. Nothing is scheduled until your office sets the date and assigns a tech.

Get started

Keep the number that's already on your truck, because moving it over is free.

Transfer the number your customers already call, or pick a new local one. If you keep your current service on until the switch and save the line's call plan before it arrives, the AI voice agent is ready when the number lands.

See Demo See pricing

Communications · $50 a month · 400 minutes and 1,000 texts included

It's an add-on to Pool Runs, which starts from $45/month with 50 properties included.

Sample transfer · Saguaro Pool Care · mock data