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Staying organized

On-Call

The short answer

On-call means you are reachable outside your stated working hours. Choose it on purpose for a priced emergency. Answering every message the moment it arrives makes it a habit by accident.

What it means

Being on-call is a deliberate arrangement. You agree in advance to be reachable outside normal hours. This covers a defined kind of call, usually at a stated emergency price. Answering a message at 9pm because it arrived at 9pm is different. That is no policy. It is just the hours you have trained clients to expect.

A cover arrangement is one form of being on-call: another trade stands in for you while you are away. Being on-call the rest of the time is a choice about your own ordinary week. It covers more than a single break.

For example

An electrician states normal hours of 8 to 5. They separately state that they are on-call for a genuine emergency at a fixed call-out premium. A client outside those hours knows which situation applies before they call.

The mistake to avoid

Being on-call by accident. You answer every late message without ever deciding to. Clients then treat your evenings as ordinary hours, and you get none of the emergency premium.

See also

Cover ArrangementResponse TimeOut-of-Hours Rate

Where this shows up

Guide

Working hours and boundaries — the hours you answer are the promise

A client cannot see your diary. They judge your hours by when you answer. Set the hours you work and the hours you answer as two windows. Say both in the three places a client looks. Price a real emergency in advance, and hold the line the first time it is inconvenient.

 Free tool

Working hours check

Enter the hours you intend to work, the hours you actually answer, and the admin hours outside both. The tool shows the gap between the week you meant to run and the week you run. It also shows what each one pays per hour.

 Templates

Working hours scripts, for saying when you answer

Six messages that keep the hours you work apart from the hours you answer. Cover the quote or booking line, the voicemail message, and the next-morning reply to a late message. Add a note to a client who always calls late. Offer or refuse a priced emergency route. Reset the hours with a client you answer at all hours. Fill in your details once at the top of this page, and every script below updates.

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