Locked out of a home
A key left inside, a lock that no longer turns. She takes the name, the number, the exact address and the access — parking, building entry code — and notes who will be there with proof of residence when the technician arrives.
Locksmiths
Someone is locked out; you need to know where, why and who will be there. Your receptionist records the address, access details and checks still required, then passes the request on under your rules. Planned access-control work follows a separate path.
$39 CAD / month · 50 Standard calls · 1 local number
For the requests you receive
Vehicle, with or without someone inside
Keys shut in the car. If a child or a pet is inside, this stops being a service request: it is an absolute emergency, she flags it as one and reaches you immediately.
Access control and master keys
A building, a network of doors, authorised people, a purchase order. This is not a service call: she opens a separate file, records the manager in charge, and offers an assessment visit rather than a same-minute dispatch.
Other requests you can delegate
After a break-in or a separation
A forced lock, a key still in circulation, cylinders to change. She gathers the context without recording any detail that would enable unlawful entry, and notes whether the unit is rented — consent to change the lock on a rented dwelling is a rule of the Civil Code of Quebec.
The address and required checks before the visit
The technician receives the address, the building entry code, the door type and a no-one-shut-inside flag. He finishes the job he is on, calls Andrée back to confirm his timing, and arrives with the right tools.
Read the full conversation
Friday, 11:05 p.m. The locksmith is already on a job in Longueuil. A woman calls: her apartment door swung shut behind her.
ReceptionistSerrurerie Talbot, good evening. Let me take your name and a callback number first, in case we get cut off.
CallerAndrée Cloutier, 438 555-0120. My door locked behind me and I am out in the hallway.
ReceptionistWhat address, and is there a building entry code? Is anyone or any animal shut inside?
Caller42 Sainte-Claire Avenue, apartment 4. There is a keypad, I can let him in. Nobody inside, my cat is at my sister's.
ReceptionistNoted. The technician will ask you for identification and proof that you live there before opening — that is the procedure, for everyone. I am sending him your request now; he will call you back to confirm how long he will be.
What happens to the request
You write your verification procedure
What you require before a door is opened, what your receptionist may state as a fee, your service area, and who is on call tonight. These are your rules: she applies them, she does not invent them.
A short qualification, then a confirmed handover
Name and callback number first. Then the address or the vehicle, the type of lock, what happened, the caller's standing, and who will be present for the check. Five questions, not fifteen: the customer is waiting outside.
The technician leaves with a file, not a first name
The request reaches the technician on call with the address, the access, what was declared and what still has to be verified on site. A trip cancelled for lack of authorisation is expensive: better to know before the truck starts.
What the Trades and maintenance base covers
A receptionist who answers for you, in both languages, and sends you a written request. No setup fee, and you keep your number.
- Calls answered in French and in English, following the caller
- Name and callback number taken first, so nothing is lost if the line drops
- The work asked for, the place and the wanted timing, written into your request
- An immediate alert when the situation matches your urgency rule
- A written summary after every call, readable in the app, and the option to ask her what happened
She confirms no door opening: the identity and authority check happens on site, by your technician.
Decisions that stay with you
- She gives no indication of how to bypass a lock, to anyone, under any pretext.
- She sets no firm price on a complex case — high-security lock, safe, reinforced door: she states what you wrote and leaves the confirmation to the technician.
- She does not recommend a lock model as protection against a break-in.
- She quotes an arrival window only if you allowed her to, and presents it as an estimate.
Ask your receptionist, too
This is included in your base plan. She answers using the calls, requests and business information you are allowed to access.
Talk to your receptionistA question you can ask
Which lockout requests still need a call to someone on site?
She retrieves the recorded contact, location and callback status. The right to access still needs verification.
What else you can hand to her
Beyond the base plan. Each one is added on purpose, separately from the base. None is switched on unless you choose it.
When your customers prefer to write
You can add a channel so she can continue the conversation with your customers. Any action she takes follows the same rules and the options you have chosen.
Optional customer channel
Customer text conversations
Text the person on site to clarify the address and access, without authorizing an opening by message.
The transactional messages provided by your base plan and your own questions to the receptionist remain included.
Keeping your current software?
Check the actions supported, connection requirements and how to work when your software cannot perform the requested action.
Contact, site and authorisations are modelled; writing each object still has to be proven on a real account before it is announced.
Interface key and callback secret are documented at the product's top tier; eligibility and write coverage still have to be qualified with the vendor.
The caller cannot wait, and will not get three quotes
Locksmithing is one of the few trades where the person calling has no real option but to find someone now. They are outside, often at night, sometimes with a child or a pet shut in the car. They are not comparing three prices: they call the first result that answers. The point of loss in this trade is not the negotiation, it is the call that rings out while you are under a cylinder.
Your receptionist answers in French or English. She asks which door or vehicle is involved, what device is installed and the caller’s authority to request access. She passes the stated address and access details to the technician on call.
She also knows what she does not do. She promises no opening: in Quebec a legitimate locksmith asks for identification and proof of residence before opening a door for a stranger, and that check happens on site, by a human being.
In the same section
The other lines of work in this section run on the same engine, with their own requests and their own rules.
Trades & maintenanceInstallation and repair
Locksmiths — your questions
Can she promise the door will be opened?
No, and that protects you. A legitimate locksmith asks for identification and proof of residence before opening a door for a stranger. She explains the procedure, records who will be present, and leaves the check to your technician, on site.
What if the caller cannot justify their access?
She hands the file to a human without promising anything. That is exactly the recovery path the trade profile prescribes: no refusal over the phone, no commitment either, and only the necessary data kept.
Emergencies do not get booked in a calendar. What changes?
Everything. An emergency does not take a time slot, it goes to dispatch: the request reaches the nearest technician, and the customer gets an estimated arrival window, not an appointment. What does get booked is planned installation, rekeying after a move, and access-control projects.
Can she give a price?
She states what you wrote, and nothing more. For a routine call-out, many locksmiths advertise a price confirmed before the work; for a high-security lock or a safe, confirmation belongs to the technician. A low teaser price followed by add-ons is precisely what your receptionist will not do.
Do I keep my number?
Yes. You forward your line to Zenvox whenever you want — all the time, only when you do not pick up, or on a schedule. Many locksmiths keep a separate emergency line: it can carry its own instructions and its own alert rule.
Your rules, before the first call
Start your free trial with your email. Your website can help prepare your business information, but it is optional. Confirm the facts, choose a first task and test your receptionist. You can try options too, starting with the ones you need.
Keep my phone numberLocksmiths