When Avoca AI’s founder Tyson Chen first set out to build an AI business, he didn’t have plumbers or HVAC techs in mind. Like many entrepreneurs, he started by targeting small businesses—including his own mom’s acupuncture clinic. But the real breakthrough came when he and his co-founder discovered the hair-on-fire problem that home service contractors face every day: missed calls = missed revenue.

From MIT to Missed Calls

Tyson spent years working on bleeding-edge AI, including self-driving cars at Nuro and early chatbot deployments at Fortune 500s. But his obsession with voice and the call center came from something more personal—answering the phone at his mom’s business as a kid, helping navigate her thick accent.

It stuck with him. And it led to a realization: “In home services, 90% of revenue flows through the phone. If the CSR doesn’t book the job, there’s no job.”

That’s a different world than restaurants or e-commerce, where missed calls don’t move the needle. In home services, every call is an opportunity worth hundreds—or even thousands—of dollars.

Why Avoca AI Went All-In on the Trades

Avoca didn’t start in home services. The team tried small businesses, then restaurants. But the volume wasn’t there. The urgency wasn’t there. And most importantly—the revenue impact wasn’t there.

Everything changed when they shifted focus to HVAC, plumbing, and electrical contractors. Suddenly, the opportunity cost of a missed call was 10x higher. Businesses were spending $500K+ annually staffing CSRs or paying for offshore answering services that dropped calls, sounded robotic, or couldn’t book jobs in the CRM.

For Avoca, the question became obvious: “What if AI could do it better?”

The Breakthrough: Voice AI That Actually Works

Avoca AI’s flagship product is a 24/7 AI-powered CSR. It answers calls instantly, speaks like a human, and books directly into systems like ServiceTitan—without needing to hand anything off to an offshore call center.

But here's the secret: the AI doesn't have to be perfect on day one. It just has to improve every day. As Tyson put it, “A human might make the same mistake 10 times. The AI will only make it once.”

Today, Avoca is trusted by some of the biggest and fastest-growing contractors in the U.S. In one case, a company switched from a traditional answering service (booking at 40%) to Avoca—and saw booking rates skyrocket to 95%. Another customer relied on Avoca to keep answering phones during a full power outage caused by a hurricane.

The Hidden Killer: After-Hours Calls

When contractors complain about their call center, after-hours is usually the pain point. Offshore centers miss 20%+ of calls due to hold times, can't book into CRMs, and often alienate customers with inconsistent experiences or accents that feel impersonal.

Avoca flips that script:

• First-ring pickup, 24/7
  
• Voice that matches your brand’s tone
  
• Full CRM integration
  
• Reliable performance—no sick days, no missed shifts
  

It’s not just a cost-saver. It’s a revenue-driver.

Why Coaching Came Next

After proving that AI could handle overflow and after-hours calls, customers started asking: “Can Avoca help train our CSRs too?”

That’s how Avoca Coach was born—a real-time AI training and grading system for call center staff. It doesn't just monitor calls; it learns from them, helps improve live agent performance, and feeds those learnings back into the AI system itself.

It’s a full-circle loop: agents train the AI, and the AI trains the agents.

Why the Best Contractors Are Choosing Avoca

There’s a reason Avoca is growing fast while other tools churn. Contractors who switch stick. And the results speak for themselves:

• 15% boost in booking rates just from answering faster
  
• 2x more jobs booked after switching from legacy call centers
  
• Call coverage even in emergencies like hurricanes
  
  

And because Avoca AI keeps improving with every call, the gap keeps growing between Avoca and the “copycat” startups just entering the space.

The Bottom Line: Home Services Is the Next Frontier for AI

In industries like HVAC or plumbing, performance varies wildly. One CSR can be worth 10x another. One missed call can mean a lost $20K sale. It’s a people-driven business—and AI, done right, supercharges the people, not replaces them.

As Tyson said: “You only realize how broken your call center is when you see what great looks like.”

Want to see what great looks like?
Schedule a demo with Avoca and never miss another call.