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Property agent

Work order triage

Every tenant request sorted, prioritized and sent to the right vendor, then followed up until it’s closed. Emergencies and big spends go straight to a person.

Built from our Request intake agent, set up for tenant maintenance requests.

  • $12,500 fixed
  • Live in 3 to 6 weeks
  • Yours to keep
The review screen for Work order triage: four items, three done, and one (Possible leak) waiting for the property manager, who is asked: Water under the sink in 4B. Send the on-call plumber now?
How it works

A leak under the sink in 4B, reported, booked and closed.

Here’s a typical run, step by step: what automation handles, what the agent does, and the calls that stay with your team.

The workflow for Work order triage, in 5 steps. It starts with “A tenant reports a problem” and ends with “Fixed, and the job closed”. Each step lists what automation, the agent and your team do there.
Work order triageA typical run
Starts withA tenant reports a problemA text from Unit 4B at Harbor Point: “Water under the kitchen sink,” with a photo attached.
The agent: Reads the message and the photo and names the trade: plumbing, most likely a supply line under the sink in 4B.
Automation: Creates the work order in the property system with the unit, the photo and the tenant’s contact details.
~30h/mo

Step 1 of 5Read the request

  • The agent

    Reads the message and the photo and names the trade: plumbing, most likely a supply line under the sink in 4B.

    Tenants describe the symptom, not the fix. “It’s wet under there” could be a supply line, a drain or the dishwasher.

  • Automation

    Creates the work order in the property system with the unit, the photo and the tenant’s contact details.

    The unit and the tenant are in the property system. The work order just points at them.

Reads
  • Tenant portal
  • Shared inbox
Writes
  • Property system

~30 hours a month back

The agent: Looks at the photo, the words and what sits below. Water spreading over a ceiling is urgent; a slow drip into a bucket can wait a day.
~14h/mo

Step 2 of 5Set the priority

  • The agent

    Looks at the photo, the words and what sits below. Water spreading over a ceiling is urgent; a slow drip into a bucket can wait a day.

    Urgency hides in the details. “A little water” reads differently when there’s an occupied unit right underneath.

Reads
  • Property system
Writes
  • Property system

~14 hours a month back

Where teams differAny water is urgent in some portfolios. In others it’s urgent only after hours, or above an occupied unit.

Automation: Pulls the plumbers under contract at Harbor Point and each one’s not-to-exceed limit for a call-out.
The agent: Picks the on-call plumber, since it’s a live leak and the regular plumber can’t come until tomorrow.
~18h/mo

Step 3 of 5Pick the vendor

  • Automation

    Pulls the plumbers under contract at Harbor Point and each one’s not-to-exceed limit for a call-out.

    Each building’s contracts, and their not-to-exceed limits, are already on file.

  • The agent

    Picks the on-call plumber, since it’s a live leak and the regular plumber can’t come until tomorrow.

    The right vendor depends on the hour, the building and who reliably shows up, which lives in months of closed jobs.

Reads
  • Vendor list
  • Property system
Writes
  • Property system

~18 hours a month back

IfYour team: Gets “Water under the sink in 4B. Send the on-call plumber now?” with the photo, and says yes, or calls the tenant first.
Automation: Books the plumber, texts the tenant a time window and emails the vendor the work order. Routine jobs come straight here.
~22h/mo

Step 4 of 5Send them, or ask

  • Your teamIf urgent or over the limit

    Gets “Water under the sink in 4B. Send the on-call plumber now?” with the photo, and says yes, or calls the tenant first.

    An on-call visit costs more, and a real leak can reach two units. Someone who knows the building should make that call.

  • Automation

    Books the plumber, texts the tenant a time window and emails the vendor the work order. Routine jobs come straight here.

    Once someone says go, the booking, the text and the email carry facts from the work order.

Reads
  • Property system
Writes
  • Property system
  • Tenant texts

~22 hours a month back

Automation: Nudges the vendor if no completion note arrives by the time they promised, and asks the tenant whether it’s fixed.
The agent: Reads the plumber’s note and the tenant’s reply. “Replaced supply line, dry” closes it; “temporary fix, part ordered” keeps it open.
~26h/mo

Step 5 of 5Follow up to close

  • Automation

    Nudges the vendor if no completion note arrives by the time they promised, and asks the tenant whether it’s fixed.

    A reminder on a timer takes no judgment, just persistence.

  • The agent

    Reads the plumber’s note and the tenant’s reply. “Replaced supply line, dry” closes it; “temporary fix, part ordered” keeps it open.

    Vendors write “done” when they mean “came by”. Telling the two apart means reading the note.

Reads
  • Shared inbox
  • Tenant texts
Writes
  • Property system

~26 hours a month back

Where teams differClosing rules vary. The vendor’s word is enough for some teams; others want the tenant’s yes or a photo.

Ends withFixed, and the job closedThe work order closes with the vendor’s notes and photos, and the tenant knows it’s done.
Total~110h/mo

What changes

Tenant texts get read, sorted and booked around the clock. Property managers see the urgent ones and the big spends, with the photo and a vendor already lined up.

  • 4steps automated
  • 4steps for the agent
  • 1call kept with your team

Pick any step to see what happens there and why it sits in that lane.

What it could be worth

~110 hours a month back

$55,400 a year in time

For a manager of about 1,500 units logging around 400 requests a month, at $42 an hour. We work out yours from your own volumes before you sign.

Let’s build your agent
What we customize with you

One proven agent, plugged into how you work.

Every team does this job a little differently, so we set these five with the people who do it today. We’ve done this in dozens of businesses, so we know where teams usually differ and ask about those first.

The agent

Same for every client
  • Follows the same proven steps
  • A person on every exception
  • Every decision logged
  • Tested on your past work first
  • Emergencies always go to a person
  1. Your systems

    Where the work comes in, and where the result goes.

    For this agentRequests from your tenant portal, email or texts, work orders into your property management system.

  2. Your rules

    The limits and exceptions it works to.

    For this agentWhat counts as urgent, and the not-to-exceed limit for each vendor.

  3. Your team

    Who signs off, and who covers when they’re away.

    For this agentThe property manager for anything urgent or over the limit.

  4. Your channels

    Where your team hears from it.

    For this agentTexts to tenants, email to vendors, a daily list for your team.

  5. Your output

    What it hands back, in the format you already use.

    For this agentA work order with the vendor, the time and the photos attached.

Leasing questions and rent collection are other jobs, quoted on their own. Life-safety emergencies still go to 911 and your emergency line.

What you get

The agent, and everything that keeps it working.

  • The agentRunning on your systems, under your rules.
  • The review screenWhere the exceptions land for your property managers.
  • Your rulebookYour limits, exceptions and who signs off, in one place, often for the first time.
  • A test reportYour past work orders, run through it and checked against the number.
  • The runbookHow it works, what to check, and what to do if it stops.
  • 30 days of tuningAfter it goes live, through a full month of your real work orders.
The number we agree

Hours from request to completed work order. We measure it before we start, and again at day 30.

How we get there

Live in 3 to 6 weeks. About seven hours of your time.

We do the building. Your side: access, three months of closed work orders and your vendor list, and a short weekly check-in.

  1. Before kickoff

    We send the access checklist.

    You, 2 hours. Access, an owner, and three months of closed work orders and your vendor list.

  2. Weeks 1 to 2

    We connect your systems and set it up.

    You, 1 hour. Walk us through your rules.

  3. Weeks 2 to 4

    We test it on your past work orders.

    You, 1 hour. Review what it flagged.

  4. Weeks 3 to 6

    It runs beside your team, then goes live.

    You, 1¼ hours. Work from the review screen.

Then 30 days of tuning, with a short check-in each week, about two hours of yours. At day 30 we show you the number and hand everything over.

After it’s live

It keeps running whether or not we stay.

  • It runs in your accounts

    Your cloud, your systems, and an AI account in your name, billed by the provider at their rates.

  • Changes in the first 30 days are included

    A new rule, a changed limit, someone new signing off. That’s what tuning is for.

  • After that, your call

    Your team edits the rulebook, the care plan covers it, or a bigger change is quoted first.

Questions

About this agent.

Our property management system already has some of this. Why add an agent?
It works across your systems: the tenant texts, your vendor list, your limits and your follow-up, in one flow. If your system’s built-in tools already cover it, we’ll tell you.
What happens with a real emergency?
Anything that looks like an emergency goes straight to your on-call person, and tenants are always told to call 911 for life safety.
Our process isn’t quite like this. Will it still work?
That’s the usual case. The job looks the same in most businesses, but the details never do. We map how your team does it today, then set the rules, systems and approvals to match. That’s what most of the 3 to 6 weeks are for.
How do we agree the number?
Together, before any work starts. For this agent it’s the hours from request to completed work order. We measure it before we start, and again at day 30.
What does it cost to run once it’s live?
Hosting and AI, paid straight to the providers, not through us. It usually runs 5x to 25x cheaper than doing the same work by hand, and we work out your figure from your real volumes before you sign.

Want every request sorted the day it comes in?

Tell us how your team handles work orders today. We’ll show you this agent on examples like yours, and whether it fits the fixed price.

New to Switchboard Agents? How it works, what’s included, and what it costs.
  • 3 to 6 weeksto live, then 30 days of tuning
  • $12,500fixed, per agent
  • Yours to keepno license fees
See the service
Switchboard Agents$12,500 fixed · live in 3 to 6 weeks How it works Let’s build your agent