After Hours Coverage · From $15/mo

After-hours calls. Answered instantly. Every time.

60% of small business calls arrive outside business hours. PepperSend texts missed callers back in 5 seconds and answers live calls with AI voice, 24 hours a day. Never lose another after-hours lead to voicemail.

Start Capturing After-Hours Leads See How It Works

Setup in under 5 minutes. Works with your existing phone system.

Payments by Stripe

10DLC Registered

SSL Encrypted

TCPA Compliant

Pepper AI

Online

9:07 PM

AFTER-HOURS CALL DETECTED

Missed call from (555) 847-2193

Hi! You just called Sunrise Realty and we missed you. I am the AI assistant. How can I help tonight?

I am interested in the listing on 412 Maple Ave. Is it still available?

Yes, 412 Maple Ave is still active. It is a 3-bed, 2-bath at $485,000. Can I get your name and schedule a showing for you?

I am Sarah. Tomorrow afternoon works great.

From after-hours call to captured lead. Automatically.

Every step runs while you are asleep. You handle the warm leads in the morning.

After-Hours Call

Caller dials your number when you are closed

~2s

Instant Detection

PepperSend catches the missed call in real time

AI Text Sent

Personalized SMS in under 5 seconds

Lead Captured

Name, need, and contact info collected automatically

Morning Handoff

Digest lands in your inbox at 8am

Lead Info Collected

Appointment Booked

Follow-up Scheduled

Owner Notified

Everything you need for 24/7 after-hours coverage.

From the first text to the morning digest, PepperSend handles it while you are closed.

Always-On AI Response

Texts back missed callers in 5 seconds, any hour of the day or night. No shift changes, no hold music, no voicemail graveyard. Your business is always reachable.

Smart After-Hours Routing

AI knows your exact business hours and adjusts its tone and booking logic automatically. During open hours it supplements your team. After hours it activates full coverage mode.

Emergency Escalation

Recognizes urgent language in real time and immediately alerts your on-call team via SMS. You configure which keywords trigger escalation and who gets notified for true peace of mind.

Lead Collection While You Sleep

Captures name, need, and contact information from every after-hours conversation automatically. Hot leads are flagged. Warm leads are queued. Nothing falls through the cracks.

Morning Digest

A summary of every after-hours lead lands in your inbox at 8am. Names, needs, conversation threads, and any booked appointments so you can start your day ready to close.

Custom Business Hours

Configure exact open and close times for every day of the week. Holidays, half-days, and special schedules all supported. The AI always knows when you are open and when it is on duty.

Coming Soon

AI Voice Assistant

A fully managed AI that answers inbound calls live after hours, handles FAQs, collects caller info, and books appointments without sending anyone to voicemail. No hold music. No missed revenue.

Up and running in 5 minutes

Three steps. No code. No hardware. No contracts.

Set your business hours

Tell PepperSend when you are open and what after-hours means for your business. Configure exact open and close times for each day of the week, including holidays and special schedules.

Train your AI on your services

Paste your FAQ, services list, and emergency protocols. Or let PepperSend scrape your website. The AI learns your business in minutes and answers callers accurately from your own Knowledge Base.

Wake up to booked appointments

AI handles every after-hours call while you are closed. Leads are captured, appointments are booked, emergencies are escalated, and a morning digest lands in your inbox at 8am.

Get Started

Your next after-hours caller is worth capturing.

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

78% of consumers choose the first business that responds

The average small business loses 27% of its after-hours leads to voicemail. Those callers do not leave a message and call back. They call the next business on the list. PepperSend eliminates that gap at zero additional headcount. One AI response sent at 9pm can book an appointment you would have otherwise never known you lost.

Speed to lead is the single most important factor in conversion

Responding within 5 minutes makes you 21x more likely to convert a lead than responding within 30 minutes. After hours, most competitors respond the next morning. PepperSend responds in 5 seconds.

PepperSend AI -- After-Hours Active
Caller · 11:42 PM
My heat is out and it is 18 degrees outside. This is urgent.
PepperSend AI · 11:42 PM
This sounds like an emergency. I am alerting our on-call technician right now. What is your address so we can dispatch someone tonight?
Caller · 11:43 PM
1847 Birchwood Lane. Please hurry.
PepperSend AI · 11:43 PM
Got it. Our technician has been notified and will call you within 10 minutes. Stay warm.

Illustrative conversation. Your AI is trained on your own business information.

Simple pricing for any business size

One captured after-hours lead can pay for months of PepperSend.

Mild

$15 /mo

+ $0.03/SMS · $0.40/AI voice min

AI missed call text back
AI voice for live calls
Business hours configuration
Morning digest emails
Lead Inbox (built-in CRM)
Full dashboard

Get Started

Inferno

$249 /mo

1,000 SMS + 600 voice min/mo

Everything in Mild
1,000 SMS messages/month
600 AI voice minutes/month
Multi-location support
White-label branding
Dedicated account manager

Get Started

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about after-hours answering with PepperSend.

What is an after-hours answering service?

An after-hours answering service handles incoming calls when your business is closed. Traditional services use live operators who charge $1 to $3 per minute. PepperSend uses AI to respond in two ways: an instant SMS text-back within 5 seconds of a missed call, and an AI voice assistant that answers live calls around the clock. Both collect caller information, answer common questions from your Knowledge Base, book appointments, and escalate emergencies to your on-call team.

How does PepperSend respond to calls when my office is closed?

When a caller dials your number after hours and the call goes unanswered, PepperSend detects it in real time and sends an AI-generated SMS text-back within 5 seconds. The text introduces your business, answers the caller's question from your Knowledge Base, and collects their name and contact information. If they text back, the AI continues the conversation. You wake up to a full lead summary in your dashboard and a morning digest in your inbox.

Can I configure different responses for different times of day?

Yes. PepperSend has a full business hours configuration where you set your exact open hours for each day of the week. During business hours the AI can be set to stay quiet or to supplement your team. Outside those hours it activates automatically with after-hours-appropriate tone and booking logic, such as directing callers to schedule for the next available business day rather than an immediate callback. Holidays and special schedules are also supported.

Does the AI handle emergencies after hours?

Yes. You can configure emergency keywords and escalation protocols in your Knowledge Base. When the AI detects urgent language relevant to your industry, such as "no heat," "burst pipe," "flooding," or "locked out," it immediately alerts your on-call team via SMS and tells the caller to expect a rapid callback. You control exactly what triggers an escalation and who gets notified.

How much does an after-hours answering service cost?

PepperSend starts at $15 per month (Mild plan) with SMS at $0.03 each and AI voice at $0.40 per minute. Compare that to traditional live answering services, which typically cost $1 to $3 per minute or $100 to $500 per month for a limited call bundle. The Inferno plan at $249 per month includes 1,000 SMS messages and 600 AI voice minutes for businesses with higher call volumes. One captured after-hours lead typically pays for multiple months of the service.

Will callers know they are texting an AI?

PepperSend's AI identifies itself as an AI assistant for your business in the first message, which is required under TCPA compliance guidelines. Callers are not misled. In practice, most callers appreciate the instant response versus voicemail and continue the conversation. The AI focuses on being helpful, not on mimicking a human. All conversations include opt-out support and are fully TCPA compliant.