Last updated: November 9, 2026
Quick answer
After you close, most service calls go to voicemail, and most callers don't leave a message. You have four options: a voicemail that says when you'll call back, a human answering service, an AI that answers every call and books, or an AI that only answers when nobody on your team can. Pick based on how many calls you get after close, and how your regulars like to be treated.
Most after-hours service calls go to voicemail, and most callers don't leave a message. In Quo’s analysis of 18 million missed business calls, only 14% of after-hours callers left a voicemail. At 7 PM the shop down the street is closed too, so you haven't lost the job yet. It goes to whoever reaches that customer first in the morning. Without a message, you don't even know they called.
So what you need after hours is a way to know who called and what they wanted, before your first advisor gets in.
Something done. When Kimoby Voice answers the calls a dealership misses after hours, about half the callers (52%) ask for a callback or a text back.
That's across 9,592 after-hours calls at Kimoby Voice dealerships, July to October 2026, counting calls before 8 AM, after 6 PM and on weekends.
Not every caller is new work. A customer checking on a car that's already in the bay will call back on their own. The rest are the calls you want: a warning light, a quote, a recall.
For what those calls are worth in dollars, see the math on missed service calls.
Your phone system's call log gives you the real count. Pull the calls between closing and opening for the last 30 days.
Because it doesn't tell them when they'll hear back. You probably set up your greeting a while back, when you configured your phone system, and most greetings don't give a callback time. So the caller doesn't wait.
The ones who leave a message leave a long one. Someone replays it the next morning, looks up the RO, and calls back. By then, some of those customers have already called another shop.
When you'll call back, and what to leave. Here's one you can copy:
"You've reached the service department at [store name]. We're closed right now. We open at 7:30 AM, and we call back every message by 9 AM. Leave your name, your number and what's going on with the vehicle. If you need a tow, call [roadside number]."
Then make sure someone calls back by the time you gave. A greeting that promises 9 AM and a callback at 2 PM is worse than no promise.
There are four. None is right for every store, and they work with any vendor, including us.
It costs nothing. Change your greeting to say when you'll call back, like "by 9 AM", and make sure someone does.
Pick it if you only get a few calls now and then.
A person picks up. They usually can't see your DMS, so they take a name, a number and a message, and pass it on.
Pick it if your callers want a person and you're fine paying per call.
Some tools do this today. Podium sells it to dealerships: its AI, Jerry, answers every service call and books into your DMS.
Pick it if booking at night is what you need most.
The catch is during the day. Your regulars call for their advisor and get a bot first. One dealership told us they put an AI receptionist on the phones and their customers hated it. Their RO count dropped, and they decided to put a person back to answer calls.
Your advisors' phones ring first. The AI only takes the calls they miss. After you close, that's every call. Some even know if the person has an open RO, collect what the advisor needs to call back, and write a clear summary, so you don't have to sit through long, rambling voicemails.
Pick it if you want your regulars to reach their advisor during the day, and nobody to hit a voicemail at night.
Bring these to the demo. They work with any vendor, including us. If you're looking at AI tools, our Voice AI buyer's guide goes deeper.
One person owns the callbacks. Not whoever's free. Then:
It's option 4. Kimoby Voice is a module of Service Lane OS. Your advisors' phones ring first, and Voice answers the calls they miss, day or night.
After you close, it finds the caller and their open RO in your DMS, takes the request and tells them when an advisor will call back. They can switch to text. In the morning, your advisors find a short summary of each call on the customer's history, with upset callers flagged.
It doesn't book appointments yet. If booking at night is what you need, an AI that books is the better fit today. Tell us, and we'll tell you straight whether Voice fits.
It sits on top of your phone lines and starts at $600 a month, with unlimited minutes. Andrew Lusignan, service manager at Gary Moe Mazda:
"We've been using Voice to pick up where we can't, and it's really been helping to take that extra edge off the advisors and give them the chance to focus on their customers."
With your call log. Count the calls between closing and opening over the last 30 days, and how many of those callers came in.
If it's a few a night, fix your greeting. If it's dozens, look at the options above. The calculator on the Kimoby Voice page puts a dollar figure on your missed calls.
Most go to voicemail, and most callers don't leave a message. Quo's analysis of 18 million missed business calls found only 14% of after-hours callers left one. To catch them, stores use a voicemail with a callback time, an answering service, or an AI that answers the phone.
Usually something done. When Kimoby Voice answered after-hours calls at its dealerships from July to October 2026, 52% of callers asked for a callback or a text back.
Some tools do. Podium says its AI books directly into your DMS. Kimoby Voice doesn't book yet. It takes the request and sends it to the right advisor, who books it.
Not during the day, for most stores. Regulars want their advisor. An AI that only answers when nobody picks up keeps your advisors first and still covers the calls after you close.
When you'll call back, and what to leave: name, number and what's going on with the vehicle. Give a real callback time, like "by 9 AM", and keep it. Add a roadside number for breakdowns.