What ServiceM8 does well
ServiceM8 is a mature job management system used by trade firms around the world. Every job gets a job card that carries it from booking to invoice: the schedule, the staff on it, photos, forms, the quote and the invoice. Its paid plans have no per-user charge, which suits a firm with people in the field.
It is priced by the number of new jobs you create a month, with a free plan for a small number of jobs, and its phone is an add-on. Check ServiceM8's UK pricing page for today's figures; they are linked below.
What ServiceM8 does about calls
ServiceM8 Phone, its add-on, routes your calls through one number, shows who is calling, and saves calls, recordings and transcripts to the job card. Missed calls show in your recent calls and in a missed-calls report, and voicemails come with a transcription. ServiceM8 also offers a Phone Agent, an AI that it says answers calls for you like a member of staff. We read ServiceM8's own pages on 22 October 2026 and found nothing about sending a missed caller a text in your firm's name.
Where it stops, by design
ServiceM8 is built to run a business with staff, so it answers the missed call the way a system does: it logs it, reports on it, or hands it to a bot. If the caller wants a person, and most people booking work in their home do, a log and a bot are not what keeps them. Why a bot loses some jobs.
It is also a lot of system if the only thing going wrong is the phone. Every job is a card, and the setup is worth it when there is a team to schedule. For a plumber working alone, it can be more office than the job needs.
Side by side
- Built around
- ServiceM8Running jobs and a team: job cards, scheduling, quotes, invoices
- Slate OSThe call you miss, then the job it becomes
- A call you miss
- ServiceM8Logged, recorded or answered by its AI Phone Agent, with the phone add-on
- Slate OSTexted back within seconds in your firm's name; the reply lands on your phone as a job
- Who speaks to the caller
- ServiceM8You, a voicemail, or the AI Phone Agent
- Slate OSYou. Slate sends one text and never chats
- The job tools
- ServiceM8The heart of it, deep and configurable
- Slate OSA board, quotes, invoices, card payments and a diary, from your phone
- Price
- ServiceM8By jobs a month, phone extra. See their UK pricing
- Slate OS£249 a month, the line, calls and texts included. Your crew on the same board is £50 a month more
| ServiceM8 | Slate OS | |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | Running jobs and a team: job cards, scheduling, quotes, invoices | The call you miss, then the job it becomes |
| A call you miss | Logged, recorded or answered by its AI Phone Agent, with the phone add-on | Texted back within seconds in your firm's name; the reply lands on your phone as a job |
| Who speaks to the caller | You, a voicemail, or the AI Phone Agent | You. Slate sends one text and never chats |
| The job tools | The heart of it, deep and configurable | A board, quotes, invoices, card payments and a diary, from your phone |
| Price | By jobs a month, phone extra. See their UK pricing | £249 a month, the line, calls and texts included. Your crew on the same board is £50 a month more |
What we say about ServiceM8 is from its own pages, read on 22 October 2026. Features change, so check them yourself before you decide.
Which one first
- If the hard part of your week is getting four people to six jobs, a scheduling system like ServiceM8 is what you need.
- If the hard part is the phone ringing while you are under a boiler, start with the call. The job tools are there when you want them.
- Either way, try it on your real work. Slate's trial is 14 days, from the day you start.
Straight answers
- Does ServiceM8 text back missed calls?
- Not that we could find. On 22 October 2026, ServiceM8's own pages described its phone add-on logging missed calls, taking voicemail and offering an AI Phone Agent to answer, but nothing about texting a missed caller. Ask ServiceM8, as features change.
- Can I move my customers into Slate OS?
- Yes. You can bring your customers in from a spreadsheet, and everything you put in exports to a spreadsheet whenever you want it, including on the way out.
- Is there a contract?
- No. You cancel from inside the app.
- What does Slate OS cost?
- £249 a month, one plan. The first 25 firms pay £199 a month for as long as they stay. You get 14 days free from the day you start, and if you are not happy within 14 days of your first payment, you message us and we refund it in full.
Sources
Slate OS gives you an office line that rings your own mobile. When you can’t pick up, the caller gets a text in your firm’s name within seconds, and the job lands on your phone. Quotes, invoices and a diary come with it, for when you want them.