Missed-call text-back for tradespeople: text every caller you can’t answer

Who it’s for

UK sole-trader and small-team plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers, decorators and other trades who answer their own mobile

Time to set up

20–40 minutes

Difficulty

Beginner

Monthly cost

£0–£49

What does this automation do?

You’re up a ladder, under a sink or driving, and the phone goes. By the time you look, the caller has rung someone else. This sends them a text within seconds of the missed call: who you are, that you’ve seen it, and when you’ll ring back. It doesn’t win the job for you. It stops a silent missed call looking like nobody’s there.

What do you need before you start?

• Your work mobile, and to know whether it’s Android or iPhone
• Your network and whether you’re pay monthly or pay as you go (it affects diverts)
• A realistic call-back window you can stick to, such as “by 6pm” or “within 2 hours”
• Optional: a Google account and a free Make account if you want a log of every missed call

What does it cost?

The UK services show prices in £ but don’t say whether VAT is included. We don’t have an affiliate deal with any of them.

How do I set it up?

Step 1: Decide your call-back promise and write the text

Write one message of no more than 160 characters. Leave out emoji and curly quotes: a single one switches the text to a format that only fits 70 characters, so it splits into two messages and can cost double on paid services (Twilio). Copy-paste versions are in the next section.

Step 2: Pick your route

• Android and happy to tinker for 20 minutes: use MacroDroid (Step 3). Free, and the text comes from your own number.
• iPhone, or you want it to work when your phone is off or has no signal: use a divert-based service (Step 4). Because it works on the network side, it can text callers even when your phone can’t ring.

Step 3 (Android): Build the missed-call macro in MacroDroid

1. Install MacroDroid from Google Play and open it.
2. Tap Add Macro. Under Triggers, choose Call Missed and pick any number (or non-contacts only, if your customers aren’t saved in your phone and you don’t want your family getting the text).
3. Under Actions, choose Send SMS. Set the recipient to the number that triggered the macro (the missed caller) rather than a fixed contact, and paste your message.
4. Optional: under Constraints, add a time window so your out-of-hours message (below) goes in the evening instead.
5. Grant the SMS and phone permissions MacroDroid asks for, give the macro a name and save it.
6. In your phone’s battery settings, stop Android from putting MacroDroid to sleep, or the macro may not run.

Menu names can shift between app versions, so if a label differs, look for the nearest match.

Step 4 (any phone): Sign up to a text-back service and set your call diverts

Sign up, write your message in the service’s dashboard, then point your unanswered calls at it. Most services give you the exact codes for your network and phone. On Vodafone, for example, the standard codes are *61 (no answer), *67 (busy) and *62 (unreachable), each followed by the number you’re diverting to (with +44 in place of the first 0) and #, and ##002# cancels all diverts (Vodafone). Calls you answer aren’t affected.

Before you dial anything, check two things with your network:

• Pay as you go: Vodafone pay as you go only lets you divert to voicemail, so a divert-based service won’t work on it.
• Divert charges: EE’s pay monthly price guide says diverted calls “are included in your allowances where the diverted to number would have ordinarily been included in your allowance”. The same guide also says calls to “certain MVNO and call forwarding services are not included in your allowance”, and lists calls to certain MVNO numbers at 98p a minute (EE price guide). So a divert is only free if your service’s number is one your plan would normally cover. Ask your network what a diverted call to that number costs.

Step 5: Test it with a mobile, a withheld number and a landline

Ask a friend to ring you from a mobile and let it ring out. The text should arrive within a minute. Then try a withheld number and a landline. A withheld caller can’t get a text because there’s no number to send to, and a text to a landline usually won’t arrive as a normal text (the paid services above skip landlines altogether). Expect the same for real callers, which is why your voicemail greeting still matters.

Step 6 (optional): Log every missed call in a Google Sheet with Make

A text you forget to follow up is worse than none. To keep a list, add a second action in MacroDroid that sends the caller’s number and the time to a Make Custom webhook (MacroDroid’s HTTP Request action), then add Google Sheets › Add a Row in Make with columns for date, time, number and “called back?”. That’s 2 Make credits per call, so the free 1,000 credits a month cover far more missed calls than most trades get (Make pricing). Paid services usually keep their own log, so check that before building this.

Step 7: Ring back inside the time you promised

The text buys you time; it doesn’t replace the call. Make a habit of checking the log or your missed calls at each break and at the end of the day.

The copy-paste texts

Each is under 160 characters with straight quotes, so it sends as one message. Swap in your name, business and times.

Hi, it's Dave at Smith Plumbing. Sorry I missed your call, I'm on a job. I'll ring you back by 6pm today. If it's urgent, text me your postcode and the problem.

Hi, Dave at Smith Plumbing here. We're closed for the evening. I'll call you back after 8am. If water's coming through a ceiling, turn the stopcock off first.

Sorry I missed you, it's Priya at PK Electrical. I'm up a ladder right now. Text me what you need and your postcode, and I'll get back to you within 2 hours.

Only promise a time you’ll keep, and only give safety advice you’re sure is right for your trade.

What UK rules apply?

• Keep it a reply, not a sales message. The ICO says messages for “administrative or customer services purposes” aren’t direct marketing, but if a message “actively promotes or encourages people to make use of a particular service, special offer, or upgrade” it likely is (ICO). Marketing texts to individuals need specific consent; the ICO describes a limited exception for your own previous customers, often called the ‘soft opt-in’ (ICO: electronic mail marketing). A stranger who has just rung you isn’t a previous customer, so don’t count on it. So no “10% off this month” in the text-back. If you use a service whose AI chats with callers or sends follow-ups (TextBack Pro, for example), apply the same test to everything it sends. This is our reading of the guidance, not legal advice.
• Withheld numbers stay withheld. Ofcom’s guidance says individuals have the right to withhold their number when they call, and the phone system is set up to respect that (Ofcom CLI guidance). Don’t try to work around it; those callers can leave a voicemail or ring again.
• Callers’ numbers are personal data. If you log them in a sheet or a service stores them, keep the list to what you need, delete old entries, and pick a provider that explains where it stores data. Don’t add callers to a marketing list without their consent.

What can go wrong?

• Voicemail stops catching those calls. With most divert-based services, unanswered calls go to the service instead of your network voicemail. Ask the provider what the caller hears and whether they can leave a message.
• Spam and robocalls get a text too. That uses your texts or the service’s allowance (TextTheCaller stops at 50 a month). Most services have a skip list; on MacroDroid you can exclude numbers.
• The phone is off or out of signal. MacroDroid runs on your phone, so if it can’t ring, it can’t send. Divert-based services cover the unreachable case.
• Battery savers kill the app. If texts stop going out, check MacroDroid hasn’t been put to sleep.
• Out-of-hours expectations. A text at 10pm saying “I’ll call back by 6pm” is wrong. Use the evening version or a time constraint.
• Diverted calls cost money. See Step 4. Check your bill after the first month.
• Callers can’t text back. When the text comes from a business name rather than a number, the caller may not be able to reply. TextTheCaller sends from your business name, up to 11 characters (TextTheCaller), and Twilio describes name senders as being for “one-way text messaging” (Twilio). Put your mobile number in the message, or use a template without the “text me” line.

Once callers are turning into jobs, ask each customer for a review the evening you finish: automatic Google review requests. And if you want one tested automation like this in your inbox every Friday, join our free email.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. ICO: Identify direct marketing (service messages)
2. ICO: Electronic and telephone marketing (PECR)
3. ICO: Electronic mail marketing (texts, soft opt-in)
4. Ofcom: Guidance on the provision of Calling Line Identification facilities
5. Vodafone Help: How do I manage call diverts?
6. EE: Pay monthly plan price guide (call divert and call forwarding services)
7. TextTheCaller: Pricing
8. TextBack Pro: Pricing
9. MissedCallFix: Plans
10. Twilio: SMS pricing in the United Kingdom
11. Twilio: How long can an SMS message be?
12. Twilio: Alphanumeric Sender ID
13. Google Play: MacroDroid - Device Automation
14. Make pricing

This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Tool prices and screens change; we re-check every guide regularly. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it.