What is Outbound Voice?
Latchel has always answered the phone for you. Now it can pick it up on your behalf, too. Outbound Voice is Latchel’s newest AI Voice capability, and it flips the maintenance coordination script: instead of your team calling vendors to ask “did you make it out there?” or “when’s the invoice coming?”, Latchel’s AI voice agent makes that call for you — with full context on the work order, the vendor’s history, and what still needs to happen. There are two ways to put it to work:Click-to-Call
You decide when. One click, and the AI calls the vendor to get an update — included free with your maintenance subscription.
Automated Daily Calls
Latchel decides when. The AI independently calls each vendor once a day to chase every open job that needs an update — currently free during our launch promotion.
How It Works
The AI agent takes the same actions a vendor could take themselves in their Latchel portal — confirming or rescheduling an appointment, collecting an invoice, checking on a job’s status — and it has full context going in:- Every active work order assigned to that vendor
- Any prior calls or texts about those jobs, so it doesn’t ask the vendor to repeat themselves
- Whether a call is even worth making that day — if there’s nothing new to discuss, no call goes out
Vendors stay in control too. A vendor can tell the AI they’d prefer to be called at a specific time of day, and Latchel will call them at that time going forward.
Work Order States and Ages That Trigger Calls
States
- Accept open (unaccepted) requests
- Scheduling Service Provider - schedule accepted work orders
- Confirming Completion - Confirm completion of scheduled work
- Awaiting Invoice - Upload/submit invoice for completed work
Age Thresholds
- Under 12 hours since last state change → no call
- 12 hours to 3 days since last state change → triggers the daily automated outbound call; while the vendor is on the line, the AI will also ask about any other open WOs whose last state change was within the past month
- Needs Approval status does NOT trigger a call (it doesn’t require vendor action)
Steps to Activate
1. Turn On Automated AI Calls
Go to My Service Provider Management to turn on Automated AI Calls
Look for the service provider and go to Preferred Service Provider Settings.
Toggle the switch to on.
The switch is on if it turned blue.
2. Call Service Provider via AI
Open any work order with an assigned vendor.
Click-to-Call is live for every PM today — there’s nothing to opt into or turn on.
Look for the call button
You’ll see the option to trigger an AI call directly from the work order whenever you want a status update from that vendor.
Click it, and go about your day
The AI places the call, and you’ll get a transcript and summary back once it’s done.
Click-to-Call is fully rolled out — the early opt-in requirement has been removed, and the call button now appears automatically for every PM.
3. Automated Daily Calls
Go to your Account Settings
Sign in to your Latchel Account
Turn on Automated Outbound Calls
Look for the automated outbound calling option and switch it on.
Give it one business day
There’s no lengthy setup — Latchel begins making daily calls to your vendors with open work orders starting the next business day.
Fine-tune which vendors get called (optional)
If a vendor is already responsive through the portal and doesn’t need a check-in call, you can turn automated calling off for that vendor individually in their settings.
Requirements & Eligibility
Click-to-Call is included at no extra cost in every Latchel maintenance package, forever — it’s live on every account today with no opt-in or upgrade required.
Vendor Opt-Outs & Preferred Call Times
There are three ways to manage this: PM manages it on the vendor user profile Vendor self-manages by accessing their Call Preferences in their Account Settings. Vendor states their preferences during a call Not a Latchel customer yet? You can request a live demo of Outbound Voice and the rest of the AI Voice suite:Request a Demo
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between Click-to-Call and Automated Daily Calls?
What's the difference between Click-to-Call and Automated Daily Calls?
Click-to-Call only happens when someone on your team clicks the call button — Latchel will never place that call on its own. Automated Daily Calls run independently: once turned on, Latchel calls each vendor once a day (at their preferred time, if they’ve set one) to check on every open job, with no click required from your team.
If I turn on Automated Daily Calls, does every vendor get called every day?
If I turn on Automated Daily Calls, does every vendor get called every day?
Every vendor with relevant open work orders gets one call a day, all around the same time. If there’s nothing new to check on for a vendor that day, no call goes out — Latchel only calls when it’s worth the vendor’s time.
Can I exclude specific vendors from automated calling?
Can I exclude specific vendors from automated calling?
Yes. If a vendor already manages their jobs well through the portal, you can turn off automated calling for just that vendor in their individual settings while keeping it on for everyone else.
Can vendors choose what time they get called?
Can vendors choose what time they get called?
Yes. Vendors can tell the AI their preferred time of day (or days of the week), and Latchel will call them as close to that time as possible going forward.
Does the AI know if a vendor already has other jobs scheduled that day?
Does the AI know if a vendor already has other jobs scheduled that day?
Yes. When the AI calls about a job, it has context on everything else that vendor has scheduled and will walk through the full list of relevant work orders in that same call.
What happens if the AI can't resolve something on the call?
What happens if the AI can't resolve something on the call?
It creates a task inside Latchel for your team with the details, so a person can pick it up — nothing falls through the cracks.
Does this work in Spanish?
Does this work in Spanish?
If a vendor responds in Spanish, the call automatically switches to Spanish. A setting to default the call to start in Spanish for specific vendors is on our near-term roadmap.
Can I see what was said on the call?
Can I see what was said on the call?
Yes. Every outbound call — click-to-call or automated — comes with a full transcript and summary, and you can rate it with a thumbs up or down. That feedback helps train your company’s AI model.
Is there a limit to how many times a vendor can reschedule before Latchel escalates?
Is there a limit to how many times a vendor can reschedule before Latchel escalates?
Not currently — there’s no hard limit on reschedules. If you’re on the Analytics+ package, you can request custom reports to track reschedule counts per vendor and flag repeat offenders.
What if a vendor is already headed to a property and a new compatible job comes in?
What if a vendor is already headed to a property and a new compatible job comes in?
That’s a related feature already live today: if a service provider is scheduled to visit a property and a new issue comes in that they can also handle, Latchel can automatically attach it to that visit (when auto-approval is enabled in your settings) — cutting down on extra truck rolls.
What happens if the vendor doesn't answer, or it goes to voicemail?
What happens if the vendor doesn't answer, or it goes to voicemail?
Latchel logs a short “no answer” note on the relevant work order(s) instead of generating a full call summary — so your activity feed stays accurate about what actually happened, and no time is wasted trying to summarize silence. This applies to both Click-to-Call and Automated Daily Calls.
Can I see why a specific work order wasn't brought up on a given day's automated call?
Can I see why a specific work order wasn't brought up on a given day's automated call?
Yes. When Latchel builds a day’s call agenda, it sometimes leaves a work order off — for example, if it was already covered on a call a couple of days ago or there’s nothing new to raise. When that happens, a note is added directly to that work order explaining why it was skipped, so you can see the reasoning instead of wondering if it was forgotten.
Does AI Voice only make outbound calls, or can it also answer when a vendor calls in?
Does AI Voice only make outbound calls, or can it also answer when a vendor calls in?
Both. If a vendor calls your Latchel line and their number is recognized, AI Voice can also handle that inbound call — so the experience is consistent whether Latchel calls the vendor or the vendor calls in.
When the AI collects an invoice on a call, how is it delivered to us? We route invoices into our accounting system and need to know where they land.
When the AI collects an invoice on a call, how is it delivered to us? We route invoices into our accounting system and need to know where they land.
We don’t collect invoices over voice, only estimates. Building an invoice is too involved for a voice call (before/after pictures may be required, separating labor and materials and breaking out line items). The routing for invoices remains unchanged (and if we ever do solve creating a full and complete invoice over voice, we’d keep the same invoice routing. wehave today)
Does the autopilot only call on dispatched and approved work orders? We need confirmation it will not schedule work sitting in Needs Approval or estimate-only status.
Does the autopilot only call on dispatched and approved work orders? We need confirmation it will not schedule work sitting in Needs Approval or estimate-only status.
Yes, it doesn’t take work that isn’t approved and send it out. Needs Approval is NOT a status that requires vendor action so it wouldn’t trigger a vendor call or be part of its call script. If a vendor asked about it, they’d be told it’s in Needs Approval. In addition, the same budget limits and rules apply for voice calls as any other work order.
We are in California, a two-party consent state. Please confirm how recording consent is handled on these calls beyond the opening disclosure.
We are in California, a two-party consent state. Please confirm how recording consent is handled on these calls beyond the opening disclosure.
In California, consent is legally achieved if a participant stays on the line after hearing an automated or verbal disclosure.