A holiday lighting answering service picks up when you cannot: a live receptionist, a call center or software that answers and books. Most callers want a price and a date before Thanksgiving; a few have a display gone dark before a party. This guide covers the options, published prices, what a lighting caller needs and how to choose.
- When the call is about a dark display days before a party, the caller dials the next company within minutes. The first answer usually wins the job.
- The busy stretch for holiday lighting installers is October through early December. Size and price any service for those weeks.
- Your options are voicemail, a live answering service or an AI receptionist. The best setup books calls into real open times and only wakes you for what you decide is an emergency.
- Spring and summer is for the yearly install, takedown and storage. The same system that answers calls can fill those weeks.
Why holiday lighting calls are hard to cover
- The season is short. Most calls come in a few weeks.
- Crews are on roofs. Nobody can answer from a ladder.
- Dates fill fast. A caller who cannot book a date calls the next company.
- Repair calls are urgent. A dark display before a party needs someone soon.
Voicemail is where many holiday lighting jobs quietly go to a competitor. Count your own missed calls for a week, then run them through the free missed call calculator to see the jobs and profit at stake.
When the phone rings for holiday lighting installers
Most callers are busy homeowners and business owners who want lights up without the ladder, booked early and renewed every year. Others are shopping centers, restaurants, HOAs and property managers, and landscapers, roofers, window cleaners and gutter companies who pass your name along.
| Month | Pace | What callers want |
|---|---|---|
| July | Get ready | Early booking for repeat customers |
| August | Get ready | Commercial contracts |
| September | Get ready | Booking fills up |
| October | Busy | Installs begin |
| November | Busy | Installs before Thanksgiving |
| December | Busy | Last installs and repair calls |
In spring and summer the phone slows down, so a plan priced for the busy months is mostly wasted then.
Your three options
For holiday lighting installers, the deciding question is who answers when the call is a dark display days before a party. There are three ways to cover it.
With voicemail, many callers hang up without a message. Live receptionists are the best at odd calls and the most expensive, usually priced by the minute or the call. AI receptionists never put a caller on hold during a rush and can book straight into your calendar, as long as they hand the unusual calls to you.
What answering services cost
Here are published plans from live and AI services, side by side, with the same columns for every row:
| Service and plan | Price a month | What is included | Past the allowance | Per-person fee | Card payments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby Starter (live) | $250 | 50 receptionist minutes | Not listed on its pricing page | Not listed | Payment collection listed as a feature |
| Rosie Professional (AI) | $49 | 250 minutes | Not listed on its pricing page | Not listed | Not listed |
| Goodcall Growth (AI) | $129 | 500 unique callers | 26 cents a caller | Not listed | Not listed |
| Koira Grow (AI receptionist and text-back) | $249 | Receptionist, text-back, booking by text, site, estimates, invoices, campaigns | Usage at cost: texts, call minutes and emails | None: same price with one person or fifteen | Stripe 2.9% + 30¢, plus Koira keeps 1% |
Ruby says there are no extra fees for activation, onboarding, setup, customization or coverage at certain times. See answering service cost for every plan we found and a worked example.
What a holiday lighting caller needs
- New install. House size, what they want lit and a date. Price a package from your list and book.
- Last year's customer. Same design or changes. Book their date first.
- Display out. What went dark. Book the soonest repair your rules allow.
- Business or HOA. The site and a date. Flag it, since these renew.
- Takedown. Book a January date.
- Price shopper. Share your packages.
This list is the whole job description. Hand it to a live service as a script, or set it up as rules in software, and add one line on what counts as urgent for a holiday lighting company.
What to ask before you sign up
- Can it book into my real schedule, with the drive between stops in mind?
- What happens around October through early December? Ask how the bill changes when calls double.
- Does it answer in my business name, and in Spanish if I need it?
- What will it never do? Quoting prices you did not set and promising dates should be off limits.
- Contract or month to month, and is there a per-person fee?
How Koira's AI receptionist handles holiday lighting calls
Koira's AI receptionist answers on your number and, when you cannot pick up, texts the caller back in about a minute with three open times from your day. One reply books it, and the visit lands on your day with the address and the problem. A caller who wants a roofline on a small house can be offered times from your list; a question about a full roofline, trees and wreaths for a large home comes to you to price. It works in English or Spanish, sends anything it cannot price to you as a question, and at night wakes you only for the emergencies you defined.
Grow costs $249 a month plus usage at cost, meaning texts, call minutes and emails with nothing added. There is no per-person fee: one person or fifteen pay the same. Times offered by booking by text fit the stops you already have.
Use the quiet weeks
Spring and summer are the off season. Sell next year's install at takedown, write to businesses and HOAs in summer and remind last year's customers early. Koira's campaigns send those reminders on Grow. See how a holiday lighting company runs on Koira and the plans.
Getting more calls to answer
Next steps for more holiday lighting calls: getting found on Google, 20 marketing ideas and which lead sources fit your trade.
Questions contractors ask
Do holiday lighting companies need an answering service?
During the season, yes. Calls bunch up when every crew is on a roof.
Can an AI receptionist book lighting installs?
Koira prices packages from your own list, books dates into your calendar and sends custom designs to you as a question.
What does a holiday lighting answering service cost?
See the table above for published plans from live and AI services and Koira's Grow plan, with the same columns for each.
Is there a contract with Koira?
No. Koira is month to month. Check each answering service's own terms before you sign.
Sources
- Ruby: plans and pricing, checked October 9, 2026
- Rosie: pricing, checked October 9, 2026
- Goodcall: pricing, checked October 9, 2026
- Koira: pricing, checked October 9, 2026
