It picks up when you’re under a house, tells callers it’s your assistant, books the routine jobs and texts you the urgent ones. Setup is a phone call from Wagga.
When a Toowoomba tradie can’t get to the phone, OffsiteMate’s AI receptionist does. It tells the caller it’s your assistant, takes down the job, books routine work when you’re free, and texts you an emergency straight away before ringing you.
A sole trader pays A$299 a month for 100 minutes and 150 texts, plus A$299 for setup. We’re down in Wagga Wagga, NSW, we set you up over the phone, and your number doesn’t change.
Two things change once you’re up the range. The power network isn’t Energex, and a cold hot water call comes with its own rules about who rings who first.
Energex runs the network from the NSW border north to Gympie and west to the base of the Great Dividing Range. Toowoomba is at the top of the range, 700 metres above sea level by the council’s count, and Ergon’s own service map has it inside Ergon’s network, marked as one of its key administration centres.
Past Energex’s edge it’s Ergon Energy Network, which covers regional Queensland, about 97% of the state by its own reckoning. A Toowoomba customer with a shock, a tingle or a fallen powerline rings Ergon on 13 16 70, any hour, or triple zero if someone’s in danger. Power out, or off-peak hot water gone cold, is 13 22 96, also any hour.
Ergon’s rules, from its electrical contractor fee claims page, read October 2026. They decide who pays for the call-out, so they’re worth knowing before you drive over.
On 13 22 96, any hour. Ergon looks at the fault and sends its own crew if it seems to be the network.
It can ask an electrical contractor to go on its behalf, and gives an approval number for the job.
With an approval number and the fault confirmed on Ergon’s network, the customer isn’t charged. The electrician claims through Ergon’s portal, up to A$250 before GST, travel of up to an hour included, nights and weekends too.
If the customer rings an electrician before ringing Ergon, or the fault isn’t Ergon’s, the customer pays the invoice in full.
So on a cold hot water call, the useful thing to know is whether they’ve rung Ergon yet and got an approval number. Your assistant asks the questions you’ve told us to have it ask, so add that one to your hot water calls.
It still texts you anything you’ve said is urgent, straight away, then rings you. Ergon says it doesn’t cover electricians’ costs for a plain loss of supply, because its own crews go first.
All of these get answered, same price as any other day. Bookings only land on a holiday if your hours include it.
| 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| Toowoomba region | ||
| Toowoomba Royal Agricultural Show: the region except Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar | Friday 27 March | Set each year by the Queensland Government |
| Royal Queensland Show: Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar only | Monday 10 August | Set each year by the Queensland Government |
| Across Queensland | ||
| New Year’s Day | Thursday 1 January | Friday 1 January |
| Australia Day | Monday 26 January | Tuesday 26 January |
| Good Friday | Friday 3 April | Friday 26 March |
| The day after Good Friday | Saturday 4 April | Saturday 27 March |
| Easter Sunday | Sunday 5 April | Sunday 28 March |
| Easter Monday | Monday 6 April | Monday 29 March |
| Anzac Day | Saturday 25 April | Monday 26 April |
| Labour Day | Monday 4 May | Monday 3 May |
| King’s Birthday | Monday 5 October | Monday 4 October |
| Christmas Eve, 6pm to midnight | Thursday 24 December | Friday 24 December |
| Christmas Day | Friday 25 December | Saturday 25 December and Monday 27 December |
| Boxing Day | Saturday 26 December and Monday 28 December | Sunday 26 December and Tuesday 28 December |
Dates from the Queensland Government’s public holiday and show holiday pages, read October 2026. The 2027 show days weren’t listed yet. Queensland doesn’t use daylight saving, so the clock stays where it is all year (Fair Work Ombudsman). We add the next dates as they’re announced.
Toowoomba’s show holiday in 2026 was Friday 27 March, a week before Good Friday. Brisbane’s Ekka holiday didn’t come round until Wednesday 12 August.
Yarraman, Upper Yarraman and Cooyar skip the Toowoomba Show day and take the Royal Queensland Show holiday instead, which was Monday 10 August in 2026. If you work the whole region, text us which of those days you take off.
For faults on the network’s side, this is who your customer rings. Text us if you want your assistant to pass one of these on.
13 16 70 any hour for shocks, tingles and fallen powerlines, or triple zero if someone’s in danger. 13 22 96 any hour for outages and off-peak hot water gone cold.
1800 427 532 for leaks, a gas smell or carbon monoxide worries. Toowoomba has its own Allgas network, separate from the one on the coast, and Oakey has another.
Toowoomba Regional Council runs the water and sewer, on 131 872. It’s putting digital meters in across the region to track water use remotely and spot leaks earlier.
From Ergon Energy Network’s contact, who we are, service map, shocks, hot water and fee claims pages; Energex’s who we are page; Allgas’s about and contact pages and the AEMC’s gas pipeline register; and Toowoomba Regional Council’s contact and water supply pages. Read October 2026.
Queensland splits it three ways. The QBCC keeps the registers for builders and plumbers, on 139 333. Electrical contractor licence numbers are checked with the electrical licence search on WorkSafe Queensland’s site, home of the Electrical Safety Office. Gas work licences are on the RSHQ portal, run by Resources Safety and Health Queensland.
Your assistant only knows your licence number if we’ve given it one, so text yours through and callers who ask will get it.
The ABS counted 2,858 construction businesses in the Toowoomba Regional Council area at 30 June 2025 (ABS Data by Region, read October 2026). The council area is a lot bigger than the city: 186,276 people lived in it, against 153,781 in the Toowoomba urban area (both ABS estimates for 30 June 2025).
Miss the call and the customer has a long list of others to ring.
Up here a sparky and a painter want very different calls texted to them after dark. Each trade page shows where we start.
Same price up the range as at the bottom of it. Pick the plan for how many people work in the business.
Sole traders on the tools
A$299a month
About A$9.83 a day. Plus A$299 setup, once. Month to month.
Talk to the humansA small crew
A$449a month
Plus A$499 setup, once. Month to month.
Talk to the humansA bigger team with more phones ringing
A$799a month
Plus A$499 setup, once. Month to month.
Talk to the humansGo over your minutes or texts and it keeps answering: A$0.49 a minute and A$0.25 a text. It’s month to month, because 12 months is a big commitment to make to a robot. That’s the whole price. Nothing gets added on top. Questions? Ring us on 0468 075 000 or email hello@offsitemate.com.au.
No. We work from Wagga Wagga, NSW, and do the whole setup by phone. You keep your own number and never have to touch the software.
Ergon. Its service map has Toowoomba inside its network, and Energex’s network stops at the base of the Great Dividing Range. Ergon’s 24-hour numbers are 13 16 70 for emergencies and 13 22 96 for outages.
Yes. Show day, Christmas, any public holiday: it answers at the same price. Tell us which days you’re off and it won’t book jobs on them.
Yes. Toowoomba’s landlines are 07 numbers, and yours stays with your phone company. Call forwarding sends it to the assistant’s own Australian mobile number. A landline or phone system forwards differently to a mobile, so ring us and we’ll go through it with you and your provider.
Yes. It books routine jobs into ServiceM8, Fergus, Google Calendar or Outlook at times you’re free, then sends a confirmation, a reminder the day before and a check-in on the day.
A$299 a month for a sole trader, covering 100 minutes and 150 texts, and A$299 once for setup. A crew of 2 to 4 is A$449 a month, and 5 to 10 is A$799. No GST, and no lock-in.
Ring us on the number below, or email. Either way, a human gets back to you.
0468 075 000Or email hello@offsitemate.com.au
