Two towns that keep getting bigger, and a phone that rings while you’re on the tools. It answers as your business, says it’s your assistant, books the routine work and texts you the emergencies.
OffsiteMate is an AI receptionist for Warragul and Drouin tradies. It answers your calls when you can’t, any hour and on Victorian time, says it’s your assistant, books routine jobs at times you’re free and texts you emergencies straight away.
It’s A$299 a month for a sole trader, with 100 minutes and 150 texts included, plus A$299 once to set up. Public holidays cost the same as a Tuesday.
We’re in Wagga Wagga, NSW, so there’s no shopfront in West Gippsland to drop into. We set you up over the phone, you keep your number, and it’s live within a few days.
The ABS counts Warragul and Drouin as one urban area, and it has nearly doubled in 24 years.
People: ABS Regional population 2024 to 25, Significant Urban Areas table, released 31 March 2026 (2025 figures are preliminary). Businesses: ABS Data by Region for Baw Baw, the local government area. Both read October 2026. Baw Baw is bigger than the two towns, and its count was 1,119 in 2021.
Gippsland Water calls Warragul and Drouin two of the fastest growing towns in its region. Land in Warragul’s north-east has been rezoned into a bigger residential growth corridor, and Gippsland Water has finished a larger sewer main to carry it.
AusNet booked an upgrade at the Warragul Zone Substation for 28 April 2026, swapping two transformers for one with double the capacity. It says the extra room is for hot summer days and new connections as housing increases.
Every new house is a household still working out who to ring when the hot water dies. Best if it’s someone who picks up.
Same steps for a new estate in Drouin or a farmhouse out past Warragul.
Your phone rings first and the assistant only picks up if you don’t. Or skip that and let it take every call.
As your business, in an Australian voice. It tells the caller it’s your assistant and that the call may be recorded.
It takes the name, the street and what’s wrong, then books a time you’re free in ServiceM8, Fergus, Google Calendar or Outlook. The customer gets a confirmation and a reminder the day before.
A text first, then a call. It won’t put the caller through to you. It keeps their number so you can ring back.
Baw Baw Shire isn’t on Business Victoria’s 2026 list of councils with their own local holiday, so Cup Day stands. Your assistant answers on every one of these at the same price, and only books jobs on the ones your hours include.
| 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Thursday 1 January | Friday 1 January |
| Australia Day | Monday 26 January | Tuesday 26 January |
| Labour Day | Monday 9 March | Monday 8 March |
| Good Friday | Friday 3 April | Friday 26 March |
| Saturday before Easter Sunday | 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 | Sunday 25 April |
| King’s Birthday | Monday 8 June | Monday 14 June |
| Friday before the AFL Grand Final | Friday 25 September | The Friday before the 2027 Grand Final |
| Melbourne Cup | Tuesday 3 November | Tuesday 2 November |
| Christmas Day | Friday 25 December | Saturday 25 December, plus Monday 27 December |
| Boxing Day | Saturday 26 December, plus Monday 28 December | Sunday 26 December, plus Tuesday 28 December |
Dates from Business Victoria’s 2026 and 2027 public holiday pages and its 2026 list of non-metropolitan holidays (last updated 3 August 2026), read October 2026. Anzac Day gets no extra day when it falls on a weekend. We add the next dates as they’re announced.
Some calls aren’t yours to fix. These are the lines a Warragul or Drouin customer needs. Want your assistant to mention one? Text us and we’ll add it.
AusNet, 13 17 99, 24 hours. It runs the poles and wires across eastern Victoria, and its April 2026 works notice names both Warragul and Drouin. It wants fallen branches on lines, storm damage and cars into poles reported.
Energy Safe Victoria says ring the emergency number on the gas bill. From the Mornington Peninsula to Bairnsdale the networks belong to Australian Gas Infrastructure Group: 1800 427 532 for Australian Gas Networks, 132 691 for Multinet Gas. Anything between the meter and the appliance is a gasfitter’s job.
Gippsland Water, 1800 057 057, 24 hours. It looks after everything from the main up to and including the meter. The pipes on the house side belong to the owner, which makes them a plumber’s job.
Read October 2026: AusNet’s contact page and its 20 April 2026 West Gippsland notice, and Energy Victoria’s find your distributor page. Gas from Energy Safe Victoria’s and Australian Gas Infrastructure Group’s emergency pages. Water from Gippsland Water’s fault and water meter pages.
Energy Safe Victoria licenses electricians. The Building and Plumbing Commission licenses plumbers and gasfitters, and registers builders. Energy Safe tells customers they can, and should, ask to see a tradesperson’s licence.
Energy Safe has a public search for licensed electrical workers and a register of electrical contractors. The commission’s site has a check for building and plumbing licences.
If a customer asks your assistant, it can only give what we’ve told it. Text us your licence number and it’ll have it ready.
A Drouin sparky and a Warragul gardener want very different calls texted to them at night. Each trade page shows where we start.
Nothing extra for being in Gippsland. 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’re based in Wagga Wagga, NSW, and do the whole setup by phone, so a Warragul tradie gets set up the same way as one down the road from us. Ring us on 0468 075 000 and a human answers.
Yes. The national Numbering Plan puts Warragul landlines on (03) 56, and your number stays with your phone company. It forwards to your assistant’s own Australian mobile number. Landline forwarding steps aren’t the same as a mobile’s, so ring us and we’ll do it with you.
Yes. It runs on your local time, so when Victoria’s clocks went forward at 2am on Sunday 4 October 2026, your bookings and reminders went with them. They go back at 3am on Sunday 4 April 2027.
It does that job with an AI assistant. It answers as your business, says it’s your assistant, takes the job details and books the work in. We set it up and read what it says.
Ours is A$299 a month for a sole trader, with 100 minutes and 150 texts included, plus A$299 to set up. Teams of 2 to 4 pay A$449 a month and 5 to 10 pay A$799. No GST is added, and it’s month to month.
Ring us on the number below, or email. Either way, a human gets back to you.
0468 075 000Or email hello@offsitemate.com.au
