Interactive example · AI automation
An AI enquiry inbox that sorts and drafts, while a person decides what's sent
Enquiries arrive by email, the website, Facebook and text, mixed in with invoices, applications and spam. Someone reads every one, works out what it is and writes a reply, usually at night. Below, a fictional Sunbury landscaper's inbox has already been read and sorted, with a reply drafted for each. You're the one who approves them.
In short
An AI enquiry inbox reads every incoming message, sorts it into categories such as new jobs, issues and accounts, pulls out the useful details and drafts a reply in the business's voice. A person reviews and approves each reply before it's sent, and rules set by the business decide what the AI may and may not do.
Interactive demo: AI enquiry inbox
Live demo · Aldous Landscapes, Sunbury is a fictional business with sample data. Nothing you do here is saved or sent.
- Open a sorted messagePick any message and read why it was sorted the way it was.
- Approve a replyEdit the drafted reply if you like, then approve and send it.
- Change a ruleLet it mention prices, or auto-archive spam, and watch the drafts change.
- Hand a job to the pipelinePush a new job's details into the CRM, or book the suggested site visit.
Aldous Landscapes
Shared inbox · Sunbury VIC
AI output in this demo is scripted to show how it works — nothing is sent to an AI service.
41messages
36sorted automatically
18 minavg reply(was 5 h)
4.2 hsaved
All
9 messages- Facebook message.Chris B.8:57am
how much for a garden?
how much for a garden?
New job · Needs detailsDraft ready - SMS.Jess Porter8:40am
Move Tuesday's visit?
Hi it's Jess from Bulla, can we push Tuesday's maintenance visit to Thurs or Fri? Dog's having surgery Tues and we'll be in and out. Thx
Booking · RescheduleDraft ready - Email.Lachlan Hart8:31am
Can we take the gum out ourselves?
Hey Mel, Quick one before you start on our back yard — can we just take out the big gum near the back fence ourselves? It's maybe 12 m. Do we need a permit or is it fine since it's on our land? Cheers, Lachlan (Riddells Creek)
Client question · PermitHighDraft ready - Email.Dan Brooks8:15am
Mowing every fortnight?
G'day, After someone to do the lawns every fortnight at our place in Sunbury (off Racecourse Rd). Front and back, maybe 600 m² all up. Edges and blowing too. Can you start before things go nuts in October? Cheers, Dan
Maintenance · RecurringDraft ready - Website form.Priya Raman7:48am
Garden makeover — front and back
Hi there, We bought a place on Hamilton St in Gisborne last year and the garden is… tired. Keen to redo the front and back — some native planting, a bit of paving for an outdoor table, and ideally a low-maintenance lawn out back. Budget is around $25k. Would love to get started in spring if you've got room. Side gate is about 1.2 m wide if that matters for machinery. Couple of photos attached. Thanks, Priya
New job · Quote requestHighDraft ready - Email.Karen Whitfield6:52am
Irrigation leaking AGAIN — not happy
Hi Mel, The drip system you put in six weeks ago is leaking near the driveway again. There's water pooling on the path and the turf along that edge is going soggy. This is the second time I've had to chase it and I've got the grandkids over this weekend — the path is slippery. Can someone come out ASAP? Karen
Warranty / issueUrgentMel notifiedDraft ready - Email.Basalt Ridge Stone5:30am
Tax invoice INV-40817 — Aldous Landscapes
Hi team, Please find attached tax invoice INV-40817 for 4.2 t of sawn bluestone pavers, delivered to the Bulla site on Tuesday. Amount due: $4,386.00 inc GST. Terms 30 days. Regards, Basalt Ridge Stone — Accounts
Accounts · InvoiceIn Xero bills - Email.Sophie | Growth TeamYesterday
Rank #1 on Google in 30 days — GUARANTEED
Hi Aldous Landscapes, I noticed your website isn't on page 1 for "landscaper Sunbury". We GUARANTEE #1 rankings in 30 days or your money back!! Reply YES for a free audit. Sophie
SpamSuggest archive - Email.Jack MorettiYesterday
Landscape labourer role
Hi, Saw your ad for a landscape labourer. I'm 22, finished a Cert II in Landscaping last year and have my manual licence and my own car. I live in Romsey so Sunbury's an easy drive. Available to start Monday. CV attached. Thanks, Jack
RecruitmentDraft ready
The AI output in this demo is scripted to show how the software works. Nothing you do is sent to an AI service or to anyone else. A real build uses an AI provider on business terms, sends it only what each task needs, and keeps a person approving every customer reply.
What you just used
Every screen is a decision about how the work runs
Every message sorted, with a reason
New job, maintenance, issue, invoice, application or spam, each with a confidence score and a plain sentence explaining why. You can see what the AI decided and correct it.
Details pulled out, not re-typed
Name, suburb, job type, budget and timing are pulled from the message into fields you can check and edit, then sent to your CRM or job system in one step.
Replies drafted in your voice
Warm, local and short, the way you'd write if you had time. Regenerate it, make it shorter or friendlier, or edit it directly. Nothing is sent until someone approves it.
Rules you set, visibly applied
Never quote a price in writing, send invoices to Xero, text the owner about complaints. Change a rule and the affected drafts change with it, so you can see the rules working.
Guardrails where they belong
Questions about permits, legal matters or safety are flagged for a person, not answered. Customer replies always need approval, and that setting can't be switched off.
Time back you can measure
Messages sorted automatically, reply times and hours saved are counted every week, so you can judge it on results rather than enthusiasm.
Built for you
Your rules, not a template's
Built for your business, it would learn your work and follow your rules:
- Your categories and priorities, based on the enquiries you actually get
- Your voice, drawn from replies you've already sent and approved
- Your channels: email, website forms, Facebook, Instagram and SMS in one inbox
- Your systems: CRM, job management, calendar and Xero for bills
- Your rules about prices, promises, escalation and who gets told what
- An AI provider on business terms that doesn't train on your data
Connects to what you already use
Where a tool offers an API or a calendar feed, the build talks to it directly. Your data stays in accounts you own.
- Gmail
- Microsoft 365
- Website forms
- SMS
- Xero
- HubSpot
- ServiceM8
AI inbox, a chatbot, or reading everything yourself?
A chatbot answers people on your website in real time, which suits simple, repetitive questions. An AI inbox works behind the scenes on everything that arrives, with a person approving what goes out.
| Criteria | Reading it all yourself | Website chatbot | AI inbox with approval |
|---|---|---|---|
| Covers every channel | Yes, slowly | Website only | Email, forms, social and SMS |
| Who replies to customers | You | The bot, directly | You approve every AI draft |
| Risk of a wrong answer reaching a customer | Low | Real, unless tightly scripted | Low; nothing sends without approval |
| Details into your systems | Re-typed | Sometimes | Extracted and pushed in one step |
| Time saved | None | On simple questions | On sorting, typing and chasing |
| Best when | A handful of messages a day | The same few questions, all day | Dozens of mixed messages a week and replies that matter |
How we'd build yours
Fixed price, agreed before we start
Read a month of your messages
With your permission, we sort a sample of real enquiries by hand to work out your categories, your voice and what should never be automated.
Fix the scope and the price
Channels, categories, rules and integrations in the first version, with one fixed price and the expected running cost written down before we start.
Run it in the shadows first
For a couple of weeks it sorts and drafts while you keep working as normal. We compare its choices with yours and tune it until it agrees with you.
Switch on approvals and measure
Once you trust the drafts, you approve from the inbox. We report weekly on messages sorted, reply times and hours saved.
What moves the price
Custom work is quoted individually, at a fixed price, once the scope is written down. These are the things that make the biggest difference.
- Channels
- One email inbox is simplest; social and SMS each add a connection.
- Integrations
- Pushing jobs into your CRM or calendar needs their APIs.
- Volume
- AI running costs scale with messages, usually tens of dollars a month for a small business.
- Rules and guardrails
- More escalation paths and exceptions mean more testing.
When you shouldn't build this
If you get a handful of messages a day, reading them yourself is faster than any system, and this would be money spent on novelty. It earns its keep when mixed messages arrive across several channels, replies are going out late, and someone's evenings are going on the inbox. Even then, anything a customer sees stays with a person to approve.
Want this, with your name on it?
Tell us how the work runs today. We'll reply within one business day with what we'd build first, what we'd leave out, and whether an off-the-shelf tool would serve you better.
Common questions
A shared inbox where an AI step reads each incoming message, sorts it into a category, pulls out the key details and drafts a reply. A person reviews and approves replies before they're sent, and the business sets rules for what the AI may do.
Not in how we build it. Customer replies are drafted and wait for a person to approve them, and that setting stays on. Internal actions, such as filing an invoice or notifying the owner, can run automatically if you choose.
Yes. It's tuned using replies you've already written and approved, so drafts match your tone and phrasing. You can still edit any draft, and edits help keep future drafts in your voice.
To the AI provider used for each task, only for as long as it's processed, on business terms where the provider doesn't train on it. We send only what each step needs, and messages stay in your own systems.
Build cost is quoted at a fixed price. Running costs depend on message volume and are usually tens of dollars a month for a small business, plus any fees for the channels and tools it connects to.
More examples to try
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- Conveyancers and property law practicesClient onboarding for conveyancers
Last reviewed . The business in the demo is fictional; names, prices and bookings are sample data.