A property management company in Helena, Montana managing 320 residential units across 12 properties was drowning in after-hours maintenance calls. Their aging landline system had no routing logic — every call after 5 PM went to a shared voicemail that the office manager checked the next morning. Emergency calls about burst pipes or heating failures sat unheard for hours.
The Problem
The company's two property managers split on-call duties, but the landline couldn't route calls to their personal phones. Tenants with genuine emergencies — frozen pipes in January, a flooded unit, a broken furnace at 2 AM — left voicemails that weren't heard until morning. Non-emergency maintenance requests (dripping faucets, loose doorknobs) also came in on the same line with the same urgency. The office manager spent 45 minutes every morning triaging voicemails. The company was paying $520/month for phone lines across their main office and two satellite locations, plus $85/month for an answering service that tenants complained was "useless."
The Solution
Big Sky Telecom installed hosted VoIP with an auto attendant, time-based routing, ring groups, SMS messaging, and mobile softphone apps for both property managers. The auto attendant was configured to give tenants options: "Press 1 for emergency maintenance, Press 2 for non-emergency requests, Press 3 for leasing inquiries." Emergency calls route directly to the on-call manager's mobile softphone. Non-emergency requests go to voicemail with automatic transcription emailed to the maintenance coordinator. All three office locations were unified on one system with seamless transfers.
The Results
70% faster emergency response: Average after-hours emergency response dropped from 8+ hours (next-morning voicemail check) to under 15 minutes. The on-call manager's softphone rings immediately for emergency calls. In the first month alone, they caught a burst pipe at 11 PM that would have caused $15,000+ in damage if discovered the next morning.
$4,800/year savings: Monthly phone costs dropped from $605 (lines + answering service) to $205 (7 VoIP users). The answering service was eliminated entirely. Annual savings: $4,800.
Remote property management: Both property managers now handle calls from anywhere using the softphone app — whether they're at a property showing, working from home, or on-call overnight. Tenants see the office number on caller ID, not the manager's personal cell. When the senior property manager worked remotely for two weeks during a family emergency, tenants never knew she wasn't in the office.
SMS maintenance updates: The team now sends SMS updates to tenants: "Your maintenance request has been scheduled for Thursday 2-4 PM." Tenant satisfaction scores on their annual survey improved from 3.2/5 to 4.4/5 — the highest in company history.
What the Owner Said
"The emergency routing alone justified the switch. We caught a burst pipe the first month that would have cost us more than five years of phone service. But honestly, it's the SMS updates that changed our tenant relationships. People feel heard. Our property managers can work from anywhere and tenants get better service than when we were chained to the office."
Is Your Property Management Company Ready?
If your property management company is still routing after-hours calls to a shared voicemail or an expensive answering service, the switch to hosted VoIP with intelligent routing is fast and affordable.
Get a free quote for your company
Big Sky Telecom provides hosted VoIP, business phone systems, and managed IT services to small and mid-sized businesses across Western Montana. Locally owned and operated in Missoula, MT since 1998.