Question 1

What is Echo?

Accepted Answer

Echo is the second-in-command for service businesses. It runs the admin — AI quotes, bookings, scheduling, reminders, invoices and getting paid — and helps you grow, by posting to your social media, listing you on Find a pro and collecting reviews after every job. You can run most of it by voice, from your phone or straight from WhatsApp.

Question 2

Who is Echo designed for?

Accepted Answer

Echo is built for active service providers: plumbers, electricians, cleaners, personal trainers, physiotherapists, and 20+ other categories. It is equally useful for their customers, who get fast quotes, simple online booking, WhatsApp reminders and a customer portal.

Question 3

Do I need to be a registered business to use Echo?

Accepted Answer

Echo is for active service providers who take on paid jobs. You do not need to be a formally registered company — sole traders and freelancers are welcome — but you must be actively offering a service to customers.

Question 4

Can I use Echo for a health or wellness practice?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Physiotherapists, biokineticists, personal trainers, massage therapists, and other health practitioners can use Echo for scheduling, clinical notes with AI voice-to-text structuring, procedure codes, and patient intake forms.

Question 5

How does the booking process work?

Accepted Answer

A customer finds your public booking page, describes their job by voice or text, and receives an AI-generated quote within seconds. You review the quote, send it back, and the customer confirms. From there Echo manages scheduling, reminders, invoicing, and payment.

Question 6

How does AI quoting work?

Accepted Answer

Echo uses your hourly rates and call-out fee alongside the customer's voice or text description to generate an itemized quote. The AI does the math and writes the line items — you review and send in one tap. No spreadsheets or manual calculations needed.

Question 7

Can customers book directly without going through a quote?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If you offer fixed-price services, customers can select the service and book a time slot directly without a quote step. You control which services use AI quoting and which allow direct booking.

Question 8

How does voice recording work on Echo?

Accepted Answer

Click the microphone icon in any text field to start recording. When you stop, Echo transcribes your audio using Whisper and processes it with AI — either generating a quote from a customer description or structuring a clinical note into SOAP sections for practitioners.

Question 9

What happens after a job is completed?

Accepted Answer

You mark the job complete and Echo generates the invoice and sends it to the customer by WhatsApp or email with a secure payment link. The customer pays by card online (or by EFT or cash, which you mark as paid), and Echo asks them for a review.

Question 10

How do I sign up as a service provider?

Accepted Answer

Visit echo-agent.com/signup and complete the onboarding wizard. It takes about five minutes to set up your business profile, pricing, availability, and public booking page. No credit card is required to start.

Question 11

How do I set up my services and availability?

Accepted Answer

The onboarding wizard guides you through entering your hourly rates, call-out fee, working hours, and the types of jobs you accept. You can update these at any time from your dashboard settings.

Question 12

How do customers find me on Echo?

Accepted Answer

You get a public booking page at echo-agent.com/book/your-name that you can share anywhere — WhatsApp, Instagram, or your website. Customers can also find you on Find a pro, Echo's marketplace of local providers, and through the posts Echo publishes to your social media.

Question 13

How do payments work for customers?

Accepted Answer

After a job is finalized, the customer receives a WhatsApp or email message with a secure payment link to your invoice. They pay by card online and get a receipt instantly. If a customer pays by EFT or cash, you simply mark the invoice as paid.

Question 14

How do I get paid as a service provider?

Accepted Answer

Card payments go straight to your own bank account. In South Africa they are processed by Paystack; everywhere else by Stripe. Once your payout account is verified, settlements happen automatically on the processor's normal schedule.

Question 15

What does Echo cost?

Accepted Answer

You can start on the free plan with no monthly fee — Echo charges 2% only on jobs paid by cash or EFT. Pro is a flat monthly fee with no 2% fee, and includes Social Media Automation. See the pricing page for prices in your currency.

Question 16

Are there subscription plans available?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Echo has two plans. Free has no monthly fee: you pay 2% only on jobs paid by cash or EFT. Pro is a flat monthly fee (R849 in South Africa) with no 2% fee, and includes Social Media Automation. Both plans include unlimited team members with role-based access. Pro comes with a 7-day free trial.

Question 17

How does Echo help me get more customers?

Accepted Answer

Three ways. Social Media Automation writes and publishes up to three posts a week to your Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Find a pro lists you in Echo's marketplace and local search pages. And after every paid job, Echo asks the customer for a review, which they can leave by voice.

Question 18

Can I manage my team on Echo?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Invite team members with different roles — managers can do everything you can, while technicians see only their assigned jobs. You get an approval workflow for team job completions so nothing gets invoiced without your sign-off.

Question 19

Does Echo support recurring appointments?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Set up a recurring booking series with daily, weekly, fortnightly, or monthly frequency. You can edit a single occurrence, all future occurrences, or the entire series — ideal for ongoing maintenance contracts or regular patient appointments.

Question 20

Can I send invoices through Echo?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Echo generates branded invoices when a job is finalized and sends them by WhatsApp or email with a secure payment link. You can also create custom invoices, add discounts, resend or void invoices, and track payment status from your dashboard.

Question 21

Is there a customer portal?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Customers have a secure portal where they can view all their bookings, download invoices as PDFs, check quote status, and manage their contact details. They log in with a one-time code sent to their WhatsApp.

Up and runningbefore lunch.

The Echo journey

Tell Echo about your business

Customers find you and book

Talk, and the admin's done

Get paid. Keep growing.

Frequently Asked Questions

About Echo

How It Works

Getting Started

Payments

Features

Ready for asecond-in-command?