EE
O2
Vodafone
Three
giffgaff
Sky Mobile
SMARTY
Talkmobile
iD Mobile
Asda Mobile
Virgin Mobile
Missed call text service
for pest control
Pest control calls are urgent in a way few trades can match. Somebody has just seen a rat in their kitchen or found a wasp nest above the back door, and they are not in a mood to wait. They will ring down the list until a human answers, and the first one who does gets the job.
Why pest controllers miss calls
You are in a loft, under a floor, in a crawl space, or wearing a respirator and full PPE. None of those are compatible with taking a call, and several of them have no signal. The work also demands full attention — treating a nest is not something you do one-handed while talking.
The maths
What one missed pest call is worth
A single treatment is a solid job on its own, and infestations rarely resolve in one visit, so a first call often becomes a course of treatments. Commercial contracts — a restaurant, a warehouse, a landlord with a portfolio — are worth considerably more and almost always start with an urgent call about one specific problem.
TextTheCaller is £6.49 a month. Set against the value of the work above, it only has to keep one caller from ringing the next name on the list to have paid for itself several times over.
What to write in your text
You write the message once and it goes out on every missed call. Here's one that works for pest controllers:
Thanks for calling Thornbury Pest Control. I'm on a treatment and can't answer. I'll call you back shortly. If it's urgent, call again and I'll try to pick up.
It sends from your business name
The caller sees your business name, not a phone number — so there's nothing for them to reply to. Give them something they can act on instead: a booking link, an email address, or a time you'll ring back.
160 characters
One SMS segment. The example above fits with room to spare, and we'll show you the count as you write so nothing gets cut off.
How it works
No app, no new number, no contract.
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1
Sign up with your mobile number
Enter your number, pick your network and set your business name. No password — we email you a magic link.
About 30 seconds
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2
Set unanswered-call forwarding
Follow the tailored dial-code or handset instructions for your carrier, then make a quick test call.
One time only
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3
Write your text-back
Use the example above or write your own. Next time a call rings out, the caller gets it within seconds.
Change it any time
It works on your existing number on every compatible UK network, and only ever triggers on calls you don't answer. Pick up as normal and nothing happens at all. If you want the general version before the pest controllers detail, read the missed call text service overview.
Step two is the only one that changes depending on who your line is with. We have written the unanswered-call divert up for each network separately — EE, O2, Vodafone, Three, giffgaff, Sky Mobile, SMARTY, Talkmobile, iD Mobile, Asda Mobile and Virgin Mobile — because the menu names, the codes each one accepts and what happens after a SIM swap are genuinely different. If you are not sure where to start, the general guide to stopping calls going to voicemail covers the part that is the same everywhere.
Worth knowing for pest controllers
Lofts, cellars and crawl spaces are exactly where mobile signal disappears. Because the network applies the divert before the call reaches your handset, the text still goes out when you have no bars at all — but it is worth confirming with a test call from a job rather than from your kitchen.
Questions from pest controllers
Only if you want them to. Put your contract clients and site managers on the skip list and they never receive one.
Exactly what happens when you have full signal. The divert is applied by the network, and we send the text — nothing depends on your handset being reachable.
Yes, and in this trade it is worth the characters. Knowing you handle urgent work is often the deciding factor for someone who has just found something in their kitchen.
Also built for
Every missed call is a job someone else gets
Keep your number. Two minutes to set up. Cancel whenever you like.
7 days free, then £6.49/mo. Cancel any time.