The board is five volunteers and one of them gets every call
A sprinkler head is spraying across the walkway, and an owner has found your treasurer's mobile number. GreetKeeper answers instead, works out whether it is yours to fix, and logs it properly.
Caller
“There's a sprinkler head broken by the mailboxes, it's been spraying across the walkway all afternoon and someone's going to slip. I'm at 118, I'm on the board's email list.”
What happened next
- Logged: broken sprinkler head, mailbox walkway, common area, standing water on a path
- Matched the HOA rules: common area plus a trip hazard, same-day contractor
- Notified the landscape contractor on the HOA list with the location
- Recorded the owner's unit and contact for the board packet, no board member called
Volunteers are not a phone system
The problem in your HOA is that nobody is paid to answer. Owners ring whichever board member's number they happen to have, usually in the evening.
One of your directors ends up being the switchboard. It's normally your treasurer, or whoever answered last time, and the reward for helping is more calls. That's how boards burn out, and it's why you struggle to fill seats every year.
Your calls are mostly sorting, not fixing. Is this yours to fix or the owner's? Does it belong to your management company? Is it a work order or a rule complaint? Getting that wrong either spends your reserve money on somebody's private plumbing or leaves a hazard on a shared path.
GreetKeeper answers your HOA line, applies the rules as you've written them down, and leaves the board a written record instead of a phone call at dinner.
Common area, or inside the unit
Nearly every call comes down to that one question, and your documents answer it rather than your judgment.
| What the owner reports | Whose | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Roof leak into a top-floor unit | Usually the HOA | Logged as urgent, contractor notified, board informed |
| Water heater failed inside a unit | Owner | Owner told it is theirs, with the wording from your documents |
| Broken sprinkler, damaged path, dead exterior light | Association | Work order to the relevant contractor |
| Gate or garage door not operating | Association | Same-day, because access and security ride on it |
| Neighbor noise, pets, parked in the wrong space | Rules matter | Complaint taken down, no ruling made on the call |
| Question about dues, an assessment or a balance | Management or treasurer | Message only, never discussed |
| Request for documents before a sale | Management | Captured and routed, the request has a legal clock on it |
Answering for a board without speaking for it
One split keeps your board out of trouble: reporting and routing are safe to hand over, decisions are not.
Identify the unit and whether they are an owner
Owner, resident tenant or a neighbor. That changes what you owe them, and it's the first thing your manager asks anyway.
Place the problem on the boundary
Common area, limited common element, or inside the unit. It reads your summary of your documents and, where the answer isn't clean, says your board will confirm rather than guessing.
Take a violation report without judging it
What was seen, when and where, in your reporting owner's words. It doesn't decide whether a rule was broken, doesn't name a fine, and doesn't tell anyone they're in breach. That's your board's process, and it has to stay there.
Leave the board a record, not a voicemail
Every call reaches you as a transcript and a short summary with the unit attached. At your next meeting that's a list you can read out, which is a different thing from three directors' recollections.
What a board spends on this
Most boards sit on Starter at $49 a month for 200 answered calls, then 45 cents each. Owner calls are few, and they bunch around repairs and meetings. A large HOA with a pool, a gym and a gate usually needs Professional at $149 for 750 calls.
It's a line item you can put in a budget and your members can see, which matters in a body that votes on its own spending. Your overage rate is published, so nobody is surprised by an invoice after a storm.
It cannot speak for the board
What boards ask before they vote on it
Who does it call when something is urgent?
Whoever the board names: the landscape contractor, the gate company, the manager, or one director. You set that per type of problem, so the treasurer stops being the default for everything.
Can it take a request to change a home?
It records that one was made and routes it. It won't accept, refuse or comment on it, because approval is a board act with a process and usually a deadline attached.
What if the caller is angry about a fine?
It listens, records what was said, and routes to your board or your manager. It doesn't defend the fine, explain it or negotiate, and you want that conversation in writing anyway.
Do we need our management company's agreement?
Practically, yes, if they hold your after-hours line. If you're self-managed, your path is simpler. Either way, settle who answers what before you change the number on your notice board.
Does the board get to hear the calls?
Every call arrives as a transcript and a summary. Recording the audio is a separate setting, paired with a notice option. Consent law differs by state, so settle that one with whoever advises your board.
Hear it take an owner's call
Your documents summarized, your contractor list, two minutes.