In short and in plain language
Some firms first advise customers by video. The visit on site comes after that.
In the video the firm sees the damage. It then knows which parts to bring. But it cannot measure in the video.
The customer sends photos first. On the website he picks a fixed time. The call takes about a quarter of an hour.
The call is not recorded. The firm signs a data protection contract with the maker of the program.
We build the page and the form for this.
Tuesday morning, a customer writes in through the form: there is water under the sink, something is dripping. Until now that meant arranging a visit, driving out, looking under the cabinet and finding that the slip nut on the trap only needs tightening, or that a spare part is missing and not in the van. A video consultation before the site visit turns the order round: look first, then drive. 35 per cent of trade businesses already offer online consultation and 48 per cent offer online appointment booking (Bitkom). Many trade websites still say nothing about it, or one sentence with no way to get there. This article shows what a short video call is good for and what it is not, how fixed time slots fit into the weekly plan, what customers prepare, what applies to data protection and how the website turns the video consultation into a step customers book themselves.
Key takeaways
- 35 per cent of trade businesses offer online consultation and 48 per cent online appointment booking (Bitkom). The website joins the two: the video consultation becomes a fixed appointment that customers choose themselves.
- A video call before the site visit settles the damage, the urgency, access, materials and a cost range. Measuring, testing and hazards such as a smell of gas belong to the visit on site or to the emergency service.
- Fixed 15-minute slots, for example before the first drive and in the late afternoon, fit into the weekly plan without moving any rounds. Photos the customer uploads in advance replace the opening of the conversation.
- After the call the business gives a range with stated assumptions, not a quote. A cost estimate is, in case of doubt, not to be paid for (§ 632(3) BGB); anyone charging for the consultation agrees that in advance.
- Video calls are not recorded: recording the privately spoken word without authorisation carries up to three years in prison (§ 201 StGB). The provider of the tool needs a contract under Art. 28 GDPR.
What the figures show and what they do not
The figures come from a survey Bitkom Research carried out in summer 2025 among 504 trade businesses with at least one employee (Bitkom). 85 per cent of the businesses offer at least one digital service (Bitkom). Examples named are sending quotes digitally at 68 per cent and invoices at 62 per cent, as well as online appointment booking at 48 per cent, online consultation at 35 per cent and payment through an online payment provider at 27 per cent (Bitkom).
What the survey does not say is what this online consultation looks like. A business that answers customer questions by email can count itself in just as much as one offering fixed video appointments. The 35 per cent (Bitkom) therefore do not describe video consultation in the narrow sense but a willingness not to give advice exclusively on site. For the question of whether customers take part there is a second figure: 78.7 per cent of 16 to 74-year-olds in Germany made private calls or video calls over the internet in the three months before the 2025 survey (Eurostat). For most customers a video call is no longer new ground but part of everyday life.
From the businesses' point of view, the obstacle rarely lies with the customers. Only 23 per cent observe a lack of interest in digital solutions among their customers (Bitkom). As a barrier to digitalisation in the sector, on the other hand, 96 per cent name concerns about IT and data security and data protection, and 72 per cent say they simply have too much to do to deal with digitalisation (Bitkom).
Both matter for the video consultation. It has to be organised with a few steps per week, or it gets left aside, and it needs a clear answer to the data protection question, or nobody in the business dares to offer it. This article covers both, in the order in which a business should settle the questions: first what the video is good for, then how it fits into the calendar, and finally how the website offers it.
What the video before the site visit is good for
In most cases a video does not replace the visit on site. It decides which visit is needed, who drives out and what is in the van. The occasions fall into six groups, and the same applies to each: the conversation ends with a decision, not with a feeling.
Assess the damage
A dripping trap, a damp patch on the ceiling, an error code on the boiler, a fuse that keeps tripping: the picture shows whether it is a small matter or a case for the next free fitter.
Set the urgency
Today, this week or as planned: whoever has seen the damage can classify it correctly. That protects the emergency capacity from cases that can wait until Thursday.
Clarify access
How much room is there under the sink, where is the access panel, can the loft be reached by ladder? Whether a second person, a ladder or scaffolding is needed is settled after the call.
Prepare materials
Diameter, thread, manufacturer and year from the rating plate: whatever can be seen in the video or the photos is in the van at the first visit instead of being delivered at the second.
Give a cost range
A range with the assumptions it rests on. The customer then knows what order of magnitude to plan for, and the business has promised nothing that can only be settled on site.
Narrow the options
For a bathroom refit, new windows or a new heating system: which variants are possible at all before anyone measures. The visit on site then starts with two options instead of six.
The gain lies less in the drive saved than in a first visit that hits the mark. The average order backlog in the trades stood at 8.7 weeks in the second quarter of 2026 (ZDH). A business booked that far ahead can hardly afford a site visit that needs a second one. And the customer waiting weeks for the actual job at least gets a first assessment within a few days from the video call.
When enquiries become scarcer, the focus shifts: then every enquiry counts that is not lost because the business cannot come by for three weeks. What the website has to do in such phases is set out in the article Slower order books. The video consultation should not be confused with videos as website content: how a company video is embedded is described in the article on videos on the trade website. Here it is about the conversation with one customer about one problem.
Where the video stops
Useful as the picture is, it has hard limits. They belong on the website, because otherwise customers only learn about them during the call and take them as a refusal. Four limits apply to almost every trade:
- Measuring up: measurements taken from a phone picture are unreliable. The wide-angle lens distorts towards the edges, perspective shortens depth, and a folding rule in the picture only helps if it lies in the same plane as whatever is being measured. For quotes based on measurements, such as tiles, windows, stairs or fitted units, measuring up remains a visit on site.
- Measurement and testing: insulation resistance, loop impedance, flue gas values, moisture in masonry: whatever needs a meter cannot be read through the camera. The video settles which instrument comes along, not the result.
- Hidden damage: what lies behind tiles, under the screed or inside the roof build-up does not show on camera. A damp patch on the ceiling says that water is there, not where it comes from.
- Danger: if there is a smell of gas, water near electrical wiring or the heating fails in a frost, a video appointment next week is the wrong answer. That is what the emergency service is for, and the video consultation page points to it before anyone books.
A smell of gas is not a case for a video call
Drawing the line clearly protects both sides. The customer does not expect a commitment from the video call that only becomes possible on site, and the business does not have to take back anything it said on screen. A sentence like “In the video call we settle what we bring. We can only measure and make a binding offer on site.” is enough, and it belongs directly above the booking form.
The line looks a little different in each trade. In plumbing and heating the video works for traps, cisterns, error codes and pressure gauges, not for a leak test. In electrical work the customer shows the fuse box from the outside, without opening any covers. With roofs the customer stays on the ground: they film the patch inside and the roof surface from below, and climbing only happens with safety equipment at the site visit.
The cost range: a span with assumptions
The most common question at the end of a video call is: roughly what will it cost? An honest answer is a range, and every range comes with the assumptions it rests on. For example: replacing the trap including materials, provided the drain behind it is clear and the pipe in the wall does not need replacing. If one assumption falls away, the range shifts, and the customer knows beforehand where that can happen.
Legally the distinction matters, because a range can quickly become a cost estimate. The first rule for an estimate: a cost estimate is, in case of doubt, not to be paid for (§ 632(3) BGB). If a contract is based on it and a substantial overrun becomes likely, the business must notify the customer without undue delay (§ 649 BGB). What this means for quotes and estimates given through the website is explained in the article Cost estimates via the website.
| Statement after the video call | What it means | What it looks like in writing |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment | First classification of the damage without an amount | Short message: what could be seen, what happens next |
| Cost range | Non-binding range with stated assumptions | Range, assumptions and a note that a quote follows after the site visit |
| Cost estimate | Calculation that a contract can be based on | Items, quantities, prices; notice of a substantial overrun under § 649 BGB |
| Quote | Binding declaration by the business | Only after measuring up or complete information, with deadline and conditions |
One sentence on the website prevents misunderstandings here: “After the video call we give you a cost range. A binding quote follows after the visit on site.” Businesses that already show prices on the website, for servicing or standard jobs, can refer to them in the cost range. How businesses handle prices on the website without tying themselves down is described in the article Showing prices on a trade website.
The cost range goes to the customer in writing, on the same day. Figures given orally shrink in memory, and if the site visit takes place two weeks later, it is statement against recollection. Three lines are enough: what could be seen, which range on which assumptions, which appointment comes next.
Free of charge or for a fee
Whether the video consultation costs anything is the business's decision. Two models suggest themselves, and both can be described clearly on the website:
- Free and short: 15 minutes to classify the problem, without a detailed diagnosis. That lowers the threshold for customers and filters out enquiries that need no site visit at all or are better placed with another trade.
- For a fee, credited later: a longer conversation, for example to pre-plan a bathroom refit or to choose a heating system, for a fixed amount that is credited when the job is placed. The amount and the credit are stated on the page before booking.
If consumers book a paid consultation through the website and it is delivered by video, it is usually a distance contract: negotiation and conclusion of the contract take place exclusively by means of distance communication (§ 312c BGB). There is then a right of withdrawal, and the withdrawal period is 14 days (§ 355(2) BGB). If the consultation takes place before the period ends, the right of withdrawal only expires once the service is fully provided if the customer expressly agreed before it started that the business may begin before the period ends, and confirmed that they know their right of withdrawal expires on full performance (§ 356(5) no. 2 BGB).
What has to appear on the website, in the form and in the confirmation is described in the article Cancellation rights for jobs booked by email and website. For the free version, one clear sentence that the conversation costs nothing and commits to nothing is enough.
A working aid, not legal advice
Time slots that fit the weekly plan
Video consultation often fails not because of the customer but because of the business's calendar. Anyone offering calls “by arrangement” ends up phoning three times before an appointment is fixed. Fixed slots solve that: few, short, in the same places every week. Five decisions are enough:
- Length: 15 minutes per slot. That is enough for the damage, access and a cost range if the photos are there beforehand, and short enough to fit between two tasks. For pre-planning, for example a bathroom refit, two consecutive slots are booked.
- Timing: where the adviser is not on a site anyway: before the first drive, around the office lunch break, in the late afternoon. Working customers are often only at home in the afternoon and then have the sink, the cellar or the loft in front of them.
- Buffer: five minutes between two slots for the note and the message to the customer while the call is still fresh.
- Who: the master craftsman, the site manager or the person in the office who knows the trade. Not the fitter lying under another sink with wet hands.
- Cancellation: if a slot falls through, it is blocked on the website before anyone books, not cancelled afterwards by phone.
With a block of two slots on three days, that makes six video appointments a week, or an hour and a half of consultation. That can be planned, and it can be adjusted to demand without moving any rounds. Anyone who notices that the slots are regularly fully booked adds a fourth day; anyone who notices that they stay empty first checks whether the offer can be found on the website at all.
How appointment requests with a time window, a call-back slot and automatic confirmation are built in general is set out in the article Organising appointments via the website. For the video consultation one thing is added: the slot is not an approximate preferred time but a fixed appointment at which both sides sit in front of a screen. And businesses that are hard to reach by phone during the day gain a route through which customers still get through; why calls are otherwise lost is described in the article Why trade businesses lose calls.
What the customer prepares
Whether 15 minutes are enough is decided before the call. The video consultation page and the confirmation email therefore tell the customer exactly what to have ready. A list like this is enough as a template as long as it stays short:
- Upload three photos in advance: an overview, a close-up of the spot, a picture of the connection or rating plate
- Clear the space: base cabinet emptied, fuse box accessible, way to the loft free
- Bring light: a torch or a second phone with a lamp
- Check reception: test in the cellar or boiler room beforehand whether the connection holds, otherwise move closer to the router
- Charge the battery and hold the phone sideways when filming
- Have documents ready: service booklet, old invoice, year of the appliance
- Settle who is in the picture: housemates and children do not need to be filmed
The photos are the biggest lever. Whoever sees them before the call can settle the first questions before the camera runs and starts with what the photos do not show. The enquiry form needs a photo attachment for this; how to build one without overloading the form is described in the article on enquiry form fields. The principles for usable phone pictures, originally written for company photos, help customers just as well: light from the side, a steady hand, the important part in the middle of the frame, as described in the article Phone photos for trade websites.
If the connection does not work in the cellar, that is no reason to postpone the appointment. The conversation then continues by phone, the customer takes two or three more photos on request and uploads them. This fallback belongs in the confirmation email, so the customer does not spend ten minutes trying to get the picture working.
Data protection for the video call
For the data from the video consultation the business usually needs no consent. The processing serves steps taken at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). That covers name, contact details, photos and the conversation itself, as far as they are needed for the assessment. It should not be more than that: data must be limited to what is necessary for the purpose (Art. 5(1)(c) GDPR).
The tool is a different matter. If the call runs through an online service, its provider processes the data on behalf of the business. That requires a data processing agreement, and the business may only work with providers offering sufficient guarantees of appropriate technical and organisational measures (Art. 28 GDPR). The German data protection conference requires the agreement, terms of use and security evidence of the provider to be checked, and states that ambiguities in the processing agreement are regularly a reason for exclusion (Datenschutzkonferenz).
The most important rule is simple: do not record. Anyone who records the privately spoken word of another person without authorisation commits an offence; the law provides for imprisonment of up to three years or a fine (§ 201 StGB). Under data protection law, too, a recording needs its own legal basis, as a rule separate consent, and any recording function must be switched off by default (Datenschutzkonferenz). Whatever needs to be kept goes into a short written note after the call; a still image only with the customer's agreement and only of the spot in question.
A video call shows the customer's home. The video consultation page therefore says that only the affected spot needs to be visible, that nobody else has to be in the picture and that the customer can turn the camera away at any time. The data protection conference's guidance on video conferencing systems recommends informing participants who join from private homes about these risks, such as an unfavourable camera angle or third persons appearing in picture or sound unprepared (Datenschutzkonferenz).
Six questions help when choosing the tool. They apply whichever service the business uses:
- Is the data processing agreement concluded before the first use?
- Is the data processed in the EU, and does nobody access it from a third country without a legal basis?
- Can the customer join via a link, without an account and without installing anything?
- Is recording switched off by default?
- Is the transmission encrypted, end to end where offered?
- Does the business admit participants from a waiting room, so nobody ends up in someone else's call?
At the time of collection the business must state, among other things, the purpose, the legal basis and the recipients of the data (Art. 13 GDPR). In practice this means the privacy policy gets a section on the video consultation naming the tool, the provider as processor and how long the photos are kept, and the confirmation email refers to it. If the video tool or a provider's booking calendar is embedded directly in the page and stores information on the device that is not strictly necessary for the service requested, that needs consent (§ 25 TDDDG). Simpler is a link in the confirmation that only opens the call when the customer clicks. More on this in the articles Legal notice and privacy on the trade website and Cookie banners: when a trade business needs one.
On the website: from the form to a booked slot
For a video consultation to become a step customers choose themselves, the website needs three things: a place where the offer is explained, a way to send photos and a preferred slot, and a confirmation that prepares the call. The process has five stages:
Explain the offer
A section on each trade page or a page of its own: what the video consultation is good for, what not, how long it takes, whether it costs anything, and a pointer to the emergency service for urgent cases.
Enquiry with photos
The form asks for the occasion, location, contact route and preferred slot and accepts up to three photos. It needs no more mandatory fields; the call settles the rest.
Confirm the slot
The office confirms the slot, or the customer picks it directly from the free times. The confirmation gives the date, time, link, preparation list and the relevant section of the privacy policy.
Hold the call
15 minutes, with the photos already reviewed. At the end comes one of three answers: solved with instructions, site visit with named materials, or an appointment for measuring up.
Send the cost range
On the same day, a short message with the assessment, range, assumptions and the proposed site visit. The next decision is then with the customer.
A section on each trade page or a page of its own: what the video consultation is good for, what not, how long it takes, whether it costs anything, and a pointer to the emergency service for urgent cases.
The form asks for the occasion, location, contact route and preferred slot and accepts up to three photos. It needs no more mandatory fields; the call settles the rest.
The office confirms the slot, or the customer picks it directly from the free times. The confirmation gives the date, time, link, preparation list and the relevant section of the privacy policy.
15 minutes, with the photos already reviewed. At the end comes one of three answers: solved with instructions, site visit with named materials, or an appointment for measuring up.
On the same day, a short message with the assessment, range, assumptions and the proposed site visit. The next decision is then with the customer.
To start with, an enquiry with a preferred slot that the office confirms is enough. A calendar with free times pays off once several video appointments are booked every week; it then has to be maintained, otherwise a customer books a slot in which nobody has time. Businesses already running online appointment booking, and that is 48 per cent of them (Bitkom), simply add a new appointment type there.
Where the section goes depends on how the website is structured. Businesses with their own service pages place it where customers look for the occasion, for plumbing and heating next to bathroom refits and boiler replacement; how such pages are built for this trade is shown on our page Web design for plumbing and heating. A pointer on the homepage and in the business profile also leads there.
The way back remains important. Without a clean set-up, confirmation emails from the form end up in the spam folder, and the customer waits for a link that does not arrive. How to prevent that is described in the article When the enquiry ends up in spam. One test booking a month, from an address outside the business, shows early whether the chain still holds.
What it costs to set up
The video consultation page and the form with photo attachment and preferred slot are part of a website for trade businesses that we build for a fixed price from 1,490 euros net. Maintenance afterwards, meaning updates with a prior backup, availability monitoring and smaller changes such as new time slots, costs from 49 euros per month, and hosting in Germany from 15 euros per month. Both can be cancelled monthly, with no minimum term (prices as of September 2026). All items are listed on the pricing page.
The video tool itself is not part of the website, and you decide which one to use. On the website it is linked so that the page loads no content from the provider before a customer clicks the link. Anyone who first wants to test whether the offer pays off starts with a section on the most important service page and two fixed slots a week. After a few weeks the number of bookings shows whether a calendar with free times is needed. An overview of all building blocks is on the services page, and enquiries go through the contact page.
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