When the answering service and the case software are not connected, a first call is taken twice: once by whoever answered the phone at 2 AM, and once by whoever types it into the case at 8 AM. The second pass is where a name gets misspelled or a callback number loses a digit. In ASD’s 2017 survey of 1,791 funeral professionals, 66% said they forward calls to an answering service.
How does a first call get from the answering service into the case?
It travels by one of four methods. They differ in how much your staff retype and in where the call recording ends up.
| Method | How it works | What staff still do |
|---|---|---|
| Manual | The service texts or emails the message, and staff type it into the software | Type every field |
| Email intake | The service’s email goes to an address that turns it into a draft record | Review the draft and correct it |
| Direct sync | The service pushes the first call into the software through an integration | Review the record |
| Built-in answering | The software answers the phone and drafts the record itself | Review the draft |
The fourth method removes the second system, and the trade-off is that an assistant answers instead of a person. The comparison with a live answering service sets out that trade-off, and AI receptionists for funeral homes covers what to test.
Which funeral home software integrates with ASD?
ASD lists its integration partners on its FuneralSync page. The software and website providers named there are Tribute Tech, Tukios, Consolidated Funeral Services, Batesville, Frazer Consultants, funeralOne, Passare, Funeral Tech, SRS Computing, Halcyon, FrontRunner, Continental Computers, Osiris Software, MKJ Marketing, Crakn, Terradise, Cadence, Outcompete Marketing and Afterword. ASD describes FuneralSync as pulling first call information and recordings from ASD into your management program, and sending service information from your website to ASD.
In January 2021 ASD wrote that first call information, such as the name of the person who died, the date of birth and the time of death, is transcribed by its staff and copied into the funeral home’s management system. In January 2020 it wrote that ASD does not charge for FuneralSync, and that a client turns it on by asking its software or website provider to activate it. Both posts are several years old, so confirm with ASD and your vendor.
FuneralHQ is not a FuneralSync partner. If a direct ASD feed is a requirement for your firm, shortlist a vendor from ASD’s list. If what you need is a first call that arrives without retyping, email intake and built-in answering also get you there. ASD alternatives compares the services themselves.
What should a first call record carry?
It should carry every detail the director will use later, each in its own field, with nothing guessed. The first call intake checklist has the full sheet.
| Field | Where it is used later | Check on arrival |
|---|---|---|
| Caller’s name, relationship and callback number | The return call, and later who may sign | Every digit of the number |
| Name of the person who died | Every document, the obituary and the certificate paperwork | The spelling the caller confirmed |
| Location, address and a contact there | The transfer into your care and the custody record | The room or apartment number |
| Date and time of death | The death certificate information | AM or PM, and the date after midnight |
| Pronouncement, and by whom | The decision to send staff | A name, not only "yes" |
| Hospice, physician or coroner | Finding who will certify the death | The agency name and a direct line |
| Veteran status, and burial or cremation if known | Preparing for the arrangement conference | Marked unknown when not asked |
| Whether the family wants someone now or later | When staff leave | The family’s own words |
| Call type | Whether it opens a case, a trade job or a callback | At-need and trade kept apart |
| Who took the call, when, and the original message | Review, corrections and your records | The draft matches the message |
How do you set up email intake with an answering service?
You ask the service to email its first call form in a consistent layout, send that email to an intake address belonging to your software, and test it before you rely on it. It is the practical answer when no direct integration exists. FuneralCall, for example, says its messages can be emailed, texted and faxed.
- Ask for a fixed layout. One labeled line for each field, in the same order every time, with the label kept when the answer is unknown.
- Get the intake address. Your software vendor supplies it. Ask whether the service sends to it directly or your office mailbox forwards to it.
- Leave dispatch alone. The text or call that wakes the on-call director stays as it is. The email is for the record.
- Send test messages. Have the service send sample first calls, and compare each draft with the email line by line.
- Name a reviewer. Agree who opens drafts, by what time each morning, and who covers their days off.
- Ask for notice of changes. A renamed or reordered field can land in the wrong place, so ask to be told before the form changes.
What should you test in the first week?
Place six test calls and follow each one from the phone to the record. Use a made-up name with an awkward spelling, so the test cannot be confused with a real family.
| Test call | What to check |
|---|---|
| A death at home, reported by a relative | Spelling, callback number and apartment number arrive as given |
| A hospice nurse or care facility | Facility, contact, pronouncement and time of death land in the right fields |
| A trade call from another firm | It is marked as trade, and the referring firm is recorded |
| A price question | No first call record is opened, and the question reaches a director to return |
| A second call about the same death | No second case appears, and the added detail reaches the first record |
| A caller who does not know the details | Unknown fields arrive empty or marked unknown, never guessed |
Place at least one call after hours, and note how long each record took to appear. For price calls, see phone price disclosure under the Funeral Rule.
Where do call recordings live under each method?
They live with whoever answered the phone, unless an integration copies them across. ASD says it records every call it answers and lets clients listen. FuneralCall says all incoming and outgoing calls are recorded, and that clients can listen to messages from its web dashboard.
| Method | Where the recording lives | How a reviewer hears it |
|---|---|---|
| Manual | With the answering service | In the service’s app or portal |
| Email intake | With the answering service, unless the email carries audio | In the service’s app or portal |
| Direct sync | ASD says FuneralSync pulls recordings into the management program | Ask your software vendor where it appears in the case |
| Built-in answering | In the software, attached to the draft | From the record, with the transcript |
Ask each vendor how long recordings are kept, whether you can download them, and what happens to them if you cancel. Get the answers in writing. Recording also has consent rules, covered in call recording and AI disclosure. This article is general information, not legal advice.
How do you handle duplicates and corrections?
Search before you confirm, and correct the case instead of the email. Duplicates appear when a family calls twice, when the hospice and the family both call, or when the service sends a corrected message. Before a draft becomes a case, search open cases by last name and date of death.
- One confirmer. One person on each shift turns drafts into cases.
- Corrections go in the case. Fix the record, and note who gave the correction and when.
- Keep the original. Leave the first message untouched, so the record shows what changed.
- Tell the service. If the error was made on the call, ask the service to adjust its questions or its read-back.
How FuneralHQ handles this
FuneralHQ supports two of the four methods, email intake and built-in answering. It is not an ASD FuneralSync partner. For email intake, the FuneralHQ team sets up an intake address for your firm. A first call your answering service emails arrives as a draft first call sheet, shown beside the original message. AI phone answering is optional and stays off until you switch it on, for each location and phone number. When the assistant takes a call, it files it as at need, trade, status, price or admin, and leaves a draft first call sheet with the summary, recording and transcript attached. A person reviews and confirms the draft. The assistant never creates a case, and a call about a death already on file does not draft a second sheet. A direct feed from an answering service is in development. FuneralHQ comes in three packages, Platform, Growth, and Growth Managed, listed under pricing.
Questions to ask your answering service and your software vendor
- Do you integrate with each other, and is it a direct sync or an email?
- Which fields arrive in their own place, and which do we still type?
- Does the call recording travel with the record, and how long is it kept?
- Does a first call arrive as a draft for review, or as a finished case?
- What happens when the same family calls a second time?
- Is there a setup fee or a monthly charge for the integration, from either side?
- Will you tell us before the message layout or the integration changes?
Common questions about answering service integration
Does FuneralHQ integrate with ASD?
Not through FuneralSync. FuneralHQ is not on ASD’s partner list. It can receive the first call email your answering service sends, once the FuneralHQ team has set up an intake address for your firm. The message arrives as a draft first call sheet beside the original.
Does ASD charge for FuneralSync?
In a January 2020 post, ASD wrote that there is no cost from ASD to use FuneralSync. That covers ASD’s side only, and the post is several years old. Ask ASD whether it still holds, and ask your software or website vendor whether it charges for its side of the connection.
How do I turn on FuneralSync?
ASD’s posts say to contact your software or website provider and ask it to activate the integration. Before you do, ask which fields it receives, whether recordings are included, and whether a first call arrives as a draft or as a finished case. Then place a test call and follow it through.
Is email intake reliable?
It is as reliable as the form is consistent. A field can be read wrongly when the service changes a label or a caller’s answer runs long. Because a person reviews the draft against the original message, that error is caught before it reaches the case.
Will the on-call director still get the text or call?
Yes, as long as you leave the dispatch instructions alone. An integration or an intake address moves the written record into your software. It does not replace the text, call or app alert that reaches the director at night. Confirm this on your first after-hours test call.
Does the integration create the case automatically?
That depends on the software, so ask. A finished case saves a step. A draft that a person checks first catches a misheard name before it spreads into documents. In FuneralHQ, a first call from an email or from the assistant is a draft that a person confirms.
What does FuneralSync send from our website to ASD?
ASD describes it as service information. In its January 2020 post, ASD wrote that FuneralSync transferred more than 404,314 obituaries in 2019. This direction of the sync starts at your website, not your case software, which is why ASD’s partner list includes website providers. Ask yours whether it is switched on.
Should we switch software to get a direct ASD feed?
Only if retyping first calls is the main problem you are solving. List what else the program has to do, from documents to payments to accounting, and weigh the feed as one item. If your current program is on ASD’s list, ask that vendor to activate FuneralSync first.
The FuneralHQ advantage
The call and the case belong in one record
FuneralHQ rings your staff first, answers when nobody can, pages whoever is on call, and leaves a first call sheet a person confirms, so the details a family gave once are the details the case starts from.
The walkthrough separates what ships today from what is in development, then tests FuneralHQ against one of your real workflows.
Challenge us with your workflowSources
- ASD: FuneralSync integration tool and partner list
- ASD: FuneralSync anniversary post, cost and activation (January 2020)
- ASD: why funeral technology programs need to speak the same language (January 2021)
- ASD: FuneralSync 3.0 update (November 2013)
- ASD: why ASD, service overview
- ASD: 2017 funeral home marketing and communication survey
- FuneralCall: frequently asked questions
- College of American Pathologists: US death certification laws by state (2025)
About the FuneralHQ Editorial Team
This guide was written by the FuneralHQ Editorial Team, the in-house team behind funeral home software used by independent firms to run cases, documents, payments, and QuickBooks sync in one record. Our editorial standards explain how we review product claims, outside sources, automation, updates, and corrections.