Answering Service FAQ

Centratel's most recent operational statistics (January through March 2009) show a customer reported error rate of one error for every 7,940 transactions. Following are four reasons why we are able to maintain this astounding level of quality answering service:

First: Whichever answering service you choose, the fact is that your calls will be handled by a human being and the quality of service will be 100% dependent on that individual’s training, attitude and comportment. At Centratel, Telephone Service Representative (TSR) wages/benefits are substantially higher than competing answering services nationwide, thus insuring low turnover and top quality performance from long-term, career employees. Working conditions are superb: Centratel provides a peaceful, pleasant operations department in vivid contrast to many telephone answering services that use an isolated, windowless and cramped ”boiler room” atmosphere. At Centratel, our answering service operations department is literally in the center of our headquarter's office space and is not relegated to a back room, hidden from visitors. See essay, "Why Centratel?"

Second: Centratel operates with a focused concentration on a limited number of special business categories. The classic telephone answering service caters to every business and professional category and the end result is lower quality answering service for all clients as TSRs attempt to meet the needs of an endless array of business and professional client demands. At Centratel, the goal is to meet the exact needs of a limited range of clients.

Third: At Centratel, the 100% digital answering service computer/telephone answering systems necessary to provide the integrated answering services are the most sophisticated and user-friendly available. Two full time CMSE qualified IT engineers, are on-call 24/7/365.

Fourth: Unusual for this industry, operation of the company is intensely strategically driven, based on written procedures for every facet of the operation (it is hard to believe but within this industry, almost no answering service businesses comprehensively document their procedures). Note: Available in book stores and Amazon in May 2009, this aspect of the business is documented in a book book by company President Sam Carpenter.

There are four measures that can be used to surmise an answering service’s quality.

1. The ultimate measure of quality: The “Client Reported Error Rate.” Remember that 24/7/365 answering service call processing is performed by humans and humans make errors! The Client Reported Error Rate is simple to calculate. Every three months, we take the total number of messages processed and divide this total by the number of client reported errors. The "total number of messages processed" is easy to find: At Centratel, like most answering services, our telemessaging equipment provides activity statistics for any given period of time. (Centratel Telephone Service Representatives, TSRs, process in excess of 100,000 messages each month.) "Client reported errors" are human inaccuracies in spelling, message relay or other message processing function. We document each client complaint and then add them up. Like clockwork, our monthly reported errors range from 12 to 16 per month (very minor errors, mostly). Our most recent customer reported error rate was one reported error for every 7,940 message transactions processed (January through March 2009). For 99.9% of all answering services, this is a level of accuracy that is simply not obtainable.
2. Average client longevity. We calculate this quarterly, too. In the last quarter of 2008, the average client had been with us 7 years and 6 months. This is a significant figure when one considers that 80% of all small businesses fail within any given five year period.
3. Average TSR longevity. TSRs are the people who answer and process your incoming calls and for this reason they are the heart of your answering service. TSR turnover is a very large problem within the industry and it explains much about why our industry suffers a reputation for less-than-optimal quality. At Centratel we take nearly 100 applications for each person we ultimately hire, we don’t hire part time people, and we drug test frequently. There are many more “hoops” that must be negotiated but the end-result is a staff of highly professional, career Telephone Service Representatives. We have a very tough time finding people to hire but once we find them, they tend to stay a long time. Our current average longevity for tenured TSRs is 5 years and 6 months.
4. TSR compensation. At Centratel, TSR pay rate and benefits are significantly higher than the average answering service, with per-hour pay in the $15.00 to $20.00 per hour range. Employee benefits such as health insurance, PTO, etc. are in addition to these hourly rates. Most answering services pay slightly above minimum wage and many times offer no benefits.

The outgrowth of a local "mom and pop" traditional telephone answering service created in the late 70's, Centratel has developed into an advanced-technology, vertical market-specific high-tech answering service with service throughout the United States and the world. Headquarters are in Bend, Oregon. The company has been under Sam Carpenter's primary ownership since its incorporation in 1984. On December 1, 2008 Centratel celebrated its twenty fourth anniversary. Despite the general decline in the telecom service industry, Centratel has experienced dramatic growth, especially over the past five years. See the essay, "About The Industry."

With a history of industry innovation and leadership, our strategic objective is based on:

1. Impeccable staff performance through written documentation and procedures, intense training and testing, and a generous pay-by-performance employee compensation and benefit package.
2. Cutting-edge technical answering service innovation and state-of-the-art digital equipment.
3. Constant system improvement based on client feedback.

Over 95% of our customers use "traditional live" answering service in which our TSR's directly answer all incoming calls. The advantage of this type of service is that the caller will be immediately talking to a human being; the call is instantly “captured” by a real person. This is critical for companies that are selling a product or service. The other 5% of Centratel customers use "Gold Service" in which the call is answered initially by an automated, voice mail greeting. The greeting provides basic information (such as office hours or directions to the client's office) and the caller is then given a chance to leave a message in his or her own voice. The caller also has the option of reaching a Centratel TSR for emergency on-call dispatching. The advantages of Gold Service: It is approximately 20-30% less expensive than "traditional live" answering service and it quickly and efficiently offers basic information to the caller. It is the usual choice for medical and veterinary offices. Whichever service you choose, your account will be customized exactly to fill your needs. Centratel telephone answering service is active 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, including holidays.

It is possible we are quite knowledgeable about your business, as our company specializes only in certain business categories. For the business categories in which we specialize, we are answering service experts.

A highly dedicated, long-term staff is the simple, key element in providing superb quality telephone answering service. Each Telephone Service Representative is a career professional. They have to be: Much of their time is spent as emergency call support personnel, handling an enormous array of situations. Other times they act as a dispatching service. Sometimes it's for overflow answering service. Many of our accounts use us as "front office" personnel, substituting for the client's on-premise staff or acting as after hours receptionists. At Centratel, pay rates/benefits are higher than 98% of competing telephone answering services in the United States. As a result, staff turnover is low and dedication is high. The caller is treated in a courteous, professional manner and leaves the line confident that the message will be delivered. Names and numbers are correct, messages are complete. The caliber of service is "front office." This is quality so high that, unless we inform them otherwise, callers assume we are not an answering service at all, but that our TSR is actually part of the account's front office staff.

To insure quality answering service, a stable staff is essential. For this industry, Centratel Telephone Service Representatives enjoy the highest rates of pay in the western United States. The average length of service for staff members is over five years which is a unique statistic for an industry plagued by employee turnover. Training and monitoring of the Telephone Service Representative is constant with the goal of near zero-defect performance. Compiled statistics for January through March 2009, show a client reported error rate of one error per 7,940 message transactions.

Yes! In the operation of Centratel, administrative and operations personnel use the same answering service tools and processes that are provided to clients. Internally, we face the same business challenges as our clients and we use the same tools to operate our own internal communications. Many of the products we offer were born out of internal necessity, right here at Centratel. We don’t just sell our answering service products; we use them and steadfastly believe in them.

Our technology is more advanced than 98% of all answering services in the US and Canada. This means solid reliability, superior voice quality, numerous options for clients and a more flexible, user-friendly operating system for our telephone Service Representatives. Our philosophy is this: In order to provide superior answering service to our clients, the people who handle your calls must come first; therefore, we provide them with the best answering service tools available.

The switched telephone network in the United States and Canada is incredibly reliable. And, long-distance rates, absorbed by Centratel, are at historic lows. Since the year 2000 it has been common for a business or professional office in one state to use a telephone answering service located in a distant state. Telephone conversations and data travel at light speed; There are no delays: The distance between the client and the answering service simply does not matter. The highest quality telephone answering service available anywhere is at your doorstep.

Service is on a month-to-month basis. We don’t ask for long-term contracts. This is a philosophical issue. If your telephone answering service is a good value for you, you will choose to continue each month. If it doesn’t work for you, then you are free to cease using it. We have numerous clients who have worked with this month-to-month arrangement for over twenty years.

Through various telephone company call forwarding switching features. By dialing a special code on your keypad, calls can be call-forwarded to Centratel. When you are ready to take your own calls again, the system can be de-programmed by dialing another simple code. Other options include routing your calls to the telephone answering service only after a given number of rings, or if your lines are busy. Also, for some businesses, direct toll-free service which altogether bypasses the client’s offices is a popular option.

Hollee Wilson. Hollee is ready and willing to talk to you about any operational questions or concerns you may have. Hollee's regular office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm PST. You may call her at our main office telephone number (1-800-639-1818) or email her at holleew@centratel.com.

Message delivery options include voice mail, Email, fax, alpha-numeric pager and text-to-cell phone. Various combinations are possible.

If there is an emergency situation our Telephone Service Representatives (TSRs) will choose your "E relay" in which they follow a series of 1-2-3 steps to reach you directly. The "E relay" is custom designed for your answering service account. For instance, the first step might be to try to reach you at home. If there is no answer, the second step may be to try your cellular phone or the home of an associate, a third step might be to send a page to another member of your staff, etc. The fourth step may be to repeat the entire process. With E relays, our TSRs tenaciously follow the established answering service relay protocol until the goal of delivering the message has been accomplished. Protocols are set up so that no message goes undelivered. If there should ever be a problem delivering a message, we work with the client to instantly change the message relay format to one that works more effectively.

Operational questions are handled by Operations Supervisors, one of whom is always on duty and/or available. You will also be contacted regularly by your Customer Service Representative in order to keep your answering service account information up to date and to insure that you are getting the most from your telephone answering service with Centratel.