Voice Mail

Updated 2/3/2007
In 1987, Centratel was the first entity in Central Oregon, private or public, to install a voice mail system. Since then, Centratel has had five major upgrades in systems and capacities and supports nearly 2,000 active mailboxes in the Central Oregon area. As with our paging services, we assertively maintain the lowest rates in the region. Also, mailbox message capacities are the most generous.

In further contrast to competitors, Centratel is locally owned and operated and has served Central Oregon for 23 years. Centratel employs a long-term staff of thirty Central Oregonians.

Centratel voice mail is the inexpensive alternative to telephone answering/call center service. It’s also a simple and low-cost substitute for an expensive voice mail equipment installation in your office. Accessed through call-forwarding options of the telephone company, or reached directly through the assigned telephone number that comes with each voice mailbox, Centratel voicemail could be the perfect solution for your business or profession! We offer simple configurations or customized bulletin board, specialized realty, group, fax machine and fax-on-demand mailboxes. Centratel voice mail service interfaces perfectly with Centratel paging and answering services.

With the lowest pricing in the region, and customer service personnel with the deepest experience, call us today to find out how we can build the best voicemail system for you!

Voicemail Solutions

For your company, there are two options for voice mail. First, equipment can be installed within your office by your telephone equipment vendor. There are disadvantages to this option. For smaller companies it is not practical and it's expensive. For large and small companies, there is the learning curve/maintenance/software upgrade issues of yet another computer system. Also, ongoing maintenance requires the on-site, hourly service charges of interconnect personnel.

The second option is to use an outside service provider such as Centratel. There is no equipment installation on premise, eliminating the significant up-front cost of purchasing the equipment and the attendant problems of maintenance. Charges are billed monthly, quarterly or annually. There are no long term contracts. Activation can be instant. It's a very simple process.

There are hundreds of separate applications available. Here are a few real-life examples:

A local contractor forwards his calls to his voice mailbox when he is out of his office. The contractor's greeting instructs callers to "press one if you want to talk to me on my cell phone", otherwise callers simply leave a message. Callers can be screened by name so the contractor can either accept the call or discretely route the caller to voicemail.
A Pediatrics medical clinic routes all after-hours calls into our Medical Exchange voice mail system where the caller hears recorded office hours and other pertinent information, has an opportunity to leave a message in his or her own voice, or can simply stay on the line to reach a telephone secretary who will contact emergency on-call personnel. Medical Exchange is used by a majority of Centratel medical accounts. Compared to traditional telephone answering service, it is significantly less expensive. See detailed information under Medical Exchange.
Paul, the owner of a chimney sweep service, can be reached immediately through his voice mail paging service if there is an urgency, or he can pick up non-urgent messages at a later time. This is an inexpensive and efficient communication system for any small service-oriented business. Rates are as low as $14 per month for the voice mail/pager combination.
Real estate clients use Centratel's Realty-Link voice mail service. Whenever the real estate office is closed, the caller can use the keypad of their telephone to access the voice mailbox of the agent of choice. During regular office hours, while the agent is out of the office, front-office personnel route callers directly to the agent's private mailbox. The Realty-Link user can instantly access another agent's mailbox using "name dial" functions. This is a tremendously efficient and inexpensive service with huge benefits for agents, brokers, front-office personnel and buyers and sellers.
Brenda, a financial consultant, routes office calls to a voice mailbox and gives the caller the option of activating her pager. When paged, Brenda uses her cellular phone to pick up the message and to return the call. Note that her cellular telephone is only used to make the return call--the cellular number is never given out. This dramatically reduces cellular air-time expense, conserves the cell phone battery, and conserves Brenda's piece of mind as her phone will never ring unexpectedly. We call this "Virtual Exchange Service". It's one of our best values because, as in Brenda's case, it not only provides callers a way to leave messages, it offers the caller the option of sending a page if they need to get a message to her immediately. The cost is approximately $14.00 per month including the pager.
A large electronic component manufacturing plant uses voice mail/paging combinations for fast-paced communications within its gigantic manufacturing facility.
Brad, a business consultant, uses voice mail as a back up that intercepts client calls when he is busy elsewhere. The system will accept faxes from clients as well as voice messages. It's inexpensive: less than $24.00 per month with the fax option.
The proprietors of a far-flung, high-tech mortgage company, use the voice/fax options of the voice mail system to stay in constant touch with associates in four locations across the United States. Voice mail is the heart of their communications.
A local Hospice facility uses "group broadcasting" features to distribute the latest information regarding patients. This feature eliminates the need for expensive and time-consuming weekly sit-down meetings for 30 nurses and volunteers.
A small sales organization uses voice mail to insure confidentiality for its sales people who travel extensively across the United States and Canada.
A high-profile and well-traveled litigating attorney uses telephone answering service but retrieves his messages via voice mail and an 800 number. When picking up messages with his cellular phone, this attorney is never put on hold: messages are provided instantly. Each message is recorded by the telephone secretary who actually takes the call, insuring accuracy and confidentiality.
Bill, the proprietor of a delivery service uses Fax-On-Demand services to distribute sales and route information to anyone who has a fax machine.li>
Local non-profit bicycle and cross-country ski clubs use "hot-line" services to keep members updated on club activities and to keep athletes informed about future workouts and races. Hot-lines are a great way to preserve a home life for club and athletic team leaders. Costs are as low as $10.00 per month.

Endless Possibilities: Combinations

The possibilities for voice mail are endless and the costs are low. Combine live answering and paging services to create a customized communication system that dramatically increases efficiency and convenience for everyone involved. Customization is the name of the game.

Voicemail Support

We have provided an instruction sheet to help you setup a new voicemail box.

All new voicemail boxes are issued one time tutorials. Tutorials will walk you through setting up the three major aspects of your mailbox; Greeting, name announcement, and pass code.

Recording greetings

When you first hear the greeting from the voicemail box, you must press the star (*) key to login to the mailbox. This option requires a password. If at anytime, you have problems with your pass code or your mailbox, please contact us.

At the main menu

Dial your mailbox phone number
Press the star (*) key
Enter your passcode
Press 8 to enter user options
Press 1 for personal options
Press 1 to review the current greeting
Press 2 to re-record the current greeting
Press 3 to select an alternate greeting number (if applicable)
Press 9 to return to the previous menu

FAQs regarding your Voicemail

If you think you have "delayed" messages, please read the "Reasons for Delayed Messages."

If your message is frequently cut-off, please read "Cut-off" or "Dead Message" FAQ.