Centratel HQ building, Bend, Oregon
1/11/2026
(You might find this refreshing: there is not a single AI-generated word in this website -sc.)
We’re 100% U.S.-owned and operated, with a 41-year one-owner history. If you’re experiencing high cost and low quality with your current answering service (or if you are considering using one for the first time), take a few minutes to consider the following. It’s in a simple Q&A format.
Q: How has the answering service industry changed in the last six years? A: It’s been a wipe-out. In early 2020, due to government-mandated COVID-6-foot distancing rules that suddenly made shoulder-to-shoulder agent cubicles illegal, most small- to medium-sized “live answering” services were forced out of business. They had no choice but to sell their customers at fire-sale prices to a handful of gigantic “mega-services,” several of which are foreign-owned multinationals. These operations now serve most of the U.S. answering service market…and virtually all of them offer AI, voicemail, and other automated services as primary offerings. “Live answering” is ancillary. In the typical buy-out, call traffic was routed out of the purchased answering service’s local area for handling, sometimes overseas. In 2019 there were approximately 2,500 independent “human-first” answering services in the U.S. Now? Including Centratel, perhaps twenty. Here’s how we survived the COVID debacle that turned our industry inside out.
Q: My current answering service’s quality is not good, and it seems expensive… A: There is a good reason for this. Most mega-service subsidiaries and most of the surviving independent services charge their clients via “time-billing.” This is the elapsed time that agents spend processing calls (and sometimes includes customer on-hold time). This encourages the employment of low-paid/short-tenured agents because the longer it takes to process a call, the more the client is billed for that call. And at any answering service, new inexperienced agents are not just agonizingly slow as they learn on the job, they make errors. Not only that, the expensive charge-by-the-minute billing method is ripe for overcharging customers, with at least one instance of customers winning a multi-million dollar class-action lawsuit against their own time-billing answering service! Note that here at Centratel, 95% of our new customers come to us because of quality and/or billing problems with their high-staff-turnover mega-answering service subsidiary (which continues to advertise the name of the purchased service even though calls are exported elsewhere for processing…). Yes, with elapsed-time billing, high cost and poor quality are inextricably connected.
Q: So, how is Centratel different? A: We bill our clients by the number of messages processed, not by elapsed time. Our monthly billing statements are simple and understandable, with no room for price gouging. We incentivize our career agents to handle calls efficiently and accurately, with up to 40% of their individual wages performance-based. They are mature, drug-free,* long-term, highly paid, super-efficient professionals,** many with tenures of over fifteen years, and some with over twenty five. For the last twenty years, we’ve been, statistically, the highest quality answering service in the U.S.***
Q: Cost? A: Even with the high compensation we pay our agents, we are in the low-to-mid range on the cost spectrum. Go to “Why Choose Centratel” for more information. (And note our federally trademarked CLEAN-SCREEN® offering that further contributes to our super-high quality and low cost.)
Q: Does Centratel use AI or “offshore” calls? Do I have to sign a long-term contract? A: No, no, and no…
To test our quality and get an estimate of the cost, you’ll get a unique-within-the-industry, no-obligation, no-deposit, 30-day free trial. Go here to get started.
-Sam Carpenter, CEO and owner
*Here in mid-2025, across a whole spectrum of industries, chronic drug use, particularly cannabis, is a major factor in less-than-satisfactory employee performance. Here’s a recent statement by Elton John. And here’s a medical abstract.
** Centratel is a pure meritocracy. No Woke/DEI nonsense…
***Our most recent Customer Reported Error Rate (July through October, 2025) was 1 customer-reported error for every 7,834 message transactions processed. That’s a statistic far superior to any other answering service in the United States.
100% Fail-Safe Service
Rare for an answering service, we have a fully redundant operation.
In these days of uncertainty, the reliability and continuity of service is bullet-proof.
No Long-term Contract
This is a philosophical issue. If your telephone answering service is a good value, you will choose to continue each month.
Some of our clients have been with us for four decades.
100% U.S. Based Operations
All of Centratel’s Telephone Service Representatives (TSRs) are located in the U.S.
“For 41 years we’ve been delivering superb quality call-capture and message dispatch for select professions and businesses.”
— Sam Carpenter – Founder, President
Business Specialties
Medical
Nights, weekends, after-hours, holidays, or the middle of a busy weekday, Centratel’s professional agents will provide HIPAA-compliant call coverage for emergencies as well as administrative backup.
Home health and Hospice
For decades Centratel has provided highest quality, professional, and compassionate assistance to hospice patients and family members all across the U.S. Our service is 24/7/365 and fully HIPAA-compliant.
Veterinary
Centratel has a long history of servicing the veterinary industry, handling overflow, daytime, after-hours and weekend calls with the utmost compassion, professionalism, and accuracy.
HVAC
Heatwave or snowstorm, our agents will provide your HVAC business with the highest quality phone coverage, 24/7/365. In no time at all and at minimum cost, we’ll become a trusted part of your operation.
Property Management
With 24-hour support, Centratel agents will handle incoming calls with zero-defect, forwarding urgent calls to your on-call people while screening less important inquiries for later follow up by your office.
Trade Service
Centratel provides call-capture and emergency dispatch for trade service companies such as plumbers, electricians, emergency restoration businesses, and many more. Never again will an urgent call be missed!
24/7 Business
Give your callers the same quality of service they receive when speaking directly to your office staff. Centratel will be an extension of your office.
Disaster Restoration
For four decades Centatel has been processing urgent calls for the disaster restoration industry. We understand the critical importance of precisely accurate messages delivered instantly.
Plumbing
24/7 Centratel agents will process your calls with zero-defect, all the while enhancing your company image to customers and potential customers.
Public and Private Utilities
Our Telephone Service Representatives can expertly classify and coordinate each service call.
Testimonials
Dr. R.C., pathologist,
Portland, Or.
“Terrific. Every contact I have had with (Centratel) staff has been absolutely professional – a ‘ten’ in my book. I have used medical answering services for 15 years and this is the best experience I have ever had.”
Veterinarian, Manistee, Mi.
“I’m very impressed with your operation. Our last answering service (which was our second bad service) was such a disaster I thought I’d never again feel comfortable with an answering service. But with Centratel we feel very confident our rotation will be handled properly. Thanks so much.”
J.R., owner, property management company, Pepperpike, OH
“Fantastic! You have taken a huge weight off my shoulders. Thanks everyone!”
S.H., owner, HVAC company,
Gurnee, Il.
“Since switching to your answering service seven months ago, we have not encountered a single problem or complaint from even one customer. All operators are extremely polite and professional. It’s a pleasure working with you. Keep up the good work!”
