The Highest Quality Telephone Answering Service in the United States

Centratel

Telephone Answering Service

24/7 Answering Service

Elevating Customer Experience in 24/7 Service Businesses with Centratel’s Answering Service

October 5, 2023
Answering Service
By Centratel

The dynamic 24/7 service industry requires agility, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. While it offers unprecedented convenience to customers, it also poses unique challenges and emergencies that businesses grapple with daily. In this intricate dance of demands and deliveries, one tool can significantly tip the scales toward consistent excellence: a reliable answering service. Enter Centratel, the gold standard in telephone answering services, strategically poised to transform the 24/7 business landscape.

Emergencies Lurking in the 24/7 Realm

From sudden power outages to cyber-attacks, emergencies test the preparedness and resilience of every business. The ability to respond, resolve, and recover becomes paramount.

Power Outages: Lights Out Isn’t Game Over

Imagine the plight of a business plunged into darkness. Such power outages aren’t just an inconvenience; they disrupt operations, erode customer trust, and dent revenues. Centratel’s 24/7 answering service ensures that during these critical times, communication lines remain open. Calls get rerouted, stakeholders are informed, and contingency plans are activated, ensuring businesses remain a beacon of reliability even in the dark.

Cyber-attacks: The Invisible Adversary

In a hyper-connected world, cyber-attacks can cripple businesses, compromising both data and reputation. With Centratel’s agile emergency answering service, businesses receive immediate notifications of such breaches, enabling swift countermeasures, and minimizing potential damage.

Communication Breakdowns: Keeping the Lifeline Intact

Effective communication is the lifeblood of 24/7 businesses. Breakdowns, be it in internal systems or with clients, can have cascading repercussions. Centratel stands as the robust bridge, ensuring seamless communication flows, even when traditional channels falter.

The Challenge of Constant Operations

Running a 24/7 establishment isn’t just about keeping the lights on. It’s a meticulous orchestration of resources, operations, and strategies.

Shift Management: The Human Element

Managing a round-the-clock workforce is a colossal task. Ensuring optimal staffing during peaks, addressing fatigue-related errors, and preventing burnouts require surgical precision. With Centratel’s systematic call handling and predetermined screening, businesses can manage workforce demands better, receive real-time feedback on staffing shortages, and ensure that the human element thrives.

Consistent Quality: The Promise of Excellence

In the relentless pace of 24/7 operations, maintaining consistent quality becomes a herculean task. How do businesses ensure that the service at 3 AM matches the standards of 3 PM? Centratel’s professional answering service acts as a touchstone of quality. Be it handling queries, redirecting calls, or addressing concerns; the service quality remains impeccable.

Safety Protocols: Vigilance Beyond the Clock

The silent hours of the night, while serene, often bring increased risks—from security breaches to safety hazards. Centratel, with its vigilant after-hours answering service, ensures businesses are alerted to any threats, keeping both assets and patrons safe.

Centratel: The Uninterrupted Pulse of 24/7 Businesses

In the world of ceaseless operations, every minute is a testament to a business’s commitment, resilience, and excellence. Centratel’s answering services echo this commitment, ensuring businesses aren’t just operational, but exemplary. With a legacy of unparalleled service quality, Centratel is more than just an answering service; it’s a partner in the relentless journey towards excellence.

For businesses poised to redefine the paradigms of 24/7 service, Centratel offers not just support but strategic empowerment. Dive deeper into our specialized offerings tailored for relentless operations on our 24/7 Business Answering Service page or for an actionable collaboration, reach out for a tailored solution on our Price Quote page.

As the clock ticks and the world shifts between day and night, 24/7 businesses stand undeterred, fueled by passion, commitment, and the unwavering support of Centratel. Be it addressing emergencies, navigating challenges, or simply being the reassuring voice at the end of a line, Centratel is the silent force amplifying the ethos of round-the-clock businesses.

Image by Freepik

Taking the Next Step

For more specifics on cost, to start the onboarding process, or to just talk to us, fill out this form with your basic information and if it’s during regular working hours (M-F 8am to 8pm EST or 5am to 5pm PST), we’ll get back to you within minutes. Or, during the above hours, you can simply call us at 800-664-7159 or send us an email to inquiry@centratel.com.

(And note: for a quick orientation on how we operate, take a moment to review one or more of the key points listed below.)

For more specifics on cost, to start the onboarding process, or to just talk to us, fill out this form with your basic information and if it’s during regular working hours (M-F 8am to 8pm EST or 5am to 5pm PST), we’ll get back to you within minutes. Or, during the above hours, you can simply call us at 800-664-7159 or send us an email to inquiry@centratel.com.

(And note: for a quick orientation on how we operate, take a moment to review one or more of the key points listed on the right.)

Terms of Service

Why Choose Centratel

BY SAM CARPENTER
September 1, 2024

1.CENTRATEL’S UNIQUE 30-DAY FREE TRIAL

Why is this important? Because it will provide you a truly accurate estimate of cost (we bill monthly), it will demonstrate our quality, and it gives both sides of this equation—you and Centratel—the necessary time to refine and perfect operational details.

Here’s a testimonial from a new medical client that had just finished their 30-day trial: “Of course, I love the cost as it is close to the amount I was allowed by the president of the company. I told him that if we did not continue with Centratel, I would resign as the Director of Customer Service, and I meant it. It’s a great fit. We have had NOT ONE complaint from a patient or in-house which, as you know, we received daily with our former answering service. I love you, Centratel, and the price. I’m ready to sign whatever documents you require. Thanks for the great service, and the free month! To a great partnership! -KB, Phoenix“

2.STATISTICALLY, THE BEST IN THE U.S.?

Answering service quality is 100% dependent on human action and reaction, and in the course of a single day a multitude of human decisions are made by the people who process the calls: Telephone Service Representatives, or TSRs. (Some answering services refer to them as “agents.” Others, “operators.”)

Like any other answering service, at Centratel we’re dealing with real live human beings and so human errors occur. But within this labor intensive service industry that is historically known for marginal quality, Centratel’s error rate is light years ahead of established standards. Our most recent Customer Reported Error Rate (April through June, 2024) was 1 customer-reported error for every 6,491 message transactions processed. That statistic is unmatched.

There’s no artificial intelligence manipulation, we do not offshore calls, and we were founded and have always operated within the United States. (Note that since early 2020, the COVID six-foot social distancing mandate drove thousands of small-to-medium sized answering services out of business. Large, foreign-owned multi-nationals, often disguised by the name of the local answering services they acquired, now thoroughly dominate the industry. Hence, an even further decline in general service quality. See this analysis.)

3.CUSTOMER SERVICE EXTRAORDINAIRE

Your concerns and requests will be instantly acted upon. It’s a work ethic that stands out in stark contrast from the general quality decline in human-to-human business-customer communications. You’ve seen it yourself, all around. At Centratel you will know the customer service people you’re working with by name, appreciating their special listening abilities as well as their take-action-now comportments i.e. see the testimonial in point #1 above. ‘Nuff said!

4.GETTING STARTED: IT’S SIMPLE AND FAST

Getting your new Centratel answering service 30-day free trial started is accomplished within 24-48 hours. From the start, your “onboarding” customer service representative will be with you every step of the way, listening carefully to your concerns, answering questions, and offering suggestions.

5.NEW TO USING AN ANSWERING SERVICE?

A majority of our current answering service accounts switched to us from another service because of quality problems. However, if you have not used a service before, you are not familiar with the options, benefits, and pitfalls. As noted, our 30-day free trial provides you—and us—plenty of time to precisely refine your desired message-taking and delivery protocols; to get things exactly the way you want them to be without any financial risk, undue pressure, or obligation. 

6.PRICING

Starting at $89 per month, our rates rank in the mid-range of the industry. We’ll bill you based on the number of calls we handle per month, not on total minutes/seconds expended. (Be careful here as you shop for an answering service: the time-billing formula naturally induces caller/agent conversations to drag out, thus increasing client cost.)

7.ACCURATELY COMPARING ANSWERING SERVICE PRICING IS COMPLICATED

It’s apples and oranges. There isn’t an industry standard for billing, and each answering service has its own formula. Also, as noted above, some services charge by “time” while others charge by “work units.” Others combine the two. At Centratel, we charge for the work we do, not by the time we spend. The raw truth is that the only reliable way to determine monthly cost for a new service is to use that service for a solid month. Most answering services offer a 7-day free trial or no trial at all.

8.BEWARE: MONTHLY OR 28-DAY BILLING?

Important! At Centratel, we use a “monthly” billing cycle in which invoices are compiled from the first day of a month to the last day of that month. When soliciting quotes from other services, be sure to ask if the base-rate charges are billed monthly or on a “28-day billing cycle.” There is no good reason for a 28-day billing cycle! It’s bait-and-switch: customers billed on a 28-day cycle actually receive thirteen billings per year and therefore the overall cost is higher.

9.NO CONTRACT AND SIMPLE TERMS OF SERVICE

We do not require a yearly contract for service because we believe you should have the opportunity to evaluate us real-time, without restraint. Our terms of service are simple and straight-forward.

10.VALUABLE FREE GIFT FOR CONTACTING US

If you take the time to discuss answering service with us, on the same day we will ship you a hardcover copy of Sam Carpenter’s bestselling book, Work The System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less, now in its 4th edition…but soon to be released in a 5th edition (August 2024). We’ll send you a copy of this 5th edition, too, when it’s released. (Sam is the founder and President of Centratel. December 1st 2024 marks his fortieth year of ownership.)