How Does an Answering Service Work?

We are sorry but we do not take applications for new or “start-up” companies. Note also that Centratel does not accept all applications for service. We serve businesses or professional offices that have been in operation over two years, and owners/managers who are clearly searching for quality rather than simply price-shopping. Also, in order to keep our service quality high, we only accept new accounts that fit into one of our ten specialty categories. Note that our average client tenure is approximately seven years.

We do not ask for a term contract for service because we believe our clients should have the opportunity to evaluate their arrangement real-time, without constraint. Our Terms of Service are simple and straight-forward. Accounts are billed on a month-to-month basis. Your first month is free, with no obligation.

Important! At Centratel, we use a “monthly” billing cycle in which invoices are compiled from the first day of the month to the last day of the month. When soliciting quotes from other telephone answering services, be sure to ask if the base rate charges are monthly, or if they are billed on a “28 day billing cycle.” 28 day billing cycles have become popular with many answering services as some customers, without careful consideration, assume 28 days is equal to a month. Customers billed on a 28 day cycle actually receive 13 billings per year and therefore overall costs for service are higher.

Apples and oranges: Comparing pricing from one answering service to another is difficult. There isn’t an industry standard for billing, and each service has its own formula. Also, some services charge by “time,” others by “work units,” while others might combine the two. At Centratel, we charge for the work we do, not by the time we spend. This is important: At no risk to you, the 30 day free trial will not only give you an idea of the quality of our service, but will provide you an accurate estimate of ongoing monthly costs.

In order to provide you with an initial cost estimate for service, it’s helpful for you to provide us the average number of calls you expect Centratel to process in a monthly period, as well as a description of how your current service delivers messages to your office and/or your on-call staff. Please consider that even with this information it will still be impossible to provide you an exact figure. We won’t have a truly accurate estimate of your account’s monthly costs until we have handled your call traffic for at least one month (remember, this first trial month is free, with no obligation).

Remember, the first month of service is at no charge. Whether you decide to stay with Centratel or not, you will NOT pay for this first month of service. During their free trial, many of our new accounts choose to continue to keep their current answering service account active, simply forwarding their phones to us for the duration of the trial. In the unlikely event that Centratel service is not satisfactory, returning to the original answering service is easy, just a matter of forwarding the phone lines back to the original service again. If the new account chooses to switch permanently to Centratel, after one month of paid service, we will credit the monthly base charge billed from the former answering service during the trial.

Answering service quality is 100% dependent on human decision making, and in the course of a day a multitude of human decisions are made by the people who handle the calls, our Telephone Service Representatives (TSRs). Sometimes these are “gray area” judgments. Errors can be made. Also, telecom equipment can fail. But note that Centratel’s error rate is light years ahead of industry standards. Our most recent Customer Reported Error Rate (April through June, 2018) was 1 customer-reported error for every 10,477 message transactions processed.

Here’s a recent testimonial from a new medical client that just finished their 30-day trial:
Hi Angie,
Of course, I love the “per month” amount as it is pretty close to the amount I was allowed by the president of the company. I did tell him that if we did not continue with Centratel, I would resign as the Director of Customer Service and I meant it. I never make those types of statements unless I am ready to be accountable for both options. It’s a great fit, we have had NOT ONE complaint from a client which, as you know, we received daily (with our former answering service). I love how the reports are being generated by first name. Everyone here is just so happy and I don’t know how you do it, but that daily report is in at exactly 9 am; not 9:01 and not 8:59. I keep each one in my Simple Nursing Centratel folder, and it’s a great review for me to make sure all the calls are going to the correct person, and they always are. That part is certainly difficult because the calls can be vague and could easily be sent to the wrong person.

I love you, Centratel and the price. I’m ready to sign whatever documents you require.

Thanks for the great service, the free month, your reliable calls and your willingness to find easier ways to make me happy.

To a great partnership,

-KB, Phoenix

If you talk to us about answering service, we will send you a free hardcover copy of Sam Carpenter’s book Work The System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less. There’s more information regarding the book at workthesystem.com. First published in May 2008 and now in its 3rd edition and revised for 2019/2020, the book is also available on Amazon and in your favorite bookstore.