The Highest Quality Telephone Answering Service in the United States

Centratel

Telephone Answering Service

hvac answering service

Answering Service Vs. In-House Reception: What’s the Best Choice for HVAC Businesses?

October 20, 2023
HVAC
By Centratel

In the nuanced realm of HVAC businesses, the ebb and flow of emergencies and challenges is ceaseless. From disconcerting gas leaks to the intricate dance of managing fluctuating energy prices, HVAC professionals are constantly in the eye of a storm, seeking refuge and solutions. Enter the pivotal question: Should an HVAC business leverage an answering service or entrust their communication to an in-house reception? Let’s dissect this query by delving into the quintessential challenges and emergencies HVAC businesses confront daily.

Unexpected Power Outages: The Silent Disruptor

Electricity – the lifeblood of HVAC systems. An unexpected power outage can swiftly escalate into a cacophony of distressed customers, clamoring for immediate resolution.

Centratel’s 24/7 answering service is poised to handle such disruptions with aplomb. The dedication to real human engagement ensures that each call – a distraught homeowner or a commercial client – is addressed with empathy and precision. In tumultuous times, having Centratel as a partner is akin to possessing a steady hand amidst chaos.

Learn more about our specialized approach for HVAC businesses on our HVAC-focused answering service page.

Fluctuating Energy Prices: The Financial Quandary

Fluctuating energy prices are an enigma, impacting both the HVAC professionals and their clientele. This financial flux necessitates impeccable communication, keeping clients abreast of pricing variations and potential solutions.

Centratel’s commitment to charging for the work done, eschewing time-based fees, mirrors the industry’s need for transparent financial dealings. Our fixed fee for each call epitomizes predictable costs, ensuring HVAC businesses remain in control of their financial landscape even as energy prices oscillate.

Dive deeper into our transparent billing process and how it can benefit your HVAC enterprise on our price quote page.

Technician Training and Retention: The Human Element

The HVAC realm is intricate, demanding technicians who are not just skilled but are continually updated with the latest technological advancements and safety regulations. Training and retaining such adept professionals necessitate seamless communication, especially when emergencies arise.

Centratel’s answering services, refined over four decades, ensure that crucial updates related to technician training sessions, regulatory changes, or urgent service requirements are relayed without delay. The use of human engagement, devoid of AI interventions, guarantees authentic interactions, fostering an environment conducive to technician growth and retention.

Answering Service: The Prodigal Solution

Centratel’s answering service, with its unwavering commitment to human-centric communication, aligns seamlessly with the ever-evolving challenges of the HVAC industry. By externalizing the communication facet to experts, HVAC businesses can concentrate on their core – ensuring efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning solutions for their clientele.

In-house receptions, while valuable, may not possess the expansive bandwidth required to address the myriad challenges and emergencies HVAC businesses encounter. On the other hand, an answering service, especially one steeped in expertise like Centratel, provides the dexterity and adaptability the HVAC realm demands.

Closing Thoughts: Synthesis of Efficiency

The HVAC industry, with its unique set of challenges, requires partners that resonate with its ethos. Centratel, with its 40 years of unmatched experience, stands as a beacon of reliability for HVAC professionals. The choice between an answering service and in-house reception is not just about cost-effectiveness; it’s about aligning with a partner who understands the intricate dance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.

For HVAC businesses seeking a perfect symphony of communication, efficiency, and human touch, the choice is evident – Centratel’s specialized HVAC answering service. Explore, embrace, and elevate your HVAC business to unparalleled heights.

Image by DCStudio on Freepik

A Telephone Answering Service Representative taking calls at Centratel

Centratel is an elite national telephone answering service headquartered in Bend, Oregon. Centratel’s HVAC Answering Service assists hundreds of heating, ventilation and air conditioning businesses, during and after-hours. By a variety of statistics, Centratel is the highest quality answering service available anywhere.

Taking the Next Step

For more specifics on cost, to start the onboarding process, or if you have questions, 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
January 1, 2025

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 (October through December, 2024) was 1 customer-reported error for every 5,470 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 low to mid-range of the industry. For call processing, we charge by the “transaction unit” rather than the duration of time spent handling calls. Large “mega-services” operating in the U.S. prefer time billing because it ensures the company is compensated for lower-paid/high-turnover — and thus slower — agents. No matter the quality or how long they keep your callers on hold, they still make a profit. And yes, it can get expensive.

In any answering service, it takes a long time for a new agent to become fast, efficient, and stable. At Centratel, we pamper and reward experienced agents (via higher pay and great benefits) and therefore have extremely low staff turnover. Needless to say, experienced agents make fewer errors than trainees who learn on-the-job. And, transaction-unit billing is easy to understand. There is no room for fraudulence as in time-billing

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 agent “time” while others charge by “work units.” Some 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 5th edition. We’ll send you a copy just for contacting us. (Sam is the founder and President of Centratel. December 1st 2024 marks his fortieth year of ownership.)