The Highest Quality Telephone Answering Service in the United States

Centratel

Telephone Answering Service

HVAC Answering Service

The Impact of First Impressions: How Centratel Can Enhance Your HVAC Business Image Over the Phone

September 25, 2023
HVAC
By Centratel

Embracing Challenges in the HVAC World

In the intricate realm of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, challenges arise that only the experts understand. From the urgency of refrigerant leaks to the intricacies of proper system sizing, an HVAC professional’s day is rife with issues that demand precision, skill, and expertise. With the weight of customer satisfaction and adapting to green technologies pressing heavily on their shoulders, how does one manage it all?

Addressing Emergencies Head-On: Refrigerant Leaks, Electrical Shorts, and Compressor Failures

Refrigerant Leaks: One of the most hazardous emergencies in the HVAC domain, a refrigerant leak not only impacts the efficiency of a system but poses environmental concerns. An immediate response is paramount, and the first point of contact becomes crucial. Enter Centratel, your trusted telephone answering service. With our commitment to authentic human engagement, we ensure immediate notification, allowing HVAC professionals to address and rectify the issue promptly.

Electrical Shorts: An issue that can lead to equipment damage or even fire hazards. When customers call in a panic, they are greeted by a trained Centratel operator, not an impersonal AI system. With our dedication to accuracy and swift processing, we efficiently filter urgent from non-urgent inquiries, ensuring that situations like these get immediate attention.

Compressor Failures: As the heart of any air conditioning system, a failed compressor means a complete system breakdown. With Centratel’s HVAC answering service, professionals can be on-site in no time. After all, when the compressor gives way, quick human response can make all the difference.

Diving into Challenges: Customer Satisfaction, Adapting to Green Technologies, and Proper Sizing of Systems

Customer Satisfaction: In a world of increasing competition, ensuring stellar customer satisfaction becomes paramount. Our answering services streamline communication, allowing HVAC businesses to stay connected without interruptions. Messages delivered via SMS, email, or even alpha-pager mean you never miss what truly matters. More about how we prioritize customer interaction can be found on our dedicated HVAC Answering Service page.

Adapting to Green Technologies: As the world leans towards sustainable solutions, HVAC businesses are not exempt. Staying updated and addressing related concerns requires excellent communication. With Centratel’s 24/7 answering service, professionals can be assured that queries related to green technologies are addressed efficiently, offering clients the much-needed assurance and information.

Proper Sizing of Systems: A challenge often underestimated, ensuring the right system size is pivotal for optimal efficiency. When clients call with queries or concerns about their system’s size, they can trust that Centratel’s business answering service for hvac will guide them right, bridging the gap between technicians and clients seamlessly.

The Centratel Edge

Centratel stands tall, not merely as a telephone answer service but as an ally in the HVAC professional’s journey. Our fixed fee per call, coupled with a monthly billing cycle, offers transparency, eliminating hidden costs and surprises. In the fast-evolving HVAC world, whether it’s a question about a ductless system, a geothermal setup, or even an air handler’s efficiency, Centratel’s HVAC technician dispatch service ensures that professionals are always at hand to address concerns.

Conclusion: Enhancing First Impressions

In the HVAC industry, the first impression isn’t merely about appearance—it’s about responsiveness, expertise, and effective communication. When emergencies strike or challenges arise, Centratel ensures that HVAC businesses project an image of professionalism and reliability. Discover a world where calls are not just answered but managed with finesse. Ready to elevate your business communication? Request a personalized price quote here.

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 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. For call processing, we charge by the “transaction unit” rather than the duration of time spent handling calls. The three “mega-services” in operation in the U.S. prefer time billing because it ensures the company is compensated for lower-paid/high-turnover —and thus slower— agents. In any answering service, it takes a long time for a new agent to become fast, efficient, and stable. At Centratel, we have always sought to retain experienced agents (via higher pay and great benefits) and, therefore, engender low staff turnover. Needless to say, experienced agents make fewer errors than trainees who learn on-the-job.

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.)