The Highest Quality Telephone Answering Service in the United States

Centratel

Telephone Answering Service

Increasing Productivity in Property Management with Centratel’s External Answering Service

September 21, 2023
Property Management
By Centratel

In the multifaceted world of property management, every second counts. From dealing with tenant issues, to maintenance emergencies, to the endless cycle of financial management, productivity is the linchpin holding the ship together. In an industry where communication is king, inefficiencies in this department can quickly snowball into lost opportunities, unsatisfied tenants, and heightened operational costs. Thankfully, there’s a solution: Centratel’s property management answering service.

Maintenance Emergencies

A burst pipe at 3 a.m. or a power outage during peak hours can wreak havoc in the lives of property managers and tenants alike. The importance of swiftly addressing these emergencies cannot be understated. While most emergencies can’t be predicted, how you respond to them can be systematized. Centratel’s external answering service, with its team of live US-based operators, ensures that every distress call is captured and processed with precision and speed. This means less downtime, fewer frustrations, and a more streamlined maintenance response.

Considering an external solution to your communication challenges? Request a price quote now and benefit from a no-commitment 30-day free trial.

Communication Challenges

Good communication is pivotal in property management. It’s the bridge between tenant satisfaction and operational success. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most challenging aspects, with missed calls leading to missed opportunities. According to a report by RealPage, approximately 49% of leasing calls go unanswered. This statistic doesn’t just point to lost potential tenants, but also to possible unresolved tenant issues or emergencies. Here’s where Centratel’s property management answering service comes into play. With the lowest customer reported error rate, every call is efficiently managed, ensuring accuracy in message relaying and dispatch.

Financial Management

Unexpected costs can cripple property management operations. This includes the hidden costs of communication inefficiencies and the tangible losses from unsatisfied tenants moving out due to unresolved issues. A monthly billing cycle, as opposed to the deceptive 28-day cycles employed by most competitors, and charging per call rather than per minute, ensures cost-effectiveness and transparency. By leveraging Centratel’s services, property managers can not only optimize operational costs but also elevate tenant satisfaction.

In an age where digital innovation continues to reshape industries, the timeless essence of human communication remains invaluable. Centratel offers a completely US-owned and operated service that believes in the power of human touch, offering accuracy, reliability, and efficiency that automation can’t replicate.
Ready to enhance your property management productivity and tenant satisfaction? Experience the superior quality of Centratel’s services. Request your price quote today and enjoy a no-commitment 30-day free trial. Your tenants, staff, and bottom line will thank you.

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A Telephone Answering Service Representative taking calls at Centratel

Centratel is an elite national telephone answering service headquartered in Bend, Oregon. Across the United States, Centratel’s Property Management Answering Service assists hundreds of property management operations handle overflow calls, screen after-hours inquiries, capture leads, and forward calls. Whether you’re managing rental homes, renting out apartments, managing an HOA or operating a senior living facility, an elite-quality property management answering service such as Centratel is the ideal solution. Call us today. Your first 30 days are free.

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
December 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 (July through September, 2024) was 1 customer-reported error for every 6,077 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. 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.

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.)