The Highest Quality Telephone Answering Service in the United States
Centratel's Medical Answering Service - HIPAA Compliant
Centratel - HIPAA-compliant Telephone Answering Service

HIPAA Compliant Answering Service

24/7 ANSWERING SERVICE FOR YOUR MEDICAL CLINIC

Centratel’s medical answering service covers the entire spectrum of medical practices including, but certainly not limited to Internal Medicine, OBGYN, Pediatrics, Ophthalmology, Urology and Orthopedics.

30-Day FREE Trial

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Centratel is, statistically, the highest quality answering service in the United States

Perfect Processing

Our most recent Customer Reported Error Rate (April through June, 2023) was 1 customer-reported error for every 8,366 message transactions processed.

Experience

TSRs have processed literally tens of millions of medical answering service calls. Providing unmatched levels of professionalism, accuracy and value, we’re poles apart from the traditional telephone answering service.

Centratel - HIPAA-compliant Telephone Answering Service

Fully HIPAA Compliant Medical Answering Service

100% encrypted secure messaging

Centratel provides several HIPAA compliant message delivery systems including 100% encrypted secure messaging, allowing us to send messages between devices in a format that is not readable by anyone but the intended recipient thus assuring not only compliance with Privacy Rules & Regulations, but providing the peace of mind that comes from knowing confidential information will remain confidential.

People first

Applicants for the TSR position undergo an intensive interviewing/aptitude testing process. We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding substance abuse.

Direct Connection

Your office staff has a direct connection to a specific Customer Service Representative. Our customer service department handles all client issues directly with the Telephone Service Representative staff.

Centratel Facts


0.0011%

Client Reported Error Rate in 2023


6 Years, 6 Months

Average client longevity

The ultimate measure of quality: The “Client Reported Error Rate.”

“Client reported errors” are human inaccuracies in spelling, message relay or other message processing function that are reported by clients. Our most recent Customer Reported Error Rate (April through June, 2023) was 1 customer-reported error for every 8,366 message transactions processed.

"Our clients are people who want flawless performance from their answering service. They realize communication with their customers (and among their own staff) must be superb whether it is on-premise or off-premise; during office hours or after-hours."

Sam Carpenter - Founder, President

"You guys are awesome, we just love you!"


J.B., manager, medical clinic, Bend, Oregon


"The operators are very courteous and efficient. Centratel is the best answering service we’ve had."


D.B., physician, skin cancer medical clinic, Sherman Oaks, CA

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More on Centratel


Telephone Service Representative smiling answering calls at Centratel Telephone Answering Service

Telephone Service Representative (TSR)

Our Telephone Service Representatives are the highest paid in the industry, with up to 25% of their compensation keyed directly to their own personal performance. Every one of our staff members is a full-time, career professional: We don’t employ part-time staff. Full-time career people who are well compensated based on their own personal performance are people who are very serious about what they do.

Centratel Telephone Answering Service's employees talking and discussing during a training session

Training is continual and rigorous

Our expectations are high. In turn, our TSR staff enjoys wages and benefits in the top 2% of all telephone answering services nationally as they perform in a call center work environment that is both calm and invigorating. We break the stereotype of the telephone answering service industry in which operations personnel are underpaid and overworked.

Centratel's telephone answering agent taking notes reviewing a customer phone answering protocol

Absolutely dependable

It’s the job of the Centratel TSR to carefully follow answering service relay instructions to find a balance between needlessly disturbing your on-call personnel and efficiently connecting him or her to people who truly need immediate assistance. Once your answering service relay protocol has been established, it is followed tenaciously by the TSR unless you give us real-time instructions otherwise.

Centratel answering service infrastructure operator during maintenance of the servers

Hard-copy backups

Centratel generates hard-copy backups of all transactions. For routine messages, there are a variety of delivery options available including voice mail, fax and Email. If you use our daytime telephone answering service, messages can be delivered one at a time as they are taken, and/or in batches. All elements of every after-hours on-call contact are delivered hard-copy to your office each morning. We can provide full archiving of answered messages for a period of three years.

Getting a Price Quote


For a price quote, fill out the form below (or, alternatively, call us at 800-664-7159, or email us at sales@centratel.com).

If you reach us on a non-holiday weekday between the hours of 7am and 4pm PST (10:00am and 7:00pm EST), a member of our team will respond immediately or do their best to get back to you the same day.

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

Statistically, Centratel is the highest quality telephone answering service in the United States, offering a full 30 days of free service just to prove it.

For a price quote, fill out the form below (or, alternatively, call us at 800-664-7159, or email us at sales@centratel.com).

If you reach us on a non-holiday weekday between the hours of 7am and 4pm PST (10:00am and 7:00pm EST), a member of our team will respond immediately or do their best to get back to you the same day.

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

Working with Us

1.
MORE REGARDING THE 30-DAY FREE TRIAL OF SERVICE

Your first month of service is at no charge. Whether you ultimately decide to engage Centratel or not, you will not pay for this first month of service. 

During the free trial, you may choose to keep your current answering service account active, simply forwarding your phone lines to us for the duration of the trial. In the unlikely event that Centratel service is not satisfactory, returning to your original answering service would be just a matter of forwarding your phone lines back to that service. 

After the trial, if you choose to switch permanently to Centratel, we will credit your new Centratel account the monthly base-rate charge billed by your former answering service during the trial.

2.
STATISTICALLY, “THE BEST IN THE U.S.”

Answering service quality is 100% dependent on human action 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).

Like any other answering service, because we’re dealing with real, live human beings, occasionally errors can occur.

But note that Centratel’s error rate is light-years ahead of industry standards. Our most recent Customer Reported Error Rate (April through June, 2023) was 1 customer-reported error for every 8,366 message transactions processed.

Here’s a 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

3.
GETTING STARTED: SIMPLE AND FAST

Getting your new Centratel answering service up-and-running is simple and fast, often accomplished within a 24-hour period.

From the start, know that your Centratel customer service representative will be with you every step of the way, listening carefully to your concerns, answering questions, and offering suggestions. 

4.
NEW TO USING AN ANSWERING SERVICE?

A majority of our current answering service accounts switched to us from another service because of quality problems they were experiencing.

However, if you have not used a service before, you are probably unfamiliar with the options and benefits. For you, it’s uncharted territory.

Our unique-in-the-industry 30-day free trial gives both sides of the equation, you and us, plenty of time to precisely refine your message-taking and delivery protocols — to get things exactly the way you want them to be without any financial risk, undue pressure or obligation. 

5.
PRICING

Starting at $75 per month, our rates are in the mid-range of answering service industry pricing.

We’ll bill your account based on the number of calls we handle per month, not on total minutes/seconds expended like many other billing-by-time answering services (that, knowingly or unknowingly, allow caller and client conversations to drag out, thus increasing cost).

6.
COMPARING ANSWERING SERVICE PRICING

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. But note that, after all is said-and-done, our pricing is mid-range within the industry.

7.
ESTIMATING YOUR COST

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 month.

Please consider that even with this information, the quote will still be “ball park.”

We won’t have a truly accurate estimate of your new account’s monthly costs until we have actually handled your call traffic for at least one month. (And remember, this first trial month is free, with no obligation).

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 telephone answering services, be sure to ask if the base-rate charges are billed monthly or on a “28-day billing cycle.”

28-day billing cycles have become popular with many answering services because 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.

9.
NO CONTRACT, SIMPLE TERMS OF SERVICE, FIRST 30 DAYS ARE FREE

We do not ask for a contract for service because we want you to have the opportunity to evaluate us real-time, without contractual restraint.

Our terms of service are simple and straight-forward: You will be billed on a month to month basis. Your first month is free, without obligation.

10.
FREE GIFT FOR CONTACTING US

If you discuss answering service with us, we will send you a hardcover copy of Sam Carpenter’s bestselling book, Work The System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less.

Sam is the founder and, for the last 38 years, the President of Centratel

First published in May 2008 and now just released in its 4th Edition (February 9, 2021), the book is available in all popular formats (hardcover, Kindle and Audible) via Amazon and other booksellers.

There’s more information regarding the book at workthesystem.com.