Business and Professional Exchange

What Business and Professional Exchange does

Business and Professional Exchange (BPE), originally founded in 1976 as Melrose Answering Service by Joan M. Shaw and family-owned since 1988, operates a 65-position call center in Beverly, Massachusetts providing 24/7 live telephone answering, message dispatch, and virtual receptionist services to more than 1,200 clients across 1,000+ accounts nationwide in the United States. The company's core product lines are Emergency Answering (after-hours and overflow call handling with dispatch), Live Virtual Receptionist (during-business-hours call coverage), and Voicemail (entry-tier subscription service starting at $9.99/month). Underlying technology consists of a computer-based scripted messaging system, per-client customized protocols, CRM/EMR integrations, and a client-facing portal; the operator layers a remote work-from-home TSR workforce on top of the physical call center to cover weekends and night shifts, with bilingual English/Spanish capability.

BPE's customer base is diversified across at least seven verticals — healthcare and dental (HIPAA-compliant), home services (HVAC, plumbing, electrical), oil and propane, property management, law firms, and emergency response — with most clients being small and mid-sized businesses. The company has received the ATSI Award of Excellence and has held continuous family ownership for over 35 years, signaling operational stability in a fragmented answering-service market. Revenue mechanics are predominantly recurring subscription- or usage-based, with full-service tiers priced by quote and an explicit low-end voicemail SKU acting as a funnel into higher-margin live answering contracts. The company has not disclosed external funding and remains privately held under second-generation family control.

Name

Business and Professional Exchange

Legal name

Business & Professional Exchange, Inc.

Website

https://bpeinc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Business and Professional Exchange is a family-owned, 24/7 call answering and virtual receptionist service operating from Beverly, MA since 1976, serving 1,200+ SMB clients nationwide across healthcare, legal, home services, and property management verticals with HIPAA-compliant protocols.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Telephone Answering Services

NAICS

Telephone Answering Services (561421), Telephone Call Centers (56142)

SIC

Telegraph & Other Message Communications (4822)

akta.pro primary industry

General Customer Service & Contact Center Operations (BPAAAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

General Customer Service (Order/Account/Inquiries) (BPAAABAA)

Keywords

• Call answering services
• Virtual receptionist services
• Emergency dispatch services
• HIPAA answering services
• Voicemail services

Headquarters

HQ city

Beverly

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. 24/7 Live Answering Services: Monthly subscription-based services providing 24/7 live call answering, virtual receptionist support, emergency dispatch, and customized messaging solutions. Revenue is generated through recurring monthly fees based on service tier and usage volume.
2. Voicemail Services: Basic voicemail accounts starting at $9.99/month with optional advanced features. Requires 3-month upfront prepayment plus setup fee. Additional revenue from premium features like message transcription and flexible delivery.
3. Industry-Specific Solutions: Customized answering services for specific industries (healthcare, legal, dental, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, property management, oil & propane, emergency response) with tailored protocols and compliance requirements, generating recurring subscription revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Business & Professional Exchange (BPE) operates a 65-position inbound call center providing 24/7 live call answering, virtual receptionist, emergency dispatch, and voicemail services to businesses nationwide. Services are delivered by trained human Telephone Service Representatives (TSRs) following customized, client-specific call-handling protocols and industry-tailored scripts (healthcare, legal, dental, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, property management, oil & propane, emergency response). The company also provides HIPAA-compliant healthcare answering, secure message transcription, Find Me/Follow Me notifications, and integrated fax/voicemail delivery via email and SMS.

Product overview

Business & Professional Exchange (BPE) operates a 65-position inbound call center offering three core service products: 24/7 Emergency Answering Service, Live Virtual Receptionist Services, and Voicemail Services. These services are delivered by trained human Telephone Service Representatives using a computer-based scripted messaging system. BPE's core offerings are then customized and tailored for specific industries including Healthcare, Dental Practices, Law Firms, Property Management, HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, Oil & Propane, and Emergency Response sectors. The company functions as a business-process-outsourcing provider rather than a technology platform, with services built around human agents who follow customized call-handling protocols developed in collaboration with each client.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 24/7 Emergency Answering Service Round-the-clock emergency call handling service with trained agents who follow customized protocols to gather critical information, dispatch on-call personnel, and provide professional caller support during urgent situations. Designed for businesses needing 24/7/365 emergency coverage across healthcare, home services, emergency response, and other verticals.
• Live Virtual Receptionist Services 24/7 live virtual receptionist service providing prompt call answering, message taking, appointment scheduling, and caller intake using customized scripts. Functions as a seamless front office extension for businesses, tailored to client-specific procedures.
• Voicemail Services Secure voicemail answering service with message transcription, flexible delivery via email or SMS, Find Me/Follow Me notifications across devices, integrated digital fax capability, and live operator backup. Basic single-greeting voicemail accounts start at $9.99/month with a 3-month prepayment and $10 setup fee.
• Healthcare Answering Services HIPAA-compliant medical call center services for hospitals, physicians, private practices, clinics, therapists, mental health professionals, urgent care centers, and dental practices. Includes emergency triage, live virtual receptionists, secure voicemail, and appointment confirmation follow-ups.
• Business Answering Services Custom call answering solutions for businesses of all sizes, from solo entrepreneurs to large corporations, including emergency dispatch, virtual receptionist, and voicemail services with industry-specific scripts.
• Emergency Response Answering Services 24/7 answering solutions for first responders, emergency restoration companies, and disaster recovery firms with rapid dispatch, high-volume call handling, and customized escalation protocols.
• Oil & Propane Answering Services Specialized 24/7 answering services for fuel delivery businesses, propane providers, gas companies, and energy distributors, including after-hours dispatch, emergency call handling, fuel delivery scheduling, and gas leak/emergency response coordination.
• HVAC Answering Services Call center solutions for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning businesses with 24/7 emergency dispatch, appointment scheduling, lead capture, and CRM integration.
• Plumber Answering Services Specialized plumbing call answering with 24/7 emergency support, lead capture, appointment scheduling, and dispatch services for solo plumbers through large plumbing corporations.
• Electrician Answering Services Electrical contractor answering service providing 24/7 emergency dispatch, job lead capture, appointment scheduling, and calendar integration for electricians from solo operations to large commercial contractors.
• Property Management Answering Services Real estate and property management call answering with 24/7 emergency response, tenant support, maintenance request logging, and lead capture for property managers and landlords.
• Law Firm Answering Services Attorney answering services with 24/7 coverage, confidential call handling, case intake support, consultation scheduling, and class action lawsuit intake scalability for law firms and legal practices.
• Dental Answering Services HIPAA-compliant dental phone answering with appointment scheduling, new patient intake, emergency dental dispatch, and practice management software integration for general dentists, orthodontists, oral surgeons, and pediatric dentists.

Quantifiable outcome

• Never miss a critical call with 24/7/365 availability
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles7 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ansafone Contact Centers: Family-operated U.S. answering service and inbound contact center serving healthcare, HVAC, plumbing, and other verticals. Highly comparable to BPE in ownership profile, service model, and industry focus.
• Ruby Receptionist: Provides live virtual receptionist and 24/7 answering services, with growth orientation and a tech-enabled delivery model. Comparable to BPE in core service offering and SMB target market.
• Sound Telecom: Multi-site U.S. answering service and call center operator serving healthcare, legal, property management, and home services. Comparable to BPE in service breadth, vertical coverage, and customer types.
• Dexcomm: U.S.-based answering service and virtual receptionist provider offering 24/7 live call handling across healthcare, legal, and property management. Directly comparable to BPE in vertical mix and customer profile.
• Specialty Answering Service: Provides 24/7 live answering services with a strong focus on medical and dental practices. Comparable to BPE in its HIPAA-compliant healthcare vertical specialization and SMB customer base.
• Answering Service Care: Long-standing U.S. answering service offering live call answering, appointment scheduling, and order entry for SMBs across healthcare, legal, and trades verticals. Closely matches BPE in size, customer mix, and service model.
• CMS Communications: Long-running telephone answering service providing live call coverage for medical, dental, and small business clients. Directly comparable to BPE in service model and primary customer verticals.
• MAP Communications: One of the largest U.S. telephone answering services, providing 24/7 live answering, virtual receptionist, and customer support across healthcare, legal, and home services. Directly comparable to BPE in service mix, customer verticals, and delivery model.

Emerging players

• Conversational: AI-powered voice agent platform automating inbound calls for SMBs across home services and professional verticals. Comparable as a substitution threat targeting the same customer use cases as BPE's live answering services.
• Smith.ai: AI-augmented virtual receptionist and outbound sales service targeting SMBs and professional firms. Represents an emerging technological threat to BPE's traditional human-only model while serving an overlapping customer base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Business-Professional-Exchange-Inc-322184337827287

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Business and Professional Exchange