South Suburban
South Suburban is a family-owned telephone answering, mail receiving/forwarding, and online chat services company based in Bloomington, Minnesota, serving home-based and small business owners nationwide since 1972.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1972
- HeadquartersMinneapolis, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What South Suburban does
South Suburban is a privately held, family-owned answering and business support services company headquartered in a single location in Bloomington, Minnesota (9801 Dupont Ave South, Suite 408). Founded in 1972 by Shirley Prout and led since 2000 by President Joan Steinhoff, the firm has operated continuously for more than five decades under family ownership, with a stated headcount of 1–10 employees.
The company delivers three core services: (1) 24/7 live telephone answering on a state-of-the-art phone system, with optional features including appointment scheduling, order taking, call patching/screening, and emergency dispatch, supported by QA procedures such as number repetition and spelling confirmation; (2) mail receiving and forwarding through personal mail boxes at the Bloomington office, with received mail forwarded weekly; and (3) online chat services embedded on customer business websites. Customers are primarily home-based and small business owners seeking a professional business presence without dedicated office space or full-time receptionists, with the firm noting nationwide reach delivered remotely.
The business model is a quoted, per-customer subscription with custom monthly pricing rather than published rate cards. Go-to-market is direct: phone, email, and the company's website (ssass.com). The operator-heavy, single-site delivery model limits fixed-cost scaling but exposes the franchise to secular pressure from AI voice and chat agents entering the SMB answering category.
South Suburban firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- South Suburban
- Legal name
- South Suburban
- Website
- https://ssass.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1972
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- South Suburban is a family-owned telephone answering, mail receiving/forwarding, and online chat services company based in Bloomington, Minnesota, serving home-based and small business owners nationwide since 1972.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where South Suburban is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Minneapolis
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
South Suburban business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Telephone Answering Services: Monthly subscription-based telephone answering service providing live operator coverage 24 hours per day including holidays. Includes optional services such as appointment scheduling, order taking, call patching/screening, reminder calls, and emergency dispatch.
- Mail Receiving and Forwarding Services: Recurring service providing personal mail boxes at the Bloomington office with weekly mail forwarding. Mail is addressed to the customer or company name.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Custom monthly pricing based on service needs |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels2 records
South Suburban product offering
Product offeringCore offering
South Suburban is a family-owned answering and business support services company that provides live telephone answering with 24-hour and holiday coverage, mail receiving and weekly forwarding at a Bloomington, Minnesota address, and online chat services that can be embedded in customer websites. Services are aimed at home-based and small businesses that want a professional virtual front desk without hiring in-house staff. Pricing is custom-quoted on a recurring monthly basis for each customer's specific needs.
Product overview
South Suburban is a locally family-owned answering and business support services company offering three core service modules: Telephone Answering (live operator services with 24/7 coverage, appointment scheduling, order taking, call patching, emergency dispatch), Mail Receiving/Forwarding (personal mail box at Bloomington office with weekly forwarding), and Online Chat (chat widget for business websites). The company positions itself as an extension of customers' businesses, acting as a virtual front desk with personalized receptionist-style service.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Telephone Answering Live telephone answering service providing 24-hour and holiday coverage with highly-trained English-speaking operators. Includes optional services such as appointment scheduling, order taking, call patching/screening, reminder and wake-up calls, and emergency dispatch to on-call personnel. Designed for businesses of any size that need professional call handling without an in-house receptionist.
- Mail Receiving / Forwarding Mail receiving service in which South Suburban assigns customers a personal mail box at its Bloomington office. Mail can be addressed to the customer or company name, and weekly forwarding is provided so customers do not have to make an extra trip. Targeted at home-based and small business owners who want a professional business address without separate office overhead.
- Online Chat Online chat service that enables real-time communication with website visitors. Available as a chat function on the South Suburban website and offered as an integrable chat widget that South Suburban can deploy on customer business websites.
Companies that use South Suburban
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
South Suburban technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
South Suburban partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights3 records
South Suburban competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- MAP Communications: MAP Communications provides 24/7 live telephone answering, order taking, and call dispatching for businesses — a near-direct competitor on the same product surface and the same customer pain (unanswered calls).
- Smith.ai: Smith.ai offers live-staffed answering plus AI-assisted chat and lead-capture for SMBs and professional services firms. Directly competes on the same core products (live answering, online chat integration) and similar SMB buyer.
- VoiceNation: VoiceNation operates a 24/7 live-operator answering service for SMBs with appointment scheduling, order taking, and message dispatch — a direct functional peer to South Suburban's telephone answering product.
- Ruby Receptionists: Ruby is a leading virtual-receptionist service delivering live telephone answering, call screening, and message forwarding to SMBs. Comparable product mix (live-operator coverage, message dispatch) and SMB target market as South Suburban, but with a national brand.
- AnswerConnect: AnswerConnect is a live-operator answering service providing 24/7 telephone answering, appointment scheduling, and message dispatch to SMBs across North America — a direct functional and customer-segment overlap with South Suburban.
- Sound Telecom: Sound Telecom is a long-standing answering-service bureau offering live operator coverage, message dispatch, and emergency call handling for SMBs and trade businesses. Operationally and functionally similar to South Suburban's core telephone answering service.
- Continental Message Solution: Continental provides live answering, order entry, and dispatch services to small and mid-sized businesses across the U.S. Direct overlap on live-operator answering, appointment scheduling, and emergency dispatch workflows.
Broad incumbents
- RingCentral: RingCentral is a broad UCaaS/contact-center incumbent with answering, auto-attendant, and live-receptionist features. While not a boutique answering service, its SMB plans overlap with South Suburban's virtual-receptionist value proposition.
- Grasshopper: Grasshopper provides SMB virtual phone systems with professional answering, call forwarding, and greetings. Adjacent solution for the same home-based and small-business segment, addressing the same "professional phone presence" pain point.
Regional players
- Alliance Communications Services: Alliance Communications is a smaller live-answering bureau serving SMBs primarily in the U.S. Comparable product offering (live answering, message dispatch) targeting the same small-business customer, but with a different geographic concentration.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
South Suburban social profiles
Digital presenceSouth Suburban financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
South Suburban leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
South Suburban funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
South Suburban M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about South Suburban
What does South Suburban do?
South Suburban is a family-owned answering and business support services company that provides live telephone answering with 24-hour and holiday coverage, mail receiving and weekly forwarding at a Bloomington, Minnesota address, and online chat services that can be embedded in customer websites. Services are aimed at home-based and small businesses that want a professional virtual front desk without hiring in-house staff. Pricing is custom-quoted on a recurring monthly basis for each customer's specific needs.
Is South Suburban a public or private company?
South Suburban is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was South Suburban founded?
South Suburban was founded in 1972. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is South Suburban based?
South Suburban is headquartered in Minneapolis, United States, in the North America region.
How does South Suburban make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Telephone Answering Services are the primary driver. The others are mail Receiving and Forwarding Services.
Who are South Suburban's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are MAP Communications, Smith.ai, VoiceNation, Ruby Receptionists, AnswerConnect, Sound Telecom and Continental Message Solution. Broad incumbents are RingCentral and Grasshopper. Alliance Communications Services is listed as a regional player.
Does South Suburban have an API?
No public API is recorded for South Suburban.