Best Answering Service in North Dakota

Why North Dakota Businesses Need an Answering Service

North Dakota has 74,202 small businesses, 98.8% of all employers in the state, providing jobs to 195,312 people. The state's $80 billion economy punches well above its population of 780,000, producing a GDP per capita of $75,218 (seventh-highest nationally). But that prosperity comes with a problem: there is almost nobody available to hire. North Dakota's unemployment rate sits at 2.6%, one of the two lowest in the nation, with just 0.5 unemployed workers per open job. In January 2025, 31% of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill.

The staffing crisis is not abstract. A wellsite services company in Williston can't answer the phone while troubleshooting a pump jack 40 miles from town. A wheat farmer near Minot can't take a call from the grain elevator during harvest. A dentist in Bismarck can't leave a procedure to schedule a new patient. A motel owner in Medora can't step away from the front desk during the Theodore Roosevelt National Park summer rush to handle a booking call. When the Bakken produces 1.19 million barrels of oil per day, agriculture generates $41.3 billion in business volume, and 26.3 million visitors spend $3.4 billion annually, the cost of missed calls is measured in contracts, commodity sales, and reservations that went to someone who picked up.

An answering service solves the staffing gap. The question is which one handles North Dakota's oil field schedules, agricultural predawn hours, extreme weather disruptions, and the reality that everyone who can work already is working.

What Makes North Dakota's Business Environment Distinct

North Dakota's economy operates at a scale that surprises people who think of it as empty prairie:

• The Bakken oil field produces 1.19 million barrels per day: North Dakota is the third-largest oil-producing state in America. The Bakken Shale formation, centered in the western part of the state, contributed $10.7 billion to GDP in 2024 and is on track to reach 2 million barrels per day by 2030. Oil and gas operations run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in some of the most remote terrain in the lower 48. The roughnecks, pump operators, pipeline welders, trucking companies, equipment rental firms, and wellsite service providers connected to this production work on rotating 12-hour shifts in locations where cell service may not exist. A drilling supervisor calling a wellsite services company at 2am about a failed valve needs someone answering. A trucking dispatcher confirming a crude oil haul at 4am needs the call picked up. The oil field does not operate on business hours, and neither can the businesses serving it.
• Agriculture generated $41.3 billion in business volume: North Dakota's 31,600 farms and ranches operate across 38.5 million acres of farmland, with an average farm size of 1,537 acres. The state ranks first nationally in sunflower production, durum wheat, canola, and flaxseed. Spring wheat occupied 5.6 million acres in 2024. Cattle operations manage 1.66 million head. Agriculture and related processing supported 123,360 jobs and contributed $10 billion in labor income. Farming operates on nature's schedule. A grain buyer calling a Cavalier County elevator at 5:30am during wheat harvest, a livestock hauler confirming a pickup from a Hettinger County ranch at 4am, or a cooperative scheduling sunflower delivery at 6:30am needs the phone answered by someone who can capture the details accurately.
• Two Air Force bases generate $1.45 billion in combined economic impact: Minot Air Force Base produced $651.6 million in economic impact in fiscal year 2024 with 6,479 direct jobs and a $451.9 million payroll, making it the largest employer in Ward County. Grand Forks Air Force Base employs 3,800 personnel and adds $800 million to Grand Forks County's economy. Together, these installations anchor the economies of their regions. The contractors, service providers, restaurants, real estate agents, and healthcare practices serving military families need professional phone handling that operates on military schedules, which includes evenings, weekends, and holidays when service members and their families are making calls.
• Tourism set a record at 26.3 million visitors spending $3.4 billion: North Dakota welcomed a record 26.3 million visitors in 2024, generating $310.6 million in tax revenue and saving each household $935 in taxes. Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the Enchanted Highway, Medora Musical, and Lake Sakakawea draw visitors from across the country. Tourism is the state's third-largest industry. For the hotels, restaurants, outfitters, and attractions serving these visitors, summer is compressed and intense. A Medora hotel handling 300 booking calls in June and 30 in January needs answering capacity that scales with demand, not a fixed staffing model that either overpays in the off-season or misses calls during the rush.
• Extreme weather isolates communities for days: North Dakota averages 24 billion-dollar weather disasters since 1980, including 13 droughts, 4 floods, and 4 severe storm events. Winter blizzards bring 35+ mph winds with visibility under a quarter mile, cutting off farms, businesses, and entire towns from communication and transportation. Power and telephone outages leave residents isolated. For businesses that depend on incoming calls, a blizzard that takes out local phone service or prevents staff from reaching the office means every call goes unanswered for hours or days. An answering service that operates from cloud infrastructure, independent of North Dakota's local power grid and phone lines, maintains communication continuity when the weather shuts everything else down.
• Wind energy positions ND as an energy exporter: North Dakota has 4,500 MW of installed wind capacity, ranking eighth nationally and generating 35% of the state's electricity. Combined with the world's largest known lignite deposits and the Bakken's oil production, North Dakota exports roughly one-third of the electricity it generates to other states and Canada. The wind farm operators, maintenance crews, and energy consultants connected to this infrastructure work in rural locations on shift schedules. Professional phone coverage for these businesses is essential but nearly impossible to staff locally in a 2.6% unemployment market.

Top 5 Answering Services for North Dakota Businesses

We evaluated these services against North Dakota's specific demands: Bakken oil field round-the-clock schedules, agricultural predawn operations, military base professionalism, tourism seasonality, extreme weather resilience, and the reality of a labor market where 0.5 unemployed workers compete for every open job.

1. Zinng: Best Overall (AI-Powered)

Zinng answers every call with AI trained on your specific business. No hold times, no staffing problems in a 2.6% unemployment market, no quality variation between a Wednesday afternoon in July and a Saturday midnight in January when it's minus 30 outside. For a state where the labor shortage makes hiring a receptionist nearly impossible and the industries that drive the economy operate 24 hours a day in some of the most remote locations in America, Zinng provides consistent coverage without competing for workers who are already employed.

Every call generates a verbatim transcript delivered by email with SMS alerts for urgent items. A wellsite services company in Watford City gets documented details from a drilling supervisor's 2am call about equipment specifications. A Minot hotel owner gets exact dates, room type, and party size from a booking call at 10pm. A Bismarck medical clinic gets precise patient symptoms from an after-hours call. The transcripts replace voicemail and operator summaries with a searchable, auditable record of every conversation.

• Pricing: $49/month with 100 minutes included. Additional minutes at $0.12 each. Growth plan at $99/month with 250 minutes. Business plan at $199/month with 600 minutes.
• Best for: North Dakota businesses across oil and gas, agriculture, healthcare, tourism, and military-connected services that need 24/7 coverage in a labor market where hiring a receptionist is not a realistic option.
• Key features: 24/7 AI answering, full call transcripts, SMS alerts for urgent calls, HIPAA compliant, custom call routing, spam blocking, appointment scheduling, 14-day free trial with no credit card.
• Standout: A Williston oilfield supply company handling 200 minutes monthly pays $61 with Zinng ($49 base + $12 overage). The cheapest traditional alternative for that volume starts at $239+. Over a year, the savings exceed $2,136. In a state where labor shortages make every operational dollar precious, those savings fund equipment, marketing, or one more week of seasonal help during harvest.

2. Ruby Receptionists: Best Premium Live Service

Ruby Receptionists, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, provides the most polished live receptionist experience on this list. Their agents answer with warmth and professionalism that callers consistently mistake for in-house staff. For North Dakota's professional services firms in Fargo, Bismarck, and Grand Forks (law practices, financial advisors, real estate agencies) where caller experience directly influences client retention, Ruby's quality is measurable and genuine.

Ruby offers 10 pricing tiers from 50 to 2,500 minutes, all with 24/7 live answering and bilingual English/Spanish inbound support. Outbound calling is limited to weekdays, 5am to 6pm Pacific. Appointment scheduling, call routing, and a mobile app complete the feature set. For the narrow segment of North Dakota businesses where the phone is the primary client acquisition channel and each new client represents significant lifetime value, Ruby delivers a caller experience that justifies the investment.

• Pricing: Call Ruby 50 at $250/month for 50 minutes ($5.40/min overage). Call Ruby 100 at $395/month for 100 minutes ($4.50/min overage). Call Ruby 200 at $720/month for 200 minutes ($4.40/min overage). Higher tiers up to 2,500 minutes at $7,875/month.
• Best for: North Dakota law firms, financial advisors, and professional services in Fargo, Bismarck, and Grand Forks where caller experience directly drives client acquisition and retention.
• Key features: 24/7 live receptionists, bilingual inbound (English/Spanish), outbound calling (weekdays only), appointment scheduling, call routing, mobile app, 10 pricing tiers.
• Drawback: Ruby's per-minute costs are the highest on this list. The 200-minute plan at $720/month is twelve times what Zinng charges for the same volume. For the vast majority of North Dakota's 74,000 small businesses, including oilfield operators, farmers, and tourism operators, Ruby's pricing is disconnected from their economics. A Williston pump services company or a Dickinson farm equipment dealer does not need premium caller handling at $3.60/min effective. Ruby serves a specific niche in Fargo and Bismarck's professional services market, but for the oil-and-agriculture economy that drives the state, the premium is unjustifiable.

3. Nexa: Best for Legal and Medical Practices

Nexa (formerly Answer 1), headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, trains its receptionists on industry-specific call handling for legal, medical, and home services businesses. For North Dakota's healthcare sector, where Sanford Health is the state's largest employer and five of the top ten employers are hospitals, Nexa's medical-specific protocols offer call handling that generic services cannot provide. Their legal intake training serves the personal injury firms, family law practices, and oil-and-gas attorneys across the state.

Nexa operates 24/7/365 with CRM integrations for legal platforms including Clio, PracticePanther, and Filevine. HIPAA-compliant medical call handling meets documentation requirements. Bilingual English/Spanish support is available as a $50/month add-on. A 14-day free trial allows evaluation before committing.

• Pricing: Plans start at approximately $239/month for 100 minutes. Higher tiers available at custom pricing. Overage rates from $1.59 to $1.99/min. Bilingual support: $50/month add-on.
• Best for: North Dakota medical practices, law firms, and home services companies that need industry-trained receptionists with specialized intake workflows and CRM integrations.
• Key features: 24/7/365 live answering, legal intake and medical call handling, CRM integrations (Clio, PracticePanther, Filevine), HIPAA compliant, appointment scheduling, lead qualification, 14-day free trial.
• Drawback: Nexa does not publish transparent pricing. Billing includes post-call work time (operator data entry counts against your minutes), holiday surcharges on eight major holidays, a monthly technology/compliance fee, and a 3.0% credit card surcharge. These layered fees push real costs well beyond the base plan. A Fargo medical practice handling 200 minutes could see total costs of $500+ when all fees are included. The $50/month bilingual add-on is less critical in North Dakota (5% Hispanic) than in border states, but still adds up. The industry-specific training is genuine, but the opaque pricing model requires careful evaluation before committing.

4. MAP Communications: Most Budget-Friendly Traditional Service

MAP Communications, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, is 100% employee-owned through an ESOP. Their Pay-as-You-Go plan at $49/month with $1.37/min usage billing provides the cheapest entry into live human answering on this list. For North Dakota businesses that want a live person handling calls but need to keep monthly costs minimal, particularly the seasonal tourism operators and small-town service businesses outside the oil patch, MAP offers an accessible starting point.

MAP's four tiers all include 24/7/365 coverage, bilingual English/Spanish support, customizable scripts, and HIPAA compliance. Their HITRUST CSF r2 certification provides healthcare-grade security validation relevant to the hospitals and clinics that constitute five of North Dakota's ten largest employers. The 7-day free trial requires no credit card, and accounts go live within 24 to 48 hours. For businesses testing whether professional answering generates enough return to justify the expense, MAP's low barrier to entry reduces the risk.

• Pricing: Pay-as-You-Go at $49/month with $1.37/min (no included minutes). Business at $179/month for 125 minutes ($1.30/min overage). Enterprise at $339/month for 250 minutes. Premium at $649/month for 500 minutes. No setup fees. 7-day free trial, no credit card.
• Best for: North Dakota businesses on tight budgets that need live human answering, especially healthcare practices requiring HIPAA and HITRUST compliance.
• Key features: 24/7/365 live answering, bilingual English/Spanish included, HIPAA compliant, HITRUST CSF r2 certified, 100% employee-owned (ESOP), customizable scripts, 7-day free trial.
• Drawback: The Pay-as-You-Go plan includes zero minutes in the base price. A Dickinson trucking company handling 200 minutes monthly pays $323 ($49 + $274). The Business plan at $179 for 125 minutes is more practical for consistent volume, but the effective rate remains $1.43/min. Zinng handles 200 minutes for $61, a $262 monthly difference. Reviews mention inconsistent overnight quality. For an oilfield services company needing precise documentation of equipment specifications at 2am, MAP's operator summaries may lack the technical accuracy that verbatim AI transcripts provide. MAP's affordability is genuine at low volumes, but per-minute costs make it expensive as usage grows.

5. Specialty Answering Service (SAS): Most Flexible Pricing

Specialty Answering Service (SAS), headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, offers the broadest range of pricing tiers among traditional answering services. Their pay-as-you-go plan starts at $44/month with $1.54/min usage billing, and flat-rate plans scale from $159/month for 100 minutes all the way to $10,599/month for 10,000 minutes. For North Dakota's tourism businesses with extreme seasonal variation (a Medora hotel doing 400 minutes in July and 20 in December, a Lake Sakakawea marina with similar swings), SAS allows month-to-month plan adjustments that track actual demand.

Every SAS plan includes 24/7/365 live answering, bilingual English/Spanish support, HIPAA compliance, message taking, order processing, and appointment scheduling. The 2-week free trial requires no credit card. For the tourism operators, seasonal agricultural businesses, and outdoor recreation companies across North Dakota that experience dramatic call volume swings between summer and the brutal winter months, SAS offers the flexibility to pay only for what you use.

• Pricing: Pay-as-you-go at $44/month base + $1.54/min. Flat-rate plans from $159/month for 100 minutes to $10,599/month for 10,000 minutes. Volume discounts at higher tiers.
• Best for: North Dakota seasonal businesses (tourism, outdoor recreation, agriculture) that need the flexibility to scale answering costs up and down with dramatic seasonal call volume changes.
• Key features: 24/7/365 live answering, bilingual English/Spanish, HIPAA compliant, message taking, order processing, appointment scheduling, 2-week free trial (no credit card).
• Drawback: The pay-as-you-go rate of $1.54/min makes moderate volume expensive. A Grand Forks property manager handling 200 minutes monthly pays $352 ($44 + $308). Zinng covers the same volume for $61. That $291 monthly difference totals $3,492 annually. Customer reviews mention uneven overnight quality and a dated web interface. For oilfield businesses where calls at 2am require the same precision as calls at 2pm, SAS's overnight operator performance is a concern. The flexibility is genuine for seasonal peaks, but per-minute economics favor Zinng for year-round primary coverage.

Pricing Comparison

Here is what each service costs for a North Dakota business handling approximately 200 minutes of calls per month.

*Zinng's $49 plan includes 100 minutes. 200 minutes = $49 + $12 overage (100 additional minutes at $0.12/min).
**Nexa's 100-minute plan (~$239) + 100 overage minutes at $1.99/min = ~$438. Additional fees (technology, compliance, holidays) not included.
***MAP's Enterprise plan at $339/month includes 250 minutes, the closest match for 200-minute usage.
****SAS pay-as-you-go: $44 base + 200 minutes at $1.54/min = $352. The $159 flat-rate for 100 minutes + overage is also an option.

Why AI Answering Fits North Dakota's Economy

North Dakota's unique combination of energy extraction, agriculture, military presence, extreme weather, and the tightest labor market in America creates conditions where AI answering has decisive structural advantages:

• Oil field operations run 24 hours in locations without cell service. The Bakken's 1.19 million barrels per day are extracted by crews working round-the-clock shifts in remote western North Dakota. When a rig supervisor calls a wellsite services company at 2am about a failed blowout preventer valve, AI answers instantly and generates a verbatim transcript with every part number, pressure reading, and GPS coordinate captured exactly. A human operator at 2am may be drowsy and unfamiliar with drilling terminology. For an industry where $10.7 billion in GDP depends on precise field communications, AI's consistency at every hour is a structural safety and business advantage.
• The labor shortage makes hiring a receptionist nearly impossible. At 2.6% unemployment with 0.5 unemployed workers per job opening, North Dakota businesses cannot find front-desk staff. A Fargo dental practice, a Bismarck law firm, or a Dickinson HVAC company competes with oil field wages ($75,000+ starting) for every available worker. AI eliminates the staffing problem entirely. At $49/month, Zinng costs less than a single day's wage for a North Dakota receptionist. There is no recruiting, no training, no turnover, and no sick days. For 74,000 small businesses operating in the tightest labor market in America, AI answering is not a cost-saving measure. It is the only realistic option for consistent phone coverage.
• Agriculture starts before dawn across 38.5 million acres. North Dakota's farms average 1,537 acres each, and operations begin well before sunrise during planting and harvest. A grain buyer calling a Stutsman County elevator at 5am, a livestock hauler confirming a pickup from a Bowman County ranch at 4:30am, or a sunflower seed processor scheduling delivery at 6am needs the same quality of call handling as a midday inquiry. AI answers at 4:30am with identical precision and at $0.12/min. Traditional overnight operators are less alert, less familiar with agricultural terms like "test weight" and "moisture content," and more likely to garble the bushel count or delivery address.
• Blizzards shut down local infrastructure but not cloud services. When a February blizzard drops visibility to zero and cuts power across rural North Dakota for hours or days, a local receptionist cannot reach the office and a local phone system may go offline entirely. AI answering operates from geographically distributed cloud infrastructure. A blizzard that closes I-94 and blacks out Jamestown does not affect Zinng's servers. For businesses in a state that averages multiple billion-dollar weather disasters per decade, communication continuity during extreme weather is not a hypothetical advantage. It is a practical necessity.
• Military families create high-value transient demand. The 6,479 jobs at Minot AFB and 3,800 at Grand Forks AFB include thousands of service members who rotate every 2-3 years, bringing families that immediately need dentists, pediatricians, real estate agents, auto mechanics, and insurance brokers. These callers are actively searching, ready to choose, and will call the next provider if nobody answers. AI ensures every one of those calls gets answered on the first ring, documented completely, and routed appropriately. For the businesses surrounding military installations, catching every inbound call from a newly arrived family is the most efficient form of marketing available.
• Tourism seasonality is extreme. North Dakota's 26.3 million visitors are heavily concentrated between June and September. A Medora lodge that handles 400 minutes in July and 20 in January pays $85 with Zinng during peak and $49 during off-season. The same July volume at SAS's $1.54/min costs $660. That is $575 in savings per peak month, totaling $1,725-$2,300 for the summer season. For seasonal tourism operators in a state where the entire season may last 12-16 weeks, every dollar saved on phone handling goes back into the guest experience or shoulder-season marketing.

Human answering services retain value for North Dakota businesses with specific needs: complex legal intake for oil-and-gas litigation, sensitive patient calls requiring empathy, or established professional practices in Fargo and Bismarck where caller relationships drive referrals. But for the core functions of answering, documenting, routing, and scheduling that constitute the vast majority of calls, AI handles the work more consistently, more affordably, and at every hour, in every weather condition.

Choosing the Right Service for Your North Dakota Business

• Operating in North Dakota's tight labor market? Zinng's $49/month plan gives you 24/7 coverage with full call transcripts, no hiring required. HIPAA compliant. No contracts. The 14-day free trial lets you test it against your actual call patterns risk-free.
• Professional services firm in Fargo or Bismarck wanting premium live receptionists? Ruby's agents deliver caller handling quality that clients notice. At $250+/month, it is positioned for law firms, financial practices, and medical specialists where the initial phone impression directly drives client acquisition.
• Medical practice, law firm, or home services company needing specialized handling? Nexa's industry-trained receptionists and CRM integrations serve legal and medical workflows specifically. Budget $239+/month and request a detailed quote to understand all fees before committing.
• Need live human answering at the lowest possible cost? MAP's $49/month Pay-as-You-Go plan with HIPAA compliance and HITRUST certification offers the cheapest entry into professional live answering. Graduate to the $179 Business plan as volume justifies it.
• Seasonal business with extreme call volume swings? SAS gives you pay-as-you-go in winter and flat-rate plans for the summer rush. The 2-week free trial with no credit card lets you test without commitment during the off-season.

Final Verdict

Zinng is the best answering service for North Dakota businesses. At $61/month for 200 minutes of 24/7 coverage with verbatim call transcripts, it solves the two problems that define North Dakota's business environment: the inability to hire staff at 2.6% unemployment, and the need for round-the-clock coverage in an oil-and-agriculture economy that never stops. Whether you are fielding drilling supervisor calls in the Bakken or booking rooms in Medora, the service performs identically at every hour and through every blizzard.

Ruby Receptionists provides the premium live experience for Fargo and Bismarck professional services. At $720/month for 200 minutes, it is priced for firms where the phone impression directly influences client revenue. Ruby serves a specific, high-value niche.

Nexa delivers industry-specific medical and legal call handling with CRM integrations. The training quality is genuine, but the opaque pricing model and layered fees require careful evaluation. Best suited for practices where specialized intake directly improves case management or patient care.

MAP Communications offers the most affordable entry into live human answering with HIPAA and HITRUST compliance. The $49/month starting point and 7-day free trial reduce the risk for businesses testing whether professional answering generates a positive return.

And SAS provides pricing flexibility that matches North Dakota's dramatic seasonal swings. From pay-as-you-go in the winter to flat-rate plans during summer tourism peaks, SAS lets businesses track their answering costs to actual demand.

North Dakota built its prosperity on energy, agriculture, and the work ethic of a population that shows up regardless of conditions. From the Bakken oil fields to the sunflower farms of the Red River Valley to the missile silos of Minot, the state's economy runs on people who are too busy doing their jobs to answer the phone. The right answering service catches every call they cannot. For North Dakota's 74,000 small businesses, that service is Zinng.