Randall John Ripkey

I’m Randall John Ripkey, an entrepreneur and longtime telephone answering service industry professional based in Jacksonville, Florida. I have spent more than 40 years working in the answering service industry, where I have had the opportunity to see the business evolve through major changes in technology, operations, and customer expectations.

I entered the industry in 1985 as the owner of Accurate Messages and remained an answering service owner until January 2026. Spending four decades on the operator side gave me a practical understanding of what it takes to run an answering service, from managing customer accounts and changing workloads to understanding billing, operational costs, and profitability.

Today, I serve as President of TAS Concepts, Inc., where my focus includes TASbiller and TASbillerCloud, billing and analysis software for the telephone answering service industry. Profitability analysis is a particular area of interest for me, and I have been invited to speak on the subject at industry conferences. I enjoy helping operators look beyond revenue and better understand the activity and resources associated with servicing individual accounts.

My interest in technology started well before my answering service career. I worked at Radio Shack through high school and college and later began writing custom computer programs. I also spent a number of years in real estate, working as a licensed real estate appraiser, salesperson, broker, and mortgage broker. Those different experiences taught me to approach business problems practically and to focus on building tools that solve problems people actually encounter in their work.

Industry involvement has also been an important part of my career. I am a past President of the Southern Telemessaging Association and have served on several answering service association boards, including the Board of Directors of ATSI. I received the ATSI President’s Award in 2023 and have participated in the annual ATSI Hill Walk in Washington, D.C., representing the association and its members.

Community service has been important to me as well. I am a past President of the Rotary Club of Martinez-Evans, a Paul Harris Fellow and Will Watt Fellow, and was honored as my club’s Rotarian of the Year in 2003.

Outside of work, I enjoy traveling. I grew up in South Florida, where some of my favorite activities included spending time at the beach, fishing, boating, and scuba diving.

After more than four decades in business, I am still interested in many of the same things that first drew me to entrepreneurship and technology: understanding how things work, identifying practical problems, and finding better ways to solve them.