ASD vs FuneralCall vs Directors’ Choice: Funeral Answering Services Compared (2026)

ASD, FuneralCall and Directors’ Choice all answer the phone for funeral homes, with people, at every hour. They differ in how they count a call, how long an agreement lasts, how long you can try them without paying, and where the message goes afterward. None of them publishes a price. This comparison uses what each company says on its own website, read in September 2026.

How do ASD, FuneralCall and Directors’ Choice compare?

All three work only in funeral service and deathcare, answer around the clock, and offer a mobile app. They differ in billing, terms, trials and integrations.

"Not published" means the pages reviewed did not say. It does not mean the answer is no. Ask the company, and get the answer in writing.

What does ASD offer?

ASD (Answering Service for Directors) is the oldest of the three and publishes the largest client count. Founded in 1972 and family owned, it is based in Media, Pennsylvania. It says it works with more than 9,000 funeral homes in the United States and Canada.

ASD says it answers 90% of calls on the first ring and puts fewer than 2% of callers on hold. Call specialists receive six months of training. It records the calls it answers, transcribes messages, and can connect a suicide hotline operator to a call. Its patented First Call Connect alerts a director to a first call in progress and lets the director listen in.

ASD has answered its critics in print: too many questions, directors woken for minor messages, names spelled repeatedly. It says question sets, dispatch rules and spelling confirmation are all adjustable. Best fit: a firm that wants first calls delivered into its management software, or the longest trial. Otherwise see alternatives to ASD.

What does FuneralCall offer?

FuneralCall is based in Carrollton, Georgia. It describes itself as family owned and operated, with more than 30 years serving the funeral industry, and says 95% of calls are answered on the first ring.

It bills per minute, with the cost set by your usage and yearly death call total. It is the only one of the three that publishes fixed terms: month-to-month, one-year and two-year. Its FAQ mentions an initial programming fee, a start within 48 hours, a rate review after 14 days, and no extra charge on holidays. Plans include texting and email, call connecting, a first call text notice, the mobile app, recorded calls and IT support.

Its pages do not mention a free trial, Spanish-language answering, or software integrations. Best fit: a firm that prefers per-minute billing and twelve invoices a year.

What does Directors’ Choice offer?

Directors’ Choice was founded in 1997 by a funeral director and says it has welcomed more than 1,000 clients. It calls itself a 24-hour funeral home contact center, and says its agents work only with deathcare clients.

The agreement is month-to-month, with 30 days notice to leave. The trial is 7 days, with no deposit and no credit card. Billing is based on agent activity, defined as the time spent answering your calls and assisting callers. Message delivery and online account access are included. It says staff fluent in English and Spanish are always available, and French-speaking agents often are.

It lists HITRUST r2 certification, the CogniSent app, web chat for your website, and warm transfers to your staff. Best fit: a firm that also runs a cemetery, crematory or pet service, or an owner who wants a named security certification.

How do per call, per minute and agent time billing differ?

They count different things, so the same month of calls produces three different totals. The example uses made-up call counts to show the arithmetic. No rates are shown, because none are published.

Multiply each count by the rate on your quote. Then check what the example assumed. Ask ASD how a call longer than six minutes is counted. Ask FuneralCall whether minutes are rounded up. Ask Directors’ Choice what counts as agent activity. Ask all three whether outgoing dispatches are billed. ASD wrote in 2014 that answering services generally charge for both incoming calls and outgoing dispatches.

The billing cycle matters too. FuneralCall bills on 12 monthly cycles and contrasts that with the 28-day cycle of other services. A 28-day cycle produces 13 invoices a year. ASD and Directors’ Choice do not publish theirs. See what a funeral home answering service costs.

Which service integrates with funeral home software?

ASD is the only one of the three that names its software partners. FuneralSync pulls first call information and recordings from ASD into your management program, and sends service information from your website to ASD. The 19 listed partners include Passare, SRS Computing, Halcyon, Osiris Software, Crakn, Batesville and Tukios.

Directors’ Choice lists CRM integrations and says it can build an API that pulls call information into your system. It names no partners. FuneralCall describes delivery by text, email, app and web dashboard.

If your software is not on a partner list, the message arrives by email or text and someone retypes it, unless your software can read the email. FuneralHQ, for example, turns a first call that an answering service emails into a draft first call sheet for a person to confirm. See connecting an answering service to funeral software.

How do you run a fair trial of two services at once?

Give both services the same instructions and the same kinds of calls, then compare the recordings. ASD’s trial runs 30 days and Directors’ Choice’s runs 7, so place the shorter one in an ordinary week.

1. Write one instruction sheet. Greeting, question order, who is on call, what is urgent. Start from your first call script.
2. Alternate nights, so each service gets weeknights and a weekend night.
3. Place test calls. A death at home, a hospice nurse, a price question, a Spanish-speaking caller.
4. Score every call on the same points. Rings, time on hold, callback number, spelling, tone.
5. Time the dispatch, from the end of the call to the message reaching your director.
6. Count billable units from each call log.
7. Ask your directors which service they would rather be woken by.

When is none of the three the right answer?

Sometimes the right answer is a different service, or a change inside your own firm.

• Your own staff could answer. Review your on-call schedule before you buy anything.
• You want a wider field. These three are the best known, not the only ones. See the best funeral home answering services.
• You are considering an automated assistant. ASD lists six kinds of call it says AI would get wrong, among them distraught callers, suicidal callers and hearing impaired callers using a relay service. Read that list, then AI receptionists for funeral homes.
• Retyping is the real problem. If your software is on no partner list, changing the service will not fix it.

How FuneralHQ handles this

FuneralHQ is funeral home software, not a live answering service, and it does not replace any of the three when you want a person on every call. It touches this decision in two places. If you use an answering service, the FuneralHQ team sets up an intake address. A first call that your service emails arrives as a draft first call sheet beside the original message, and a person reviews and confirms it. FuneralHQ is not an ASD FuneralSync partner. A direct feed from an answering service is in development. Separately, AI phone answering is optional and stays off until you switch it on. It never states a price and never promises a pickup time. FuneralHQ comes in three packages, Platform, Growth, and Growth Managed. See pricing.

Questions to ask each answering service

1. What is the billing unit, and how is a long call counted?
2. Is the billing cycle a calendar month or 28 days?
3. Are outgoing dispatches, call patches and texts billed?
4. Is there a setup or programming fee?
5. What notice must I give to leave, and is there a penalty?
6. Is a Spanish-speaking caller answered in Spanish at 3 AM, and by whom?
7. Can I hear every call, and how long are recordings kept?
8. Does the first call reach my software, or does someone retype it?

Common questions about ASD, FuneralCall and Directors’ Choice

Is ASD or FuneralCall cheaper?

Neither publishes a price. ASD bills per call and FuneralCall per minute, so the answer depends on how long your calls run. Ask both for a written quote based on the same month of your call log. For context, ASD wrote in 2014 that the average independent funeral home was paying close to $165 a month for an answering service.

Does FuneralCall offer a free trial?

Its pricing, FAQ and features pages do not mention one. Its FAQ says rates are reviewed after 14 days and plans can change quarterly, and it offers a month-to-month agreement. Ask whether you can start month-to-month, and what the programming fee is.

Where can I find FuneralCall reviews?

FuneralCall’s website carries client testimonials, which the company selects. For an independent view, ask for client firms of your size that you can telephone, and ask colleagues in your state association. Then listen to recordings from your own line. A recorded call tells you more than a star rating.

Does Directors’ Choice serve cemeteries and pet cremation providers?

Yes. Its home page lists funeral homes, cremation providers, cemeteries, preparation and storage facilities, transportation services and pet services. ASD says it works solely with funeral homes. If you run a funeral home and a cemetery together, ask each service how it tells the two kinds of call apart.

Which of the three answers in Spanish?

ASD says its bilingual team is available at every hour. Directors’ Choice says staff fluent in English and Spanish are always available. FuneralCall’s pages do not mention Spanish. Ask whether the Spanish speaker is an employee or an outside interpreter. See serving Spanish-speaking families by phone.

Can an answering service answer price questions?

It can take them. The FTC’s guidance on the Funeral Rule says a provider may use an answering service to take calls, and must then respond to each caller’s questions individually. So a price question taken overnight is a call you must return. See phone price disclosure under the Funeral Rule. This article is general information, not legal advice.

What does HITRUST certification tell a funeral home?

HITRUST is an information security framework. Directors’ Choice says it holds the r2 validated certification, and that the framework draws on standards including HIPAA and ISO 27001. It concerns how data is protected, not how calls are answered. ASD and FuneralCall list no certification on the pages reviewed, so ask how recordings are stored.

Should a small firm sign a one-year or two-year agreement?

Only after some weeks of calls on your own line. FuneralCall offers month-to-month, one-year and two-year agreements. Directors’ Choice is month-to-month, and ASD wrote in 2017 that it requires no term contract. Ask what a longer term gives you in return, and what it costs to leave early.