Options and "Gotchas"

Options

Toll-free numbers

Toll-free numbers are now available for residential service. These are numbers beginning with 800, 888, 877, etc.  A toll-free number is ideal if you have a son or daughter at college or in the military.  

You will pay long distance charges for all calls made to your toll-free number, including calls from local numbers, and you may pay a surcharge for calls that originate from a pay phone. Toll-free calls are generally less expensive than calling card calls and they are far less expensive than a collect call.  

Most carriers charge a monthly toll-free administration fee. Many charge one fee for all toll-free numbers on one account while others charge a fee for each toll-free number.

An ideal calling plan charges the same for both incoming and dialed calls, which cost them the same to carry. Some carriers charge substantially higher rates for toll-free calls; we found one that charged a whopping $.35 per minutes. 

Calling Cards

Calling cards allow placing long distance calls through your carrier when you are away from home. Calling card rates vary from 10-20 cents a minute and up. There is usually a per-call charge and there may be a minimum call length.  You may also have to pay a surcharge if your call originates from a pay phone.  

Many cards have a system to place additional calls once you are connected to their service, thus avoiding additional origination fees. Not all cards come with 24 x 7 support if you need assistance but you can generally call the next day to resolve problems.

Overseas calling 

Rates vary depending on the countries called. Some carriers with relatively high domestic rates may have the best overseas rates so be sure to shop around if you make a lot of overseas calls. Our menu has a button option that allows you to compare rates.  

If you travel overseas you may want to look into "dial back" services. With this service you place a call to a US number, the company processes the call, and then you are called back and billed at US rates.   

Innovative Billing

You can save by paying your bill over the Internet or by automatic deduction. You must decide if the savings is worth the possible compromise of your security and privacy.  

The "Gotcha" Corner

If you don't choose a long distance carrier your phone company will choose one for you. They will charge a monthly fee and the carrier they choose may charge you their "standard" rate. Some phone companies will allow you to disable long distance calling but not all will.

• One of the larger companies recently quoted their "standard rate" of $2.85 to place a call, $.37 a minute, and a stiff monthly charge each month the service was used.

Local toll calls (also called Intra-LATA calls) are calls made within your regional telephone system but outside of your local calling area. Due to quirks in the tariffs it can cost more to call the next county than across the country or overseas.   If you do not choose your local toll call carrier you may have to pay the phone company's rates or be subject to their no-carrier fee and some carrier's "standard" rate.  

You must pay to switch carriers. Since long distance and local toll calls are now considered to be two separate services you will pay to switch both your long distance and local toll call carriers.  

Some carriers will pay the cost of switching your service. If they don't offer to pay you should ask them to; many will.  It may take 1-2 months for the bill from the new carrier to come through so you may not know of a problem until then.

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