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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.
You
must choose a long distance carrier
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.
You
may also have to choose a local toll carrier
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.
It
costs to switch carriers
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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