10 tips for saving on Phone calls

Do you like all those catchy commercials the "Big Three" long-distance companies run? You'd better--you're paying for them! Residential and small businesses whose long distance is through one of the Big Three usually pay the highest rates. But, you don't have to subsidize the megabucks the Big Three are spending for their ongoing media blitz. Unfortunately, most people have been "commercialized" into thinking they have no other choice if they want their calls to go through. 

Asians and particularly Indians are hardest hit by long distance rates as the rates are too high for calls to India compared to lot of other well developed countries. We will also include information for small business owners as there are plenty of Indians who own small businesses. Also we have added tips for domestic long distance as well as international long distance to help you save on both.

This could easily be a headline in any newspaper today. Read on to find out how you can protect yourself from being a casualty of the long distance wars. 

Residential volume of calling does not warrant the deep discounts given to large long-distance user corporations. Long-distance companies actually enter into a vicious bidding war with each other to latch onto the long-distance revenue of large volume long distance users, offering them prime-time rates as low as seven cents per minute or less. What is wrong with this picture? Why should you have to pay five times more than someone else for the exact same service? 

Check out the competition! There are many other long-distance carriers and resellers providing excellent service at much lower rates than the "Big Three." In many cases you can reduce your long-distance expense by as much as 30-40%. Keep one thing in mind. Unlike the Big Three, smaller long-distance companies do not spend megabucks on elaborate commercials that you end up paying for in the form of higher rates. Therefore, the best deals can come from the smaller long-distance carriers and resellers with, I might add, no sacrifice in quality of service. 

As you are checking out the smaller carriers and resellers, here are a few tips that will save you even more on your cost of long distance while avoiding some very costly pitfalls along the way. 

TIP #1 

Make sure you are getting six-second increment billing with no minimum per call. Some long-distance carriers will charge you a full minute even if your call is only 18 seconds in duration. Make sure that if you talk for only 18 seconds you aren't charged for a full minute. The shorter your average call, the more you'll save by having six-second billing. With voice mail and faxes becoming so prevalent, the average call is getting much shorter. Studies have shown that six-second billing can save you around 10% on your long distance bill. ($500 monthly bill = $50 in savings per month = $600 in savings per year.) Now, I know you can find a better way to spend $600. 

TIP #2 

Instead of you calling your parents in India, buy a computer for your parents (if they don't already have one), setup internet account for them and have them call you. There are several websites out there which allow people from India to call people around the world, totally free of cost. If your parents are on decent city with good internet service, calls can be clear most of the time. 

TIP #3 

You may already be using the best long-distance company for your business. Call your current carrier and let them know you are shopping around for lower rates, even if you are under a term contract. A long- distance company, with any foresight at all, will realize that it is to their advantage to keep their customer happy, even if it means lowering that customer's long-distance rates. You may be pleasantly surprised to learn that they "Just happen to have this new plan. . ." when they are faced with the prospect of losing a customer.  

TIP #4 

Fixed Monthly Charge Long-Distance Service. Stay as far away as you can from offerings of unlimited long-distance usage for a fixed monthly charge. You may be able to budget your telephone expense this way, but you can't always make a long-distance call. This is a net- work arrangement that can handle only so many calls at the same time. If the network is busy, you wait--and wait--and wait. It's no bargain when you consider the lost productivity and frustration. If an un- scrupulous sales person has failed to explain this to you, and tells you to "dial 9" to make a long-distance call and you don't have a PBX--show that person the door! 

TIP #5 

Make sure you are only billed when and if your call actually goes through. They (the telephone people) call this "answer supervision." There are several ways it can work--billing starts at the time your called party answers the call (true answer supervision); billing starts at maybe 20 or 30 seconds from the time you dial (even if no one answers); billing starts when "noise" is detected on the line (meant to assume someone answered, even though it could be only you speaking to someone in the same room or background noise). Just think about how many times you've placed a call and let it ring maybe eight or 10 times (a phone will ring eight times in 45 seconds), or you've gotten a recorded message stating that number has been disconnected or changed, etc. These all add up. Don't let the telephone people avoid your question with something like "we have software supervision", or "we have both hardware and software supervision." Insist they give you a direct "yes" or "no" answer to your question--"am I billed only when a call is answered?" Most long-distance companies do have true-answer supervision, but there are a few around who do not.

TIP #6 

Use e-mail and chat to reduce long-distance cost. Rather than playing telephone and voice mail tag--send an e-mail message instead and stop paying unnecessary long-distance charges. E-mail is no longer just for internal company communication, but rather it is used for worldwide communication. If you are owner of a small business, You can use it to contact your remote branches, customers, other businesses, suppliers, you name it. And it is much less expensive than making long-distance calls. It has been said that the quickest way to reach a business person with an electronic address is through an e-mail message. They will check their e-mail before they will check voice mail messages or their "snail mail" (cyberslang for USPS). Today's business person is mobile--on the move, but wired. If they do not have a desktop computer available while away from their office, they carry a laptop computer. The computer is becoming more and more a business necessity, as competition demands that today's successful business person be accessible, informed and able to produce immediate results. 

TIP #7 

Own a small business? Get an "employee" 800 number. Calling cards are expensive. You pay a high per-minute rate plus, in most cases, a per-call surcharge. A very large percentage of employee calls, when away from the office, are back to the office. 800 number rates will be much lower than calling card rates, especially considering the per-call surcharge (all of the Big Three surcharges around 80 cents per call). However, be sure to check out any monthly fees on 800 numbers. Depending on your usage, this could negate any savings.  

TIP #8 

Install paging--it'll quickly pay for itself. If your operation has reached the size that you can't yell "Tom, line 1" across the room anymore, then you need paging installed in your office phone system. Not only does it tremendously increase productivity for you and your staff by eliminating the need to run all over looking for someone to take a call, but it greatly reduces the number of long-distance call backs and cuts down on "telephone tag" waste. They called you--so talk on their dollar instead of yours.

TIP #9 

 What does a term plan contract do for you? Actually, very little! When the telephone people are trying to sell you on signing a one-year or more term contract, unless you are getting a mighty hefty promotional credit--don't do it. Unless the rates you are getting are written into the contract and are specifically guaranteed for the length of the contract, they can be raised tomorrow. Don't assume (assumptions can be costly) the rates you are being quoted are permanent. If you are signing a contract for tariffed rates (filed with the FCC), you can just about count on it--the rates will be raised and you can't do a thing about it. You are locked into a particular rate plan and can only be released from the term contract if you pay a hefty penalty. The only advantage to you in signing a term contract is that you are guaranteed to receive the promised promotional credits. These credits may look mighty good, but the increase in rates over a period of time may more than offset the credit amount. Above all, get everything in writing! It's not unusual to expect to receive one month of free ser- vice, only to find out later, "Oh, that was only on your 800 service" or "that was intrastate (in-state) calling only."

TIP #10 

When negotiating for an 800 number, a critical question you must ask is whether or not you "own" your 800 number. In May, 1993, the FCC finally enacted a regulation allowing the customer to keep the same 800 number when switching to another long-distance company. This is called "portability." This allows you to switch around for the best rates and still keep your 800 number. In some situations, such as shared office facilities, the management of the building owns the 800 number and is actually just rebilling the service to you. If you move from the building, you will lose your 800 number. This is especially crucial to businesses who have spent large sums of money in promoting that particular number. One way to be assured that your 800 number is indeed in your name is if the long-distance sales person asks you to sign a "Resp Org" (Responsible Organization) form. This is a document that is required to be submitted, turning the management of your 800 number within the 800 database entity over to a long-distance company. If the sales person does not present this form for your signature, better start asking questions!

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