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Long Distance
Many small businesses are paying too much for long distance. In fact, long distance charges are typically the largest telecommunications expense in a company. However, by identifying the long distance phone service that best suits your calling patterns and volume requirements you can often reduce your long distance bills dramatically.
When deciding which company to select for your long distance calling needs, the long distance market should be looked at in tiers. There are three:
- The large companies, which includes AT&T, MCI & Sprint. They rely heavily on advertising and promotions to bring in customers but they offer a wide variety of services on high-quality networks.
- The middle tier is comprised of large telecommunication carriers that do not offer the same range of services as the largest three. Typically the middle tier companies utilize a combination of proprietary installations and leased networks to carry traffic.
- The small firms with a regional or local focus. These companies almost always lease their network capacity from the largest carriers and are known as resellers.
Although long distance is by and large about finding the lowest price, there are a number of service factors to consider.
- What are the business hours of technical support?
- Do you require operator assistance when making calls?
- What is the provider’s network failure rate?
- Does the provider require a monthly minimum of calls? What happens if you don’t meet the minimum?
- What is the provider’s billing increment? The billing for a good business-calling plan should be in 6-second increments. This means if your call is 18 seconds long, you will be billed for only 18 seconds. If your call is 19 seconds, you are billed for 24 seconds. If you have one minute billing increments your 18 second call will be billed for a 1-minute call. This little difference can add up over time.
Choosing the best calling plan for your business is extremely important. Every penny saved on long distance can be applied elsewhere to your business operation.
For more info and directory assistance, check the New York Yellow Pages.
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