Selecting a Long-Distance Company

April 13, 2006

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How should you go about finding the right long-distance service provider for your company? Our suggestion is that you first determine your needs by analyzing your calling patterns. If you're already in business, reviewing your old phone bills should give you a pretty good idea of your calling patterns. If you don't have the benefit of old phone bills, do your best to answer the following types of questions:

How often will I be making long-distance calls?
How long will my calls generally last?
When will I primarily be making the calls?
Where will I primarily be calling?

Upon completing this analysis, contact some long-distance companies and describe your calling patterns. Then compare the plans that each company offers to address your specific needs. Obviously, cost will be a prime factor, so you'll want to be on the lookout for hidden fees and charges. Is a high monthly fee the tradeoff for a low calling rate? Will an amazing discount rate apply only after you've made a minimum dollar amount of calls? Will your business discount apply to calls that aren't made from your office?

Although cost is important, don't discount the quality and reliability of a provider's services. A great rate won't be much good if your calls don't go through, if the lines are garbled, or if you can't get immediate attention from a service technician should you need assistance. On the other hand, in most areas every long-distance provider offers the same excellent service, and there really isn't any noticeable difference among them.

Pay attention to how you're treated when you first contact a company. Were you treated with courtesy? Was an interest shown in your business? Was adequate time taken to make sure that you understood the details of the company's plans? Were you put on hold for an inordinate period of time? Chances are that if the company's service wasn't very good initially, it won't be much better after you've signed on.