Are You Using Toll Free Inbound Calling Cost-Effectively?  The 9 Questions to Ask Yourself

Toll free numbers used to be prohibitively expensive.  However, more affordable options have become available as small and medium sized businesses began to exhibit a demand for this service.  The challenge now is finding a cost-effective plan that suits your business needs.  By asking yourself nine key questions, you can assess the quality of your current service and ensure that you subscribe to the most economical toll free calling package.

- 1.) Are you bound to a contract? Locking yourself into the current rate for several years is a grievous mistake as rates are very competitive and may go down within that time frame.  Preserving your right to rescission is in your company’s best interest.

- 2.) Are you paying extra for special features?  It is common for carriers to charge an additional fee for certain services, but some companies will include special features at no cost to you.  Some special features, like voicemail, fax mail, caller ID, and call blocking, are indispensible to most businesses.  If you are paying for special features, make sure that you are using everything that you are charged for. 

- 3.) What is your typical call volume?  Some carriers require a minimum call volume requirement each month, and falling below your minimum could result in penalty fees.  Plans with monthly minimums are generally unwise because even if your call volume annual average is above the minimum, you will still be penalized for any month that you fall short.  Also, check to see if your plan offers unlimited voicemail, and if not, find out if they charge extra when you go over on voicemails for the month.  The penalty fees may not seem like much initially, but they can certainly add up from month to month.

- 4.) Do you accept calls from international customers?  If you plan on building a customer base outside of the United States and Canada, you will need to make sure that your toll free plan allows international customers to call.  In addition, rates will almost certainly differ between domestic and international callers, so in this case it is smart to choose a plan that has great rates for both.

- 5.) What is your true cost per-minute when you add in all extra fees?  The cost per minute that you will see advertised will not be the actual cost per minute.  By adding in all of the extra fees for special features, penalties, set-up fees, and monthly charges you can determine the concrete cost per minute and make your judgments based on this number.  A carrier that offers a lower cost per minute up front but has expensive and frequent fees may end up costing more than one with a higher cost per minute and fewer fees.

- 6.) What is your monthly charge?  Monthly charges are generally less than $20 for most plans, so if your charge is more you may want to consider changing carriers.  Compare set-up fees for each plan as well, as these can vary.  If your call volume is less than 20,000 minutes per month, you can likely just use your existing phone line and forgo adding an expensive dedicated line during set-up.

- 7.) Did you shop around for the best deal?  Sometimes smaller, local carriers offer better deals than more well-known companies.  Also, it may be cheaper to combine two plans, using a local carrier for local calls and a national carrier for non-local calls.  It pays to do your due diligence, so check out many options before settling.
 
- 8.) How does your per-minute charge work?  Some companies use a flat per minute rate across all calls, whereas some use a banded rate, meaning the rate is different depending on where the call is coming from. Depending on your business needs, one rate structure may be more suitable than the other.  Rates often decrease as call volume increases, so be sure your plan adjusts for volume.

- 9.) How does your vendor round each minute?  Companies that round call times to 6 seconds or 1 second will end up saving you a lot more money than companies that round to the minute.