EmailAccording to reviews, call quality and service are uniformly good across all vendors, so you can be comfortable going with the least expensive plan that fits your needs. Cheaper, lesser-known companies buy their long-distance service wholesale from the telecom giants, so the quality of service is generally the same no matter what.
Here's what the experts say to consider when choosing a long-distance carrier:
- Check the fine print for a monthly fee or minimum-usage charge. For most callers, a monthly fee is a completely unnecessary expense. Since long-distance rates decrease as competition grows, some companies add a monthly fee to offset these lower charges. Most companies call this charge a "recovery fee." The only federally mandated charge is federal tax. The USF (Universal Service Fund) charge is required of long-distance companies, but the company is under no obligation to pass the fee to consumers (most do anyway). Any additional charges on your bill (other than calls) are assessed by the long-distance company, no matter what phrasing they use.
- Time increments can have a big impact on your bill. Some companies (such as AT&T and Pioneer) bill in one-minute increments; if your call lasts one minute and one second, you're charged for two minutes. This unused time can add up, especially if you make many short long-distance calls. Programs that bill at six-second increments more accurately reflect your actual calling time. Editors of Phonedog.com say the savings are 12 percent to 14 percent when using a six-second billing increment versus a full-minute plan.
- Inbound toll-free service is a nice option. This can be a great way to avoid accepting charges for collect calls. Many long-distance providers now offer residential 1-800 numbers, usually with the same rates as outbound long-distance calling. There's usually a monthly charge of about $3 for this service, though providers such as 3U or Pioneer offer it for $1, and ECG offers it for free.
- The USF (Universal Service Fund) is a mandatory fee imposed by the Federal Communications Commission to supplement phone service for low-income families, schools, roads, libraries and health care. Phone-service providers are under no obligation to pass the fee to consumers, but most do anyway. In the past, companies used this as a license to charge pretty much whatever fees they liked, attributing them to USF and pocketing the difference. That has changed. The FCC now mandates that all companies charge the same fixed amount, which is announced and changed quarterly, and pay the full amount to the FCC. The current USF fee can be found on the FCC website (http://www.fcc.gov).
- Bear in mind that this report has no relevance to in-state calls. If a considerable portion of the charges on your monthly bill comes from long-distance calls made within your state (e.g. from Los Angeles to San Francisco), you'll have to do some of your own research to find the best rates. Since in-state rates vary greatly from state to state and between carriers, it's impossible to make recommendations for the general consumer. SaveOnPhone.com's rate calculator is a good resource for checking the in-state rates of various long-distance providers. In addition, Phonedog.com's rate-plan comparison charts have the option to list providers by the lowest in-state rate for any given state.