Tips for Evaluating Toll Free Carriers

When choosing a carrier for your toll free number there are several things to consider. We've put together some points for you to review that will help you make an informed decision about who to choose as your toll free carrier.

Do you expect that most of your toll free calls will come from within your state or from outside your state?

If you're using your toll free number mostly instate be sure to research the instate rates. They are often higher than the interstate rates. If you're located in a state with high instate rates and plan to use your toll free number primarily within your state, look for a toll free carrier that offers a flat rate for both in and out of state. Kall8, for example, has a flat rate of 6.9¢ per minute for both in and out of state calls, and RingCentral does not charge a different rate for instate verses state-to-state calls.

Do you expect to get many toll free calls from payphones?

The FCC ruled in 1997 that pay phone owners deserved to be compensated for callers using their phones to make toll free calls. The resulting per call charge has been passed onto the 800 number carriers, who then pass it on to the owner of the 800 number receiving the call. The amount the carrier charges the customer for this fee varies, so it's a good idea to know what the rate will be. It is possible to have payphone calls blocked, so if you don't expect your business calls are likely to be from payphones, you may want to contact your toll free carrier and have them block calls from payphones.

Do you think you need to go with a "name brand" carrier?

Think again. Do not assume that well-known companies are necessarily the best choice. Well known providers are usually more expensive than smaller resellers and their customer service may not measure up to that of the smaller guys. At EasyCall we only represent the smaller resellers because they are offering the best rates and in our opinion, the best customer service. Americom for example has 24 hr. toll free customer service on weekdays and 12 hrs on weekends. Not many companies can compete with that!

Do you expect your calls to be short in duration, i.e. less than 6 minutes on average?

If you think most of your calls are going to be 6 minutes or less, look for a toll free plan that bills in the smallest increments possible. Six second incremental billing instead of full minute rounding can save you about 10% on your overall toll free bill. If you believe most of your calls will be of a longer duration, the billing increment may not be as important, particularly if you can get a lower per minute rate by going to full minute billing. Americom bills in 6 second increments, Kall8 and RingCentral round to the next full minute.

How much usage do you expect on your toll free number each month?

Be careful about agreeing to minimum monthly volume requirements. You may find yourself being penalized if you fail to meet the monthly minimum. Some carriers waive their low usage fee if you choose credit card billing.

Watch out for term agreements.

Term agreements lock you in to one rate for the agreed upon term; one to three years. In recent years long distance rates have moved in only one direction - down. You would not want to lock yourself in to a particular rate now and be stuck there when rates drop even lower. (None of our carriers require you to sign a term agreement.)

What about monthly fees?

Most carriers will charge you a monthly fee just to have the toll free number, even if you never use it. Know what the fees are and look for the lowest fees. Americom is offering stand alone toll free service with a monthly fee of just $1, no monthly minimum, 6 second billing for just 3.9¢ per minute.

Billing Options - Are you comfortable with credit card billing?

Kall8 and RingCentral only bill to a credit card. Americom will mail you a statement or you can use autopay with your credit card. We find credit card billing to be a great convenience to our business and we can view our statements on-line and print them any time we want, so credit card billing is a great option for us.

Are there any special features you need tied to your toll free number?

Do you need voicemail, fax, or virtual PBX capability? Do you need the capability to redirect the ring-to number on-the-fly? Maybe you need the toll free number to ring to different geographical regions depending on where the call originates. These features, and many more are available with Kall8 and RingCentral but not with PNG, Americom, or TTI National.

Will you be receiving many calls from Alaska or Hawaii?

Just about all carriers charge outragous rates for calls coming in from Alaska and Hawaii. Accu800 is the only carrier we can recommend for these kind of in-bound calls as their Alaska and Hawaii rates are the same as other states. This product is a stand alone toll free service available from within an AccuConference conference calling account. You don't need to use the conference calling portion of your account to have the toll free service.