Deciding which company will provide your local toll and long distance service can make a big difference on monthly telephone bills. The following set of guidelines assists consumers in deciding which provider to select for their local toll and/or long distance service to decrease their monthly bills for telephone service.

11 Tips for Making the Switch!

1) One minute versus six second billing increments
Most of the big long distance providers and local phone companies providing local long distance calls, will bill in one minute increments, which means that if a call lasts for one minute and one second, it will be charged as a two minute call. This will add up over time and cost more money than it needs to. This fact plus higher rates means paying more for long distance and local toll calls. There are plans available that will round up to the next six- second increment, which will save money in the long run.

Look for local toll and long distance providers that offer six-second billing increments.

2) Where are calls placed most often?
Knowing the difference between local toll, in-state and state-to-state calls can also save a bundle. Some long distance plans offer great state-to-state rates, but may charge higher rates for local toll calls or calls within California. Other providers will have lower rates for calls within the state of California, but their state-to-state rates may not be so great. Such providers may be a good choice for providing local toll service, but may not be a godd selection as a long distance provider. Knowing the destination of call is important for this reason and can be determined by having a consumer look at their most recent phone bill to determine where their calls are terminating most often.

Looking at the most common locations called such as in-state or state-to-state, can help determine the provider to select.

WARNING: The rates quoted by many providers do not include calls to Hawaii and Alaska. Make sure these rates are confirmed because they will be different than the state-to-state rate quoted.

3) Local-Long Distance calls
If a call is made to a number based at a switching station that is more than 13 miles away, it will be billed as a "local long distance" or IntraLata call. The local phone company will always bill for these calls unless the consumer expressly changes their provider for local toll calls. A long distance company with competitive in-state rates can often save quite a bit of money on these calls. Verify the rates and billing increment charged by the local phone carrier for these calls, and compare them to those of long distance carriers.

4) Switching fees
Local phone companies will charge a one-time switching fee when the long distance and/or local toll carrier are changed. However, most of the competitive long distance providers will credit the amount of your local phone company’s switching fee in long distance service as an incentive for switching. Ask the long distance company if they credit accounts for this charge for switching to their company and what the procedure is to have this happen.

5) Monthly fees
If a long distance carrier charges a recurring monthly fee to be a customer, they will oftentimes have higher rates than more competitive carriers who do not have monthly fees.

5) Cost per Minute Rule of Thumb
Consumers can get in-state and state-to-state calls at no more than 5¢ per minute, with six-second billing increments and no monthly fees. The online resources listed under Tab 10 can assist consumers in finding long distance providers who offer competitive rates, billing increments, and no monthly fees.

6) How to check the designated long distance provider
"Slamming" used to be a popular occurrence and describes a situation where a customer’s long distance or local toll provider was changed without consent of the account holder. Now that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) have been investigating and issue fines to companies who propagate this crime, its prevalence has decreased markedly. However, if a customer wants to verify who their long distance carrier is, there is a simple, toll-free number they can dial to find out. By dialing 700-555-4141 from a telephone, a recording of the name of the company who is providing long distance service will be played. One thing to keep in mind: Some of the cheaper long distance providers may be reselling service through another carrier who actually owns the lines, much like Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECS) resell services to their competitors. Verify which company’s lines are used for service with the long distance carrier. If the name of an unknown carrier is announced, either the account is billed by a reseller for the carrier on the announcement, the account has been slammed, or the account has not been transferred to a newly-designated long distance provider and enough time has not transpired for the switch to take effect. If the latter is the case, the customer can continue to retry the 700 number test and once the name of the newly designated long distance is announced, they can contact their previous long distance provider and cancel service.

Use the 700 number test to verify if an account has been Slammed or if a switch to another provider has taken effect.

7) USF (Universal Service Fund) Fees
For a description of this fee, click here. All long distance providers charge the USF fee as a percentage of the total monthly long distance charges. Therefore, a long distance account with a monthly fee, higher rates and one minute billing increments will incur a higher USF fee in general, which, in the current long distance market, is spanning from approximately 6.5% up to 12%. Usually, those companies with monthly fees, higher rates and one minute billing increments, will also charge a higher end USF fee. In general, selecting a company with a lower USF fee will not only save money on the monthly phone bill, it may indicate a long distance provider that has additional monetary benefits.

A lower percentage USF fee will reduce a monthly phone bill, especially when billed by a long distance carrier that does not have recurring monthly charges, higher rates and one minute billing increments.

8) Third Party Verification Process
When a consumer decides to switch their long distance or local toll service, they will be required to go through the Third Party Verification Process. This service is provided by an outside agency that will record the customer's actual consent to have their service switched. The customer will be asked their phone number, social security number for verification purposes, and their express consent to have their service switched to another provider. In this manner, the telephone company to which they are switching can provide evidence that the customer gave their permission to switch if there are allegations of slamming. In addition, the Third Party Verification Process impedes those who are not listed on the account from changing the providers.

9) Other ways of making long distance and local toll calls
For those who do not make many long distance calls or who have found a pre-paid calling card or prepaid service for long distance, there may not be a need to have a designated local toll and/or long distance provider. Instead, such consumers can inform their local phone company that they do not wish to have a designated provider for those calls. If a customer does this, firstly, they will be assessed a switching fee for changing their service from a provider to not having one. Secondly, their Network Access Charge (see Tab 3) may be increased. However, if an account is being billed a recurring monthly fee by a long distance provider, even though the customer is not making calls consistently, switching the account to not having a provider can save money over the long run.

Such customers instead can take advantage of pre-paid calling cards or a dial around carrier to place calls that would normally incur a toll charge whether local long distance or long distance. Dial around companies, or 10-10 numbers, allow a phone customer to dial telephone numbers that will be a toll charge without having a designated long distance carrier. They also allow the consumer to take advantage of lower rates that the dial around carrier may charge for in-state, state-to-state, or International calls compared to their designated long distance provider by "dialing around" that provider. In essence, using a 10-10 number code allows a customer to access that companies rates for the specific call only. The seven-digit number dialed before the call, indicates which carrier to designate for that specific call only and charges for the call will appear on the local phone bill. Because a dial around carrier is not a designated provider for the phone account, the company has no obligation to notice the customer if they change their rates or tariffs. There are online websites that compare rates of calling card companies and 10-10 dial around numbers.

Pre-paid calling cards work in a similar manner in that the customer will dial an access code phone number or toll-free number to use the pre-paid card. These are purchased before the call is made and minutes are deducted from the total on the card at the rate the card advertises. Sometimes a pre-paid phone card can have additional charges per call or for using it from a payphone.

10) Establishing, Moving & Canceling Long Distance Service
If a consumer, when they set up their local phone account, tells the local phone company that they would like a specific long distance provider for local toll &/or long distance service, they may end up on the calling plan with the highest rates for those calls. This is because many long distance carriers have more than one plan and the local phone company does not have the rates for each of them. At this point, the customer would be placed on a Casual Dialing Plan. Therefore, the customer should also contact the long distance company that they would like for service to select a specific plan to be put on. Some local phone companies will not allocate a long distance &/or local toll provider unless the customer works through that provider directly.

When a customer moves to a new address, a similar situation can occur where they indicate to their same local phone company that they would like to have the same local toll and long distance provider, but instead of being on the same calling plan, they are placed on the Casual Dialing Plan. The consumer will not know this until they receive their first bill.

Because a long distance company can also provide local toll service, problems can occur when a consumer cancels their long distance service, but fails to mention that they would like their local toll service cancelled, as well. When a consumer cancels their long distance service with a provider, sometimes the company will take them off of the specific rate plan they had been on and places them on a Casual Dialing Plan with much higher rates for the local toll service that was not expressly cancelled.

In general, if a customer is establishing, moving or canceling local toll and long distance service with a provider, they should contact both the local phone company and the long distance carrier to make sure the transition goes smoothly, and they are placed on or removed from the appropriate calling plan. In addition, the consumer should be very clear about whether they are initiating or canceling local toll &/or long distance service.

11) Paying the Long Distance Bill
Some of the larger long distance companies are now charging a Statement Fee or Single Bill Fee for placing their charges on the local phone bill. This is a charge to the customer for the benefit of a single bill for local and long distance service allowing the customer to pay for both services at one time. This is usually referred to as Consolidated Billing. Not all long distance carriers who place their charges on the customer’s local phone bill charge this Statement Fee—for instance, dial around carriers; therefore, it pays for those consumers who prefer to pay one bill instead of two, to shop around for a carrier that does not charge this fee. However, if long distance charges are included on the local phone bill, a customer’s account may be disconnected for not paying the long distance portion. This situation can occur when there is a dispute over long distance charges that are not properly communicated to the local phone company.

In other words, at times it can be beneficial to have Separate Billing, where the long distance charges are billed separately from the local phone charges. If a customer has a long distance carrier who charges a statement fee, one way to avoid this charge is to contact the long distance provider and ask for separate billing. However, if a consumers opts to be billed separately for long distance charges, they will not be able to pay their long distance bills at their local phone company’s payment offices.

In addition to using the postal service to receive and pay phone bills, many phone carriers offer online payment or automatic payment options. Online payment allows the consumer to go to the phone provider’s website to review their monthly statement and make a payment. Automatic payment allows the customer to receive their statement either in the mail, online, or by email for review before the total balance is deducted directly from his or her bank account. Lastly, local phone providers will have payment offices were customers can go directly to pay their telephone bill. This is not an option for long distance charges billed separately from the local phone bill.

Long Distance Rate Comparison
UCAN is currently working on putting together a long distance rate comparison. In the meantime, see ABTolls for rate information.