By Bruce Galle
Telecom Consultant
Wizard Communications
CHAPTER
4: Billing Increments, Minimum Call Lengths…
Believe
it or not, billing increments can make a big difference in your total
monthly bill.
One we
are all familiar with is one minute billing increments, which have been
around since the beginning of the telephone bill. Whether you talk for
10 seconds or 1 minute, you are billed for a full minute at the rate of
your plan.
Another
billing increment you may have heard of is "units"
which is one to avoid. A unit can be whatever the provider sets it to
be whether 1 minute or ten minutes...
The latest
billing increment to really make a difference in your monthly bill is
what is referred to as the 6-second billing increment. The average person can expect
to save on average an additional 10%-12% by selecting a 6-second billing
increment plan over a 1 minute billing plan offering the same rates.
6-second
billing increments prorate your minutes so as you are paying only for
the partial minute you may have used.
Say for
example you are located in New Jersey and were on a plan offering 3.9
cents per minute State to State. Now let's say you called an associate
in Florida and got their voice mail. Assume you left a message and had
a 15-second connection time for that particular call.
Instead
of paying 3.9 cents for this call, you would only pay 1 cent. As I am
sure, you can already realize the savings that come into play with 6-second
billing increments.
One thing
to keep an eye out for are less reputable companies claiming to offer
6-second billing increments, however start charging you for ringing time.
Once the phone on the other end begins to ring, you are being charged.
All the
long distance providers listed throughout start the billing once the party
on the other end picks up or for instance their voice mail picks up!
Minimum
call duration's also come into play when considering saving on your long
distance bills.
The most
popular billing increments are full minute, straight 6-seconds (minimum
call of six seconds) and 18/6. This means your billing increments are
6 seconds with a minimum call length of 18 seconds.
Recently,
1-second billing has arrived on the scene offering prepaid
long distance. This is something that can add savings to one's total
bill.
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