(From Socket Access - Fall 2008)

Four problem areas to look for on your bill.

Long-distance rates are an important component of any business's telephone bills, especially if thousands of calls are made each month. Unfortunately, many business customers do not have an accurate idea of what they are paying per-minute for their long-distance service. Four things to check include:

Monthly fees
Some plans offer a lower per-minute rate but require a monthly fee. When this fee is spread across all minutes used, the total per-minute rate can be much higher than expected.

Different types of rates
Some telephone companies offer different rates for in-state and out-of-state calls. Check what you're paying for each and how many minutes you're using in each category.

Billing increments
The increments in which long-distance calls are billed could save up to 30%. Look for six-second billing to avoid additional charges from rounding up to the next minute.

Non-mandated fees and surcharges
Some taxes and fees on long-distance are mandated by state and federal governments. Many are not, which adds unnecessary costs to your total long-distance bill.

For help in determining your true long-distance rate, contact Socket at 1-800-SOCKET-3, or fax your most recent bill to (573) 441-1050 and an account representative will contact you for a free analysis.