Ask any home office entrepreneur to identify the most important person in his/her business. Chances are excellent the common response will be, “the customer!” The most successful businesspeople are those who continually seek ways to improve communications between themselves and customers. The 800 number, which allows your customer or prospect to call you at your cost, gives an important boost to small business. Used in conjunction with print advertising, the 800 number encourages a prospect to pick up the phone and call “now!”

Once the exclusive province of large companies, the 800 number was also known as “IN-WATS” [INbound Wide Area Telephone Service]. Advances in technology, along with the introduction of competition, caused prices for communications services to plummet. Thus, today’s home based entrepreneur can afford a wide array of telecommunications options. If you plan to market your products or services nationwide, you would be wise to consider 800 service.

Of course, along with the proliferation of service providers across the country comes a somewhat bewildering array of choices and decisions. Most of these will affect your bottom line, so you’ll need to employ a question-based screening process as you check them out. You should consider how the responses meet your business needs and your budget-and how your choices would work with existing service and equipment.

This entire field is in a state of constant change. Companies are continually starting up, merging, and closing. They advertise in various places, and some have high visibility, while others do not. Some rely upon word of mouth, while others are multi-level marketing organizations, with hordes of aggressive representatives. Some of the people who talk with you work for the service pro vider, others just work for the marketing organization. What ever arrange ment you finally select, be sure your service and your responsibilities are provided to you in writing.

Important Factors When Shopping For 800 Service

1) Who is the carrier (service provider)? How long have they been in business? Call the carrier and check this out for yourself.

2) Do they want your outbound service as a condition of providing 800 (in bound) service? Some don’t require it, but may give you a terrific rate if you switch. Com pare your total costs — your bottom line is always the final determinant.

3) How do their interstate/intrastate rates compare with your usage? This may be an important factor for your business.

4) What, if any, one time charges will be imposed upon initiation of service?

5) Are there any monthly or periodic fees of any sort? As with one time charges, they use a wide variety of euphemisms, but the customer still pays. Look out for “billing”, “account maintenance”, “tracking”, “line maintenance”, and other slick “fees” language.

6) How much is the per minute charge? Important, but in conjunction with other considerations. Read on.

7) How many seconds increment? A company which charges you 12 cents per minute and bills in one minute increments, will charge you 24 cents for a call that lasted more than one minute but less then two. One which bills in six second increments would bill you 1.2 cents per increment.

8) Is there any minimum number of billing seconds per call? If your company bills in six second increments, and has an 18 second minimum at 12 cents per minute, then you’ll pay at least 3.6 cents for each call. Explan ation: { 60 seconds = 12 cents; 6 seconds = 1.2 cents.}

9) Is there a minimum monthly volume required? Some companies may impose a fee if your volume does not meet a minimum. However, even with a fee, some will be less expensive than others.

10) Are calling cards provided? If you use these, investigate conditions and charges.

11) Who owns the 800 number? If the carrier goes out of business — or if you decide to change carriers — can you keep the 800 number?

12) Is the service on a contract or month to month basis? Be wary of contracts.

13) Can the carrier provide both 800 and 888 numbers? Both are toll-free, but each has its advantages and disadvantages:

The 800 number is widely recognized as being a free call. However, the demand for 800 service has been so heavy that old (e.g. discontinued) 800 numbers are being recycled. The new owners are thus subject to the possibility of wrong number calls, for which they are charged by their carriers. [Overwhelmingly, these are not significant.] Any request for a special number - to spell a company’s name or slogan, for example - is likely to be denied.

The 888 number is quite new, and generally little-known. There has recently been a spate of telephone scams whereby the caller unknowingly pays long distance rates. Many people are suspicious of anything other than the 800 number itself. However, because they are relatively new, wrong numbers are unlikely. Also, you should have little difficulty filling a special request. You would do well, however, to add the words, “toll free” to your advertising.

The typical home based business has a tiny communications budget. The simplest — and most economical arrangement — would be to have the 800 number come through your regular phone line and ring on your existing equipment. To distinguish personal calls from your incoming 800 calls, ask your local phone company to arrange custom ringing. In most areas you can arrange for up to four very different custom rings, thus using the same equipment for four different purposes — excellent for the typical home based business!

/<