Posted by TexasTJ on April 05, 2000 at 11:44:16:
In Reply to: Saving $ on biz phone lines... sm posted by Nancy on April 04, 2000 at 21:11:43:
I'd suggest:
1) Switching the line you currently use for business from residential to business use. That way customers don't have to get used to a new #. Your phone company should do this for you. (They won't however switch a business line to residential.)
- OR -
if the main reason for switching to a business line is to be able to advertise in the yellow pages - you may not need to. I've know numerous folks who have a listing in the yellow pages using a residential line. If I'd known this before getting a business line I can only imagine how much money I'd saved in the past 10+ years! (However, I'm not certain what the phone company could do if they ever decided to penalize someone for using a residential phone for business.)
2) Adding another residential line to use for modem usage/outgoing calls.
3) Shop your long distance charges. And long distance charges could possibly be split into two separate carriers - one for in-state long distance and another for state-to-state long distance. I just realized I was being overcharged for long distance services by AT&T. Had a call last month for 87 minutes @ $.42/minute! Geeeeeeesh! They switched me to $.09/minute. I'll probably still shop for another carrier that will get me an even better deal, but this will get me by for now.
On at least two of my residential lines I've changed them to NO LONG DISTANCE. This is because most carriers are starting to charge a minimum fee each month to have the availability of their services. And, since I have other phone lines available should I need to call long distance I can save this extra fee. WARNING: There will be a $5.00 fee for changing your carrier - even if it is to change to NO CARRIER.
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Always ask (on all the above) - is there a better deal you can give me than this?
Also, I plan to shop for no-name carrier for my phone service. I was talking with a neighbor who switched to someone other than Ma Bell/GTE and he's saving $20/month. With me currently having five phone lines - this could add up (although I don't expect to save $20/month on each line).