What Type of Telephone User Are You?

As far back as 1998, Americans spent $245 billion on phone services. The average household spends between $55-70 a month in phone charges. The majority of consumers still pay full price for long distance calls (averaging 10 cents or more a minute)with Verizon, Sprint and AT&T, long after the monopoly breakup that opened up competition.

Discount Rates outside of the "Big Three", average around 3 cents a minute these days, so smart consumers should be looking at low cost alternatives, based on what they need, and knowing where to find it.

Matching your phone service to your specific calling patterns and volume of usage is the important first step to getting your money's worth.

Low Volume Users

DESCRIPTION: Local calling mostly, couple of long distance calls per month, no cellphone, limited Internet Access, and a few calls made away from home each month.

Our Recommendation: Regular local carrier, unless long distance calls total more than $10 month. Consider using a Dialaround for long distance if you are paying more than 7 cents per minute for long distance. Since your total usage is less than $10 per month, you don't want to pay usage fees, such as monthly fees, or minimum usage charges. These charges will apply regardless of your monthly usage and wind up costing you more than the calls you made. Use a low cost calling card when making calls away from home.

Moderate Volume Users

DESCRIPTION: Two phone lines on average (one for Internet Access), Fax, Cell phone. Spends more than $15 a month on long distance. Calling Card usage and occasional International calling. Normal calling for a family, especially with teenagers or students in college or the military.

Our Recommendation: Look for discount calling plans that combine low per-minute-rate with low to modest monthly fees or charges for the lowest overall cost.

Look at discount international plans that carry no monthly fee to use, or use a international dialaround for those occasional calls overseas. Consider getting a low cost Toll Free Number for frequent calls home from students and travelers. Some plans will only charge $2 for a toll free number, which is far below what the calling card charges would be. Use an unlimited Internet Access provider so you only pay a flat monthly fee for online access rather than pay for the minutes online.

High Volume User

DESCRIPTION: Local, regional, long distance, cellular, internet access, regular international usage. DSL or better, laptops, email and fax.

Our Recommendation: Consider combining your services under one carrier. More and more companies are now offering combined Local with long distance, cellular and internet access all in one package. Often times one bill means lower rates. Power Net Global is a good example with Local, Dialaround, TollFree, Dialup and Long Distance services.

Use a Cellular service with the greatest area for local coverage as well as no roaming charges. Consider using a cellular family plan which keeps the family connected such as T-Mobile Family Plan.

DSL, Cable Modems provide faster service than 56k modems, and with DSL, you can talk on the phone and surf the web at the same time.