Trying to Find a Web Site to Evaluate 800 Number Service Companies?

With the focus of even small businesses becoming more and more global, it is not surprising to discover that toll free 800 numbers are growing in popularity as a result. Because of this fact, there are also more companies available which these numbers can be purchased from. While there was once a time when only a handful of phone companies were available to purchase numbers from, this time has come and gone. Today, there are at least a few dozen companies to choose from.

This has its benefits and its disadvantages. The good news is that the competition makes it possible to find toll free numbers at lower prices. The bad news is that you have to do a great deal of research in order to get the best deal. Thankfully, there are comparison sites that you can use in order to compare 800 number service providers. Even so, you will still need to make a great deal of the comparisons yourself. Here are some things to keep in mind.

Choose a Type of Plan

There is no universal plan that is best suited to all clients. Some are more cost effective for larger businesses, while others are better for small businesses. The two options are monthly plans and pay as you go plans. A monthly plan gives you a set number of minutes to use each month. The same payment is made each month. With a pay as you go plan, there is a much smaller monthly payment, and a payment for each minute used. To decide which option makes the most sense, you will need to estimate how many minutes yo will be using.

Compare Rates

Once a type of plan has been chosen, you can then move on to compare the rates offered by each plan. The rates charged can vary quite dramatically. Contrary to popular belief, the largest providers do not always offer a better rate. In fact, since the larger providers do not specialize in 800 numbers, and because they spend a great deal more money on advertising, it is often the smaller providers who can offer the best rates.

Features

Make sure that you pay close attention to the features that are provided by each plan. There are some plans which will include the cost of features in their rate, and others that will charge an extra fee. This can make an important difference in the amount of money that you will be spending each month on a toll free number. Some features are familiar such as voicemail, call forwarding, and call waiting. Other features only apply to 800 numbers. Here are some examples:

Account codes - This makes it possible for only authorized callers to get in touch with you, rather than any general caller. An account code is like a password to contact you through the toll free number. These can be given either to customers or to employees, whatever you choose.

Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) - If you own more than one 800 number, this makes it possible for you to identify which number the caller used in order to contact you. If you are using different marketing campaigns, and are hoping to test which of them is the most successful, this is a great way to identify this information.

Call blocking - When an 800 number is used, there are some callers who will come from locations that fall outside of your service area. These calls will be more expensive for your business. This is a feature which makes it possible for you to prevent these calls from going through.

Automatic Number Identification (ANI) - This is much like a caller ID function. The primary difference is that ANI is powered by a different system. As a result, if a caller has caller ID blocking, the number will not be blocked through the use of an ANI system. Information about the phone number and the type of line will be displayed. The technology used by this system is the same technology that is used by 911 to rapidly identify a caller.


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