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Cellular Phone Forum / General / General Topics / August 2004Using calling cards on landline w/o LD service
This is a little off topic. I am considering having my long distance service cut off on my home phone (wired phone). I probably make one long distance call per month, and am paying a premium to have LD service that I really do not use. However, I do need to be able to make a LD call in an emergency, since I do have out of town relatives. My question is CAN I USE A CALLING CARD, if I do not have LD service? In other words, can I call their 800 number and place my call? Heck, one 60 minute calling card that I can buy for $7, will last me a whole year. Right now I am spending nearly $15 a month for LD service that I never use, because there is a minimu, service charge, whether I use it or not. I figured it out, and I would save over $150 a year. Thanks for all replies. Frank >My question is CAN I USE A CALLING CARD, if I do not have LD service? As long as there is an 800 number to access the calling cards center. 800 numbers are billed to the owner of the 800 number and not to the caller. -- John S. e-mail responses to - john at kiana dot net >My question is CAN I USE A CALLING CARD, if I do not have LD service? >In other words, can I call their 800 number and place my call? >Heck, one 60 minute calling card that I can buy for $7, will last me a >whole year. Right now I am spending nearly $15 a month for LD service >that I never use, because there is a minimu, service charge, whether I >use it or not. I figured it out, and I would save over $150 a year. Yes, you can do this. Realize though that your telco can charge you a monthly fee to not have any long distance provider! You should also realize that there are lots of alternatives of long distance companies that will not charge you any monthly fee and still give you domestic rates of less than 5 cents a minute and some that even charge in fractions of a minute rather than charging in full minute increments. I recommend that you go to http://abtolls.com and compare rates of different carriers. There aren't many that don't charge anything but there are a few if you look. The other alternative is to get rid of all long distance and use calling cards as you have thought of doing. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >Yes, you can do this. Realize though that your telco can charge you a >monthly fee to not have any long distance provider! Not anyplace in the USA. The USA has LD choice and one of the choices that we have is NO Long Distance Carrier. As suggested however there are alternative LD companies. Typically called 10-10 companies. This link will allow you to compare rates, but be sure that you read all the information on each carriers page. A rate of 1¢ a minute isn't really that if there is also a 50¢ set up fee or maybe a $5 a day charge for each DAY that the service is charged. Just be sure to read the fine print. I still recommend a calling card. However - the same rules as I mentioned above for 10-10 companies apply. -- John S. e-mail responses to - john at kiana dot net > >Yes, you can do this. Realize though that your telco can charge you a > >monthly fee to not have any long distance provider! > > Not anyplace in the USA. The USA has LD choice and one of the choices that we > have is NO Long Distance Carrier. Are you sure? My wireline carrier threatened me w/ a $5/month fee if I didn't select an LD carrier. This was a business line, however- businesses don't always get the same consumer protectionisms as individuals. I ended up selecting the carrier itself as my LD provider to avoid the fee (which, I'm sure, was the point of having the fee!) > As suggested however there are alternative LD companies. Typically called 10-10 > companies. > I still recommend a calling card. As do I- I'm currently using OneSuite.com. You dial a local access number then are prompted for the number you want to call. They have decent domestic LD rates (2.5 cents/min, no connection fees) and excellent int'l rates. For ease of us, you can store 50 frequently dialed numbers online with them allowing you to dial them with two digits. Also you can call from up to three phone numbers of your choice without using pin codes. >>>Yes, you can do this. Realize though that your telco can charge you a >>>monthly fee to not have any long distance provider! [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > businesses don't always get the same consumer protectionisms as > individuals. I think residential lines are charged a buck or two per month if you don't select a long distance carrier, also. Aren't telcos wonderful?  SignatureJustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/ Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED) Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids. > >>>Yes, you can do this. Realize though that your telco can charge you a > >>>monthly fee to not have any long distance provider! [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > I think residential lines are charged a buck or two per month if you don't > select a long distance carrier, also. Aren't telcos wonderful? My phone costs, in the SF area of California, would be the same with or without an LD provider chosen. All taxes and and regulatory fees are collected by the local carrier. The only way to save a little, is by picking (if you can still find one) a no monthly fee LD carrier. If someone should accidently make a direct dialed, long distance call, from a line with no LD carrier, they may get hit with extremely expensive, "casual dialing" rates. That means the call is carried by some default LD carrier, without having registered as a customer. - David >My phone costs, in the SF area of California, would be the same with >or without an LD provider chosen. I think you'd better check that out again with SBC. The cost of having a LD carrier vs. no carrier are different. >If someone should accidently make a direct dialed, long distance call, >from a line with no LD carrier, they may get hit with extremely >expensive, "casual dialing" rates. That means the call is carried by >some default LD carrier, without having registered as a customer. But you can still opt for *no* LD carrier. If you don't have an LD carrier chosen as your subscribed LD carrier all you'll get when you dial 1+ or 0 is a recording that your call cannot be completed. It does not shut off "dial around" so called 10-10 numbers. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >But you can still opt for *no* LD carrier. If you don't have an LD >carrier chosen as your subscribed LD carrier all you'll get when you >dial 1+ or 0 is a recording that your call cannot be completed. Just a nit, in the SF Bay area, and most other areas, you can dial all landline calls as 1+. If you don't have a default LD carrier, 1+ calls which happen to be long distance will get rejected, but local calls will be completed normally. With all the area code splits, I've just gotten in the habit of dialing ALL calls as 1+. >I think residential lines are charged a buck or two per month if you don't >select a long distance carrier, also. Aren't telcos wonderful? My phone company (Sprint) doesn't charge me for not selecting a LD compnay. -- John S. e-mail responses to - john at kiana dot net |
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