Phone Service Tip

[Pompal 09.]

Hi. I recently made a big money-saving change for my office phone bill, and wanted to pass along the information.

First, a quick history. When I started my massage practice, my colleagues told me I had to get a business phone number, since my office is in a commercial location. This always bothered me, because business phone service is literally twice as much as residential service. Since I'm a sole practitioner, I don't need any fancy business phone perks. I just want a land line to make & receive phone calls. It always bothered me to pay so much for such a simple service.

Recently, I decided to call the phone company & ask them if I could switch to a residential line. Turns out the answer was "Yes!" I don't know why it took me so long to ask. I could have been paying 50% less for years! What inspired me to switch was a decision to add DSL to my office, and I couldn't believe how much they charged businesses for basic DSL service (3 times what they charge residential customers).

When I switched, I also had to switch phone numbers. That was the only catch. It wasn't a big deal for me, since I print my own marketing materials in small batches. I was also able to put a free recording on the old number, letting callers know the number had changed. Lastly, my schedule stays full with a core group of regular clients, and they were easy to notify of the switch.

I don't know if this is allowed everywhere, but if you're paying high business phone rates, and are a small practice that doesn't need business phone service, call your phone company & ask if you can downgrade to residential.

 

[teecrush]

Good tip, another idea is to look for those small independent phone services. My office service is through Integra Telecom, which saved me a lot of money compared to the Big Nasty Phone Company Whose Name Rhymes With Horizon. I have a small business phone + DSL package for about the same or a touch less than I would pay for home service.