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Thinking About an 800 Number? You Need Information First!
Ask any home office entrepreneur to identify the most important person in his/her business. Chances are excellent the common response will be, "the customer!" The most successful businesspeople are those who continually seek ways to improve communications between themselves and customers. The 800 number, which allows your customer or prospect to call you at your cost, gives an important boost to small business. Used in conjunction with print advertising, the 800 number encourages a prospect to pick up the phone and call "now!" Once the exclusive province of large companies, the 800 number was also known as "IN-WATS" [INbound Wide Area Telephone Service]. Advances in technology, along with the introduction of competition, caused prices for communications services to plummet. Thus, today's home based entrepreneur can afford a wide array of telecommunications options. If you plan to market your products or services nationwide, you would be wise to consider 800 service. Of course, along with the proliferation of service providers across the country comes a somewhat bewildering array of choices and decisions. Most of these will affect your bottom line, so you'll need to employ a question-based screening process as you check them out. You should consider how the responses meet your business needs and your budget-and how your choices would work with existing service and equipment. This entire field is in a state of constant change. Companies are continually starting up, merging, and closing. They advertise in various places, and some have high visibility, while others do not. Some rely upon word of mouth, while others are multi-level marketing organizations, with hordes of aggressive representatives. Some of the people who talk with you work for the service pro vider, others just work for the marketing organization. What ever arrange ment you finally select, be sure your service and your responsibilities are provided to you in writing. Important Factors When Shopping For 800 Service 1) Who is the carrier (service provider)? How long have they been in business? Call the carrier and check this out for yourself. 2) Do they want your outbound service as a condition of providing 800 (in bound) service? Some don't require it, but may give you a terrific rate if you switch. Com pare your total costs - your bottom line is always the final determinant. 3) How do their interstate/intrastate rates compare with your usage? This may be an important factor for your business.
The copyright of the article Guest Article: Thinking About an 800 Number? in Work-at-Home Parents is owned by Bonny Albo. Permission to republish Guest Article: Thinking About an 800 Number? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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