Traditional long distance service is accomplished simply by dialing "1" plus the Area Code and the seven digit phone number of the desired party. Customers connecting to the network via switched access (through local phone company lines) will be charged at the higher “switched” origination rates. The biggest way to reduce your cost per minute is to move from switched to Dedicated Long Distance Service (bypassing the local phone company access fees and origination charges).

Switched Long Distance Service is provided in two categories: Interlata and Intralata. Customers may choose different carriers for their intralata and interlata carrier if they are switched, but with Dedicated Long Distance Service all of the calls go to one carrier and you get discounted dedicated rates.

The more granular your rate structure typically the lower your average rate per minute becomes as your calling pricing becomes more closely related to the phone companies actual cost of providing the service. If your calls are simply broken down into In State and Interstate calling or a flat rate then the phone companies have to charge you enough to cover the high cost of terminating calls into rural and independent phone companies even though most customers have little to no calling to these areas. When you move to a Lata Based, OCN, or NPA-NXX based plan your cost for calling metro areas is greatly reduced (usually to sub penny rates) and the cost of terminating to rural and independent companies are higher. With normal calling patterns on these types of rate plans customers will usually be able to cut their phone bills almost in half.

Dedicated Long Distance Service is available using VoIP (SIP Trunks), T1 or DS3 access circuits. If you have enough traffic to support a full T1 or more of calling then you are usually better off using Dedicated T1 circuits then buying T1 Internet service and then using that connection for VoIP because there are no port fees or expensive equipment to buy. Also standard dedicated T1 services offer higher call quality than VoIP. These dedicated circuits are installed at the customer location and terminate at the nearest carrier's point of presence (POP).