10-10-220: The Real Cost of Dialing 10-10-220
Service Analyzed: 10-10-220 (dial-around)
Benchmarked Against: CogniState (1+ long distance)
Looking at: State to state calls
Conclusion: CogniState offers much lower cost
10-10-220, a dial-around offer from Telecom*USA (the company behind 10-10-987 and 10-10-321) used to be advertised heavily in television spots across the United States. 10-10-220 promised a flat rate of 99 cents for all calls up to 20 minutes, plus 7 cents per minute after that. One important question to consider though:
"What if I only make a short call, or if I get an answering machine?"
Short answer: You will still pay 99 cents, even for a 1 second call!
Now, 10-10-220 seem to have scaled back advertising. Unfortunately (but not unexpected, as we have seen the same happen with 10-10-321, and likely will see it in the future with 10-10-987) once consumers got used to dialing the code, 10-10-220 quietly started to raise rates.
As of November 1, 2003 the new (and no longer heavily advertised) rate for 10-10-220 is 99 cents for all calls up to 15 minutes, and 15 cents per minute after that. Most international rates have also increased significantly.
As shown in the table below, regardless of your call length, 10-10-220 no longer offers any particularly good per minute rates, as the best you can possibly achieve with current 10-10-220 rates is a per minute rate of 6.6 cent, significantly more than flat rates available from a number of regular long distance carriers - and with a regular long distance carrier there will be no extra "10-10 numbers" to dial.
We DO NOT use or recommend any TeleCom USA services.
| Call Length: |
Call Cost: |
Cost/Minute: |
| 1 minute |
$0.99 |
99¢ |
| 5 minutes |
$0.99 |
19.8¢ |
| 15 minutes |
$0.99 |
6.6¢ |
| 30 minutes |
$3.24 |
10.8¢ |
| 1 hour |
$7.74 |
12.9¢ |
| 2 hours |
$16.74 |
14¢ |
| 4 hours |
$34.74 |
14.5¢ |
| 8 hours |
$70.74 |
14.7¢ |
When examining the real cost of 10-10-220 we chose the CogniState long distance service as a benchmark. With a state-to-state rate of 3.45 cents per minute, six second billing increments (10-10-220 bills in full minutes only after first 15 minutes), and no monthly fee, we felt CogniState would be an excellent measuring stick for whether or not 10-10-220 will actually save you money.
So, the big question: At what call lengths will it be cheaper to dial 10-10-220 than using CogniState?
The answer: CogniState will always be cheaper than 10-10-220 for domestic state-to state calls, with a minimum saving of 47%. (If CogniState is not available in your area, CogniPhone will be a good solution at 3.89 cent/minute, which will also always be cheaper than dialing 10-10-220.)
Please refer to the following table to see how CogniState compares to 10-10-220 at different call lengths.
| Call Length: |
10-10-220: |
CogniState: |
With CogniState: |
| 1 minute |
$0.99 |
$0.04 |
Save 96% ($0.95) |
| 5 minutes |
$0.99 |
$0.18 |
Save 82% ($0.81) |
| 15 minutes |
$0.99 |
$0.52 |
Save 47% ($0.47) |
| 30 minutes |
$3.24 |
$1.04 |
Save 68% ($2.20) |
| 1 hour |
$7.74 |
$2.07 |
Save 73% ($5.67) |
| 2 hours |
$16.74 |
$4.14 |
Save 75% ($12.60) |
Quick Links:
Cogni State (3.45¢ - low in-state rates)
Cogni World (3.49¢ - low international rates)
Cogni Phone (3.89¢ - available in Tier B and Tier C areas)
10-10-220 overview
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