Billing
and Payments
Please click on a question to obtain
answers about billing and payments:
Billing and Payment Questions
1. What is a billing increment?
2. It is better to be billed in six second
increments or one minute increments?
3. Does UWC bill in six second increments?
4. Will I be billed separately for my long
distance service from my regular phone bill?
5. Can I view my long distance bill on the
Internet?
6. Can I pay my bill on the Internet?
7. How can I receive my bill from UWC?
8. What payment options are available for paying
my bill?
9. Will I still get a bill from UWC if I select
either auto-pay methods, via credit card or EFT direct
debit?
10. Will my bill show the detailed calling records
for each of the long distance calls placed and toll free
calls received?
11. Will my bill have charges only for the calls I
placed and/or received (if you have toll-free numbers), or
will there be a lot of additional fees and/or taxes also?
12. Does UWC offer account codes and will my bill
reflect divisions and totals by account code?
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Billing and Payment Questions and Answers
1. What is a billing increment?
Billing increments are the minimum block of time that a
long distance company uses in calculating the cost of each
long distance call placed by the customer. Typically,
long distance service is billed in 6 second (1/10 of a
minute) or full, one minute (60 second) increments.
For example, the following billing intervals will be used to
calculate the cost of the call:
| Actual Elapsed Time of Call |
Time Used to Bill Call
@ 1 Minute Billing Increments |
Time Used to Bill Call
@ 6 Second Billing
Increments |
Cost Savings |
| 18 seconds |
1.0 Minutes |
.3 Minutes |
60% |
| 30 Seconds |
1.0 Minutes |
.5 Minutes |
50% |
| 42 Seconds |
1.0 Minutes |
.7 Minutes |
30% |
| 60 Seconds |
1.0 Minutes |
1.0 Minutes |
0% |
| 66 Seconds |
2.0 Minutes |
1.1 Minutes |
45% |
| 72 Seconds |
2.0 Minutes |
1.2 Minutes |
40% |
| 90 Seconds |
2.0 Minutes |
1.5 Minutes |
25% |
| 126 Seconds |
3.0 Minutes |
2.1 Minutes |
30% |
| 186
Seconds |
4.0 Minutes |
3.1 Minutes |
22.5% |
As you can see, there is a significant difference in the
time charged per call when comparing the two billing
interval methods.
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2. It is better to be billed in six second
increments or one minute increments?
As can be readily seen by reviewing the above chart, in
almost all cases, a shorter billing interval will result in
significantly lower charges.
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3. Does UWC bill in six second increments?
Yes. UWC ONLY bills in six
second increments for domestic USA calls, providing our
customers with the lowest cost possible. Because of
the tariff restrictions we live with as part of our
contracts with the major long distance network, it is
necessary for us to bill all calls to Canada and all
toll-free calls at 30 second increments, and all
international and calling card calls at 1 minute increments.
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4. Will I be billed separately for my long
distance service from my regular phone bill?
Yes. It will arrive as a separate bill.
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5. Can I view my long distance bill on the
Internet?
Not at the present time. UWC is adding this
capability to our services to be provided. This
capability should be available shortly. Look for
an announcement on our "News" page when capability is
activated. Until that time, you can request that
your bill be emailed to you. You can request an
email billing at sign up (to sign up,
click here), or by
sending a request via email to UWC's Customer Care (to
send an email message,
click here).
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6. Can I pay my bill on the Intenet?
Not at the present time. UWC is adding this
capability to our services to be provided. This
capability should be available shortly. Look for
an announcement on our "News" page when capability is
activated. Once you review your bill online, a new
option will allow you to select your method of payment,
which can be immediately activated to pay your bill over
the Internet with our secured connection.
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7. How can I receive my bill from UWC?
Billing is offered with the following options:
- A paper bill, via first class mail (USPS).
- An electronic bill, via email.
Your choice of billing methods is made at the time of
sign up (to sign up, click here)
and can be changed at any time by sending a request via
email to UWC's Customer Care (to send an email message,
click here), or by calling UWC's Customer
Care, toll-free, at 1-877-202-7959.
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8. What payment options are available for paying
my bill?
You may pay your bill with any of the following
methods:
- Via personal or company check.
- Via credit card.
- Via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) direct debit
from your designated bank account.
The last two payment methods are "auto-pay" methods,
where you authorize either a credit card payment or EFT
direct debit payment from your account upon issuance of
the UWC monthly bill. Your choice of payment
methods is made at the time of sign up (to sign up,
click here) and can be
changed at any time by sending a request via email to
UWC's Customer Care (to send an email message,
click here), or by calling UWC's Customer
Care, toll-free, at 1-877-202-7959. If you have
selected your normal method of payment of your bill by
check, but want to pay a specific monthly bill, one time
using a credit card or via ETF direct debit, you can
call UWC's customer Care, toll-free, at 1-877-202-7959,
and they will assist you in making a special payment
using either of these two methods.
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9. Will I still get a bill from UWC if I select
either auto-pay methods, via credit card or EFT direct
debit?
Yes. You will still get a detailed bill from
UWC if you select a payment method via credit card or
EFT direct debit.
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10. Will my bill show the detailed calling records
for each of the long distance calls placed and toll free
calls received?
Yes. Your bill will show a detailed record of
all calls placed and all toll free calls received (if
you have toll free numbers).
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11. Will my bill have charges only for the calls I
placed and/or received (if you have toll-free numbers), or
will there be a lot of additional fees and/or taxes also?
There are government regulated taxes and fees on
every local and long distance phone service you use.
These taxes and fees are generally in the form of a
percentage of the long distance services you use, just
like paying a sales tax on the various goods and
services you purchase everyday. We are obligated
to include these charges on your bill by the government.
UWC's Customer Care representatives will answer any
questions or concerns you may have regarding any charges
contained on any UWC bill you receive, by sending
a request via email to UWC's Customer Care (to send an
email message,
click here), or by calling UWC's Customer
Care, toll-free, at 1-877-202-7959.
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12. Does UWC offer account codes and will my
bill reflect divisions and totals by account code?
Yes. We offer both verified and nonverified
account codes. You bills will reflect these
account codes by providing detailed calls and cost
summaries by each account code so used. For more
information regarding the use of account codes, please
send a request via email to UWC's Customer Care (to send
an email message,
click here), or by calling UWC's Customer
Care, toll-free, at 1-877-202-7959.
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