The VoIP billing increment says how a call's duration is rounded before it is charged. It is written as two numbers: the minimum first block and the following blocks, both in seconds. Two routes with the same rate per minute can cost very different amounts because of it.
| Increment | How it is billed |
|---|---|
| 1/1 | Per second from the first second |
| 6/6 | Blocks of 6 seconds |
| 30/6 | First 30 seconds, then blocks of 6 seconds |
| 30/30 | Blocks of 30 seconds |
| 60/60 | Whole minutes |
| 60/1 | First minute, then per second |
A worked example
A call lasting 41 seconds at 0.10 USD per minute costs 0.0683 USD on 1/1 billing, 0.07 USD on 6/6, and 0.10 USD on 60/60. On short call center traffic the difference adds up quickly: the shorter your average call, the more a large increment costs.
What to compare
Always compare offers on the same increment, or convert them to an effective rate using your own average call duration. Wholesale routes are most often quoted 1/1; some destinations are sold 60/60 by default.
When you request a route on VoIPMatcher, add the increment you need next to your target rate. Request a route.
Frequently asked questions
What does 60/60 billing mean?
60/60 billing means the first block is 60 seconds and every following block is also 60 seconds, so every call is rounded up to whole minutes. A 61-second call is billed as two minutes. Some destinations are sold this way by default, and it costs the most on traffic with many short calls.
What is 6/6 billing in VoIP?
With 6/6 billing, calls are charged in blocks of 6 seconds from the start, so a 41-second call is billed as 42 seconds. It sits between per second and per minute billing. At the same rate per minute, 6/6 costs a little more than 1/1 and much less than 60/60 on short calls.
Is per second billing the same as 1/1?
Yes. 1/1 billing charges the first second and every following second, so the call is billed for its exact duration. Most wholesale VoIP routes are quoted on 1/1. A variant, 60/1, charges a full first minute and then per second, which penalises calls shorter than one minute.
How do I calculate the effective rate per minute?
Take your real average call duration, round it up with the route's increment, and multiply the billed time by the rate per minute. Divide the result by the actual duration to get the effective rate. Doing this for each offer shows which one is cheapest for your traffic, not for a theoretical one-minute call.
Need a route?
Send the destination, route type and target rate. We reply with what we can deliver.