Definition
Cost per call is a marketing spend figure divided by the number of inbound calls that spend generated over the same period.
The formula
Divide spend by calls. If a mailer cost $900 and its tracking number received 30 calls, cost per call is $30. The same arithmetic applies to a month of search ads or a directory listing. The result is only as good as the count behind it, which is why each source needs its own tracking number: with one number for everything, calls cannot be divided by source.
What it leaves out
Cost per call treats every call alike. Missed calls, wrong numbers and existing clients are counted along with prospects, so a cheap-looking source can be poor value. The stricter measure is cost per call conversion, which counts only calls that meet your standard. Cost per call is a starting figure, not a verdict.
Getting the count from VereTel
The desk lists calls by tracking number and label, and you can filter by date range and by answered or missed. That gives you the count to divide into your spend. VereTel does not produce cost reports or import your ad spend, so the division is done by you. The step-by-step method is in measuring cost per call, and the ROI calculator does the arithmetic.