The present invention is directed to a method of routing a long distance call from a calling party to a called party over a communication network. The call is received at a local switch located in the first geographic region and operated by a service provider that provides telecommunications services to the called party. The dialed number associated with the received call is recognized as being a special number. The special number is formatted as a local number with respect to a calling party's telephone line. A query is sent to a database for routing instructions. A routable number corresponding to the called party's telephone line is received. The called party's telephone line is located in the second geographic region. The call is routed to called party's telephone line over a communication network operated by the service provider. A billing record is created for the call in which an indicator is provided that indicates that the call should be billed at a special call billing rate to the calling or called party.