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Articles » Communications » VOIP » 3 smart ideas to reduce your telephone expense
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- Article Views: 556
- Word Count: 906
- Date Contributed: Feb 15, 2008
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| 3 smart ideas to reduce your telephone expense |
Consumers are definitely feeling the pinch of rising prices. From the gas pump to the grocery market, prices are leaping higher. But the telephone bill is one place where savvy consumers can still save. For most people, phone related expenses are a significant line-item in the typical household budget. Even though telecom prices have fallen considerably in recent years, this remains a cost that can be cut through prudent planning. The following three techniques will help you accomplish this goal.
Tip 1: Switch over to a shared-use plan on your cell phone bill
According to the Kiplinger Letter, the average cell phone bill in the United States runs about $55 a month. You might ask how the average could be $55 with so many ads for cell phone companies promoting $29 or $35 plans. This is partly because a few power callers spend $79, $89 or more monthly. This is also partly due to taxes and miscellaneous charges such as 411. But a crucial reason is the fact that cell phone companies zap you on "overage". Let’s say you have 1,000 peak minutes and this month you reach 1,099. At twenty five or forty cents per minute in overage, your cell-phone bill suddenly rockets up twenty dollars. Sound familiar? The next month you hit 900 minutes but you don’t see a corresponding reduction on your bill. Some companies say they solve this problem for you by allowing you to rollover your. And the rollover does help increase your peak minutes quota for the next month. But even then, you still get hit with overage if you exceed your increased peak minutes quota.
Shared use plans are the best solution for this problem. Also known as "family-plans", these plans enable you to aggregate the minutes of 2 or more users into a collective bucket. Since variability is typically a function of individual usage patterns, these factors tend to cancel each other out. Think of it this way: if you and your spouse both had individual plans for 1,000 minutes and in one month you hit 1,100 minutes and your spouse reaches 900 minutes, you’re in for overage charges to the tune of 100 minutes. If you have a family plan, your total comes in at 2,000 minutes and there would be no overage!
Tip 2: Don’t use your regular long distance landline provider to dial internationally
Most long distance phone companies offer very good rates for domestic long distance. If you are a frequent user on a good plan you are probably paying less than five cents per minute. The difficulty is that international rates are still comparably high. For instance, fifty cents a minute to South Asia is typical, even if you pay the four to five dollars a month many companies charge to get lower rates.
In recent years, there has been an explosion of superior offerings. Sometimes known as "PINLESS" dialing plans, these offerings enable you to call most anywhere in the world at rates 40% to 70% less from your landline or cell without needing to remember a pin code. If you type "cheap international calling" into a search engine you’ll see a lot of options. The basic way these services work is that callers register one or more phone numbers and input a credit card number. They offer you a toll-free number and when you dial this number from a registered phone, you can call any country without needing a PIN code. Using the above example, you could reduce the charge from 50 cents to 15 cents per minute.
Tip 3: Begin using a free conference calling service
For many families, phone charges escalate because of the need to have multiple phone discussions between family members on the same topics. It is not efficient but this is the way most of us cope. In the last few years, there have been dozens of companies that have launched free teleconferencing services. All of them work on the same underlying idea: they give you a PIN and a toll number to call. If all participants dial the same number and enter the same PIN, they are put into a group call. Apart from regular toll charges, there are no charges assessed by these companies. If you have a large extended family, one thirty minute call could most certainly substitute for 5 to 10 one-to-one discussions for planning a trip or family event.
Unfortunately, it is often a bit of a chore to actually arrange these calls in the first place; consumers often are therefore reluctant to familiarize themselves with the mechanics of setting up a conference call. Rondee is an example of a free conference calling service which is trying to address this challenge. The service offers users a way to schedule the conference on the web, have the invites emailed and show the responses tracked on the website. As with many corporate grade conference call companies, Rondee allows calls to be recorded.
With consumer prices rising, there’s not a lot most of us can do to fight back. But telephone expense is an area where being smart can lead to substantial savings. Applying these 3 tips will save the typical consumer 30% to 50% monthly, or several hundred dollars yearly.
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About the author:
Rob Butterworth talks about and comments frequently about communication related issues. He consults to a number of companies that use communication technologies. His clients include free conference calling companies such as Rondee. http://www.rondee.com
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