While choosing a personal phone plan can be difficult, choosing a phone plan for your business can be even tougher. With so many companies and carriers, how do you know which will be the best for your company? Here are some ideas to keep in mind as you look for your company’s phone plan.
Research which types of phones are offered.
Different carriers will offer different phones, so you will want to keep in mind what kind of phone would be best for your company. For example, if you are going to be using your business phone to surf the web, a Samsung Galaxy or iPhone Plus may be a better option because of the large screens. However, if your phone’s purpose is strictly for emails and phone calls, a simple Blackberry may be all you need.
Know your phone habits.
Understanding how much you and/or your employees would use a business cell phone and what it would be used for will help you to make informed decisions about your company’s needs for cell phones. For example, if most outgoing calls are to local numbers, there is no need to pay the extra money for long distance calling. If your company needs mobile access to presentations and images but makes less calls, you need more data but less minutes. Knowing your need helps you keep your plan under control.
Limit the amount of phone lines.
If you are looking to save money, consider only providing business cell phones to your key employees. Not only will this ensure that those who need the phones will have them, but it will allow you to save money because you are not providing phones to employees who barely use them.
Compare different service providers.
Cell phone providers often will offer different types of services and plans for businesses. Understanding how many phone lines you will need will make your decision in provider that much easier. For most companies, AT&T or Verizon are the providers of choice. Each of these options offer different coverage areas and different types of security. Therefore, you should know where your phones will most likely be used and whether sensitive material will be sent over data connections to determine your choice in provider.
Understand the plans.
This is especially true for any data offered with your plan. Understanding your restrictions ahead of time is the key to avoiding hefty charges for going over your data limits. It can be difficult to know how the offered data limit will translate to files and transfers, so monitor how much data your employees will typically need to use from month to month and allow that to guide your decision. Additionally, do not be afraid to attempt to negotiate prices with your chosen provider.
Monitor your plan.
Choosing your company’s phone plan is not the end of the matter. Keep an eye on how many minutes and how much data you are using from month to month. If you find you are paying for more than you are using, call your provider. You cell phone plan should help your company thrive while maintaining a bottom line, so you should never be paying for more than you are using.
