Three smart ways to reduce your monthly telephone expense
These days consumers are definitely feeling the
pinch of escalating prices. From the gas pump to the grocery store, prices are
leaping higher. But the telephone bill is an area where smart consumers can
still save. For most people, phone related expenses are a substantial line-item
in the typical household budget. Notwithstanding the fact that telecom prices
have fallen considerably in recent years, this is still an expense that can be
cut through prudent planning. These tips will help you achieve this goal.
Tip 1: Switch over to a shared-use plan on your cell phone bill
According to the Kiplinger Letter, the typical cell phone bill in the US runs about
$55 a month. You might ask how the average could be $55 given that so many ads
for cell phone providers promoting $29 or $35 plans. Part of the reason is that
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 key reason is the fact that
cell phone companies zap you on "overage". Let’s say you’ve got 1,000
peak minutes and this month you get to 1,099. At twenty five or forty cents per
minute in overage, your cell bill suddenly rockets up twenty dollars. Seem
familiar? The next month you get to 900 minutes but there is no corresponding
reduction on your bill. Some providers 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 assessed overage
if you exceed your increased peak minutes quota.
Shared use plans are the best solution for this dilemma. Also known as "family-plans",
these plans enable you to aggregate the minutes of 2 or more users into a
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
get to 1,100 minutes and your spouse reaches 900 minutes, you’re in for overage
charges to the extent 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: Try not to use your regular long distance landline phone company to make
international calls
Most long distance providers offer very good rates for domestic long distance.
If you are a frequent user on a good plan you are most likely paying less than
5 cents per minute. The difficulty is that international rates are still
relatively high. For instance, fifty cents a minute to India is
typical, even if you pay the four to five dollars a month many providers charge
to get lower rates.
In recent years, there has been an explosion of superior options. 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 the phrase "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 with the service and provide a credit card number. They give 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, one could
reduce the charge from 50 cents to 15 cents per minute.
Tip 3: Use a free conference calling service
For a lot of families, phone charges escalate because of the need to have
multiple phone discussions between family members on the same topics. It is
inefficient but this is the way most people cope. In the last five years, there
have been literally dozens of companies that have launched free teleconferencing
services. All of them work on the same underlying principle: 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 normal toll
charges, there are no charges assessed by these providers. If you have a large
extended family, one 30 minute call could easily replace five to ten one-to-one
discussions for planning a trip or family event.
Unfortunately, it is often a bit of a chore to arrange these calls in the first
place; consumers often are 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 issue. It offers users a way to
schedule the conference on-line, have the invitations emailed out and show the
responses displayed on the website. As with many corporate grade conference
call companies, Rondee enables calls to be recorded.
With consumer prices rising, there’s not a lot most people 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 user 30% to
50% on a monthly basis, or several hundred dollars on a yearly basis.
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About the author:
Scott Baily writes about the telecom industry. He consults to a number of
companies within the industry and monitors the latest trends in user behavior.
His clients include free
conference calling services such as Rondee.