Consumers are clearly feeling the pinch of increasing costs. From the gas station to the grocery market, prices are leaping higher. But the telephone bill is one place where smart consumers can still save. For most people, phone related expenses are a significant line-item in the typical household budget. Notwithstanding the fact that telecom prices have fallen considerably in recent years, this remains a cost that can be cut through prudent planning. The following three strategies will help you accomplish this goal.
Tip 1: Switch over to a shared-use plan for your cell phone bill
According to the Kiplinger Letter, the average cell phone bill in the US runs about $55 per month. You might ask how the average could be $55 with so many ads for cell phone companies promoting $29 or $39 plans. Part of the reason is that a few power users spend $79, $89 or more monthly. This is also partly due to taxes and miscellaneous charges such as 411. But a major reason is the fact that cell phone companies hit you on \"overage\". Let’s say you have 1,000 peak minutes and this month you hit 1,099. At twenty five or forty cents per minute on overage, your cell bill suddenly rockets up $20. Sound familiar? The next month you hit 900 minutes but you don’t see a corresponding reduction on your bill. Some companies claim to solve this problem for you by allowing you to rollover minutes. And the rollover does help increase your peak minutes quota for the following. But even then, you still get assessed overage if you exceed your increased peak minutes quota.
Shared use plans are the most elegant solution for this problem. Also known as \"family-plans\", these plans enable you to aggregate the minutes of two or more users into a bucket. Since variability is usually a function of individual usage patterns, these variability quotients 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 one month you hit 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 shared-use 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 dial internationally
Most long distance phone companies offer excellent rates for domestic long distance. If you are a reasonably frequent user on a good plan you are probably paying less than 5 cents per minute. The problem is that international rates are still relatively high. For example, fifty cents a minute to India is typical, even if you pay the four to five dollars a month many companies charge for the privilege of getting lower rates.
In recent years, there has been an explosion of superior offerings. Sometimes known as \"PINLESS\" dialing plans, these offerings allow you to call most anywhere in the world at rates forty to seventy percent 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 they work is that you 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 internationally without a PIN. Using the above example, you could cut the charge from 50 cents to 15 cents per minute.
Tip 3: Find a free conference calling service
For many families, phone charges escalate due to 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 five years, there have been literally dozens of companies that have launched free teleconferencing services. All of them work on the same basic idea: they give you a PIN and a toll number to dial. 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 companies. If you have a large extended family, one thirty minute call could most certainly substitute for five to ten one-to-one discussions for planning a trip or family event.
Unfortunately, it is often somewhat of a hassle to actually arrange these calls in the first place; consumers often are therefore reluctant to familiarize themselves with the requirements of setting up a teleconference. Rondee is an example of a
free conference calling service which is trying to address this challenge. It offers users a way to schedule the conference on the web, have the invitations emailed and show all the responses tracked 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 of us can do to fight back. But telephone expense is an area where being smart can mean saving a lot. Applying these 3 tips will save the typical consumer 30% to 50% monthly, or several hundred dollars on a yearly basis.
Article Source:http://www.articleboy.com
Scott Baily writes about the telecommunications industry. He consults to a number of firms within the industry and monitors the latest trends in consumer behavior. His clients include free conference calling services such as Rondee.
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