Tip 1: Change to a shared-use plan for your cell phone bill
According to the Kiplinger Letter, the average cell phone bill in the US runs approximately $55 a month. You might ask how the average could be $55 with so many ads for cell phone providers promoting $29 or $39 plans. Part of the reason is that a few power callers spend $79, $89 or more per month. This is also partly due to taxes and miscellaneous charges such as directory assistance. But a major reason is the fact that cell phone companies zap you on "overage". Let’s say you have 1,000 peak minutes in your plan and this month you hit 1,099. At thirty or forty cents per minute on overage, your cell bill suddenly rockets up twenty dollars. Sound familiar? The next month you hit 900 minutes but you don’t see a corresponding drop in your bill. Some providers say they solve this problem by allowing you to rollover your. And the rollover does increase your peak minutes quota for the next month. Yet even then, you still get hit with overage if you exceed the increased peak minutes quota.
Shared use plans are the ideal solution for this problem. Also called "family-plans", these plans allow you to aggregate all of the minutes of 2 or more users into a collective bucket. Since variability is usually a function of individual usage patterns, these 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 hits 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 no overage!
Tip 2: Stop using your regular long distance provider to dial international calls
Most long distance phone companies offer very good rates for domestic long distance. If you are a reasonably frequent user on a good plan you are most likely paying less than 5 cents on a per minute basis. 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 providers charge for the privilege of getting lower rates.
In recent years, there has definitely been an explosion of superior offerings. Sometimes called "PINLESS" dialing plans, these offerings enable 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 the phrase "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 with the service 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 cut the charge from 50 cents to 15 cents per minute.
Tip 3: Begin using a free conference calling service
For a lot of families, phone charges escalate because of the need to have multiple conversations between family members on the same topics. It is not efficient but this is the way most people have learned to cope. In the last few years, there have been literally dozens of companies that have launched free teleconferencing services. All of them work on the same basic principle: 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 providers. If you have a large extended family, one 30 minute call could easily replace 5 to 10 one-to-one discussions for planning a trip or family event.
Unfortunately, it is often somewhat of a hassle to arrange these calls in the first place; consumers often are therefore reluctant to familiarize themselves with the mechanics of setting up a teleconference. Rondee is an example of a free conference calling service which is working on addressing this issue. The service offers consumers a way to schedule the conference on the web, have the invitations emailed and show all the responses displayed 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 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 a year.
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About the author: Bob Letterman speaks and writes frequently about communication topics. He consults to a number of industries that use communication technologies as part of an integrated approach to increase productivity. His clients include free conference calling services such as Rondee.
