We’ve talked about coverage; we’ve talked about phones, now it’s time for the next important decision. Your service plan you use with the phone.
Plans. What plan to pick? There are so many! That depends on your usage and what company you decide chose. To simplify this for an example we will make up three plans: Local, Regional and National. Imagine that the Local plan covers my state of Pennsylvania, the Regional will cover the East Coast, and National the fifty states of the union.
This leads us to roaming. In the past anytime you were using the cell phone tower of a competing company that was classified as roaming and you were charged a lot. Most times now a days the companies have deals with each other. Roaming is more classified by where you are actually placing the call from than what tower you are using.
Local – Any call I make from Pennsylvania and I am fine.
Regional – Any call I make from the East Coast and I am fine.
National – Any call I make from anywhere in the US I am fine.
But Scott! I have Local with free long distance calling. What that actually means in this example is that calls made from PA are fine and you can call anywhere in the US. But if you are Florida visiting grandma you will be roaming, and charged for it. Depending on your plan you may get free long distance still but the roaming fees are still quite heavy. You need a plan that covers where you will actually be using your phone. And if you are in Florida when Uncle Pete calls you from home to tell you that your doggies are fine and fed and miss you he still gets a local call. You are the one that’s going to be charged for roaming and possible long distance with the Local plan. Confused yet? I hope not!
You need to think about where you will be placing most of your calls and how many calls you’ll make. Will you be in your area or do you travel a lot? Will it be night time or day time when you use it most? Usually the way the 3 plans work is that at the $40 price point Local would get the most minutes, then Regional and then National with the least. It’s better to have more minutes than you use than to go over. If you are going over two months in a row call your provider and review your rate plan. Last week I gave some tips on dealing with customer support.
Promotions and special deals! Free weekends! Great! Free night calls but don’t forget to double check when night calls start. It varies by provider and sometimes by plan. There are also specials that are company specific. All my friends use Verizon in my area. I can call any Verizon cell phone and it won’t count against my daytime minutes. That’s a great benefit for me. Cingular offers roll over minutes. Unused minutes from the previous month are added to your “bucket” of minutes this month.
There are also prepaid options. You don’t sign the contract and usually don’t get as big a discount on a phone as you would with a contract, but you don’t have a monthly fee and a set amount of minutes either. You purchase the minutes as you need them, online, over the phone, sometimes even from time cards at kiosks, stores, the mall, or even gas stations and grocery stores. You should look into minimum required minutes you need to keep to have your phone be active as well as how the company deals with roaming and long distance.
If your service or phone or promotions aren’t meeting your needs call your provider and talk with them. If you aren’t satisfied don’t be afraid to shop around for a new provider. Cell phone companies can’t hang onto your number anymore; you can take it with you! But don’t forget if you have more of your contract left and you leave early or just want to cancel you will most likely have to pay an early termination fee. You will also need to get a new phone from a new provider and sign up for a new contract.
The more you know the better off you are with anything. Keep all the pamphlets and maps you get when you sign up for new service, keep a note of who you talk to from your provider and when and about what. I keep these with my other important papers and records. You don’t need to read the phone manual cover to cover but skimming over it may help you get more use out of your phone and you might even discover a feature or two you didn’t even know you had!
With these three parts I hope I helped you think a little more about how you can get the most bang for you buck from your cell phone and your provider. If you have questions or think you can get a better deal don’t be afraid to give them a call and see what you can work out. When it comes down to it your provider wants to keep you happy and keep you as a paying customer for as long as they can. Good luck and happy talking!