Wireless Phone Services can either make or break your budget, so it’s important to not only pick a
wireless plan with a monthly rate within your budget, it’s important to understand your plan’s calling area, network architecture,
and fee structure.
Understand Your Needs
The first step in choosing a wireless phone plan is to determine your needs:
- Why are you really buying a cell phone?
Is it for status? Or is it for personal, business, or emergency needs?
- If you’ve done without a cell phone for so long, what has prompted you to purchase one now? Was this a one-time incident or a
reoccurring incident?
- How often do you plan to use your cell phone?
Always add 33% more minutes to your estimated phone usage to cover unexpected calls.
- When do you plan to make the most calls?
If you plan to make more daytime calls, a plan that offers unlimited nights and weekend minutes is not your best option. In fact,
a plan with 400 anytime minutes may not be your best option, either.
- Will you make a lot of long distance calls?
If you plan to call your aunt in New Jersey, and your mom in California on a monthly basis, you need to find a wireless plan that
gives you the best deal for your budget.
- Will you be traveling outside of your local calling area frequently?
If you travel and plan to use your phone during your travels, it’s important that you purchase a phone to meet those travel needs.
If you travel within the continental United States, a NATIONWIDE plan may be all you need. But if you travel outside the United States,
a plan that incorporates INTERNATIONAL calls is vital.
The Role Of Network Architecture
Once you have a basic understanding of your needs, you need to find a wireless phone service that meets those needs. And the first step
in doing that is to understand how the phone company’s network architecture works.
Wireless cell phones receive reception through radio waves. Those radio waves travel through the air and are transmitted through towers
and antennas. If there aren’t enough towers or antennas the wireless carrier’s service can be very limited:
- The caller can experience dropped calls, bad reception, no dial tone, and busy signals.
- The caller could find himself outside of the phone company’s calling area, which means the caller will either be charged a roaming
fee or have no service at all.
- The capacity of the towers or antennas could severely limit how many callers can use the service at the same time.
- The caller may not be able to make calls during bad weather, while traveling through or near mountains, or while inside a building
with thick walls, such as a warehouse.
Pick The Right Plan For You
Choosing a wireless phone plan that fits your needs and budget can be tricky. That’s why it’s important to read the fine print and
understand the terms used in your contract, such as:
Contract Term
Most wireless plans come with a contract. That contract spells out the terms of use, payment structure, and fees. It also commits you
to using that carrier’s service for a specified timeframe: six months, twelve months, or two years.
If you decide to sign a two-year contract, make sure you have the cancellation fee reserved in a savings account. Two years is a
long time and anything can happen to warrant you canceling the contract: a move, a company buy-out, an illness, poor customer
service, a job loss, or even a divorce.
Roaming Fees
Roaming fees are extra charges added to your service when you travel outside of your wireless plan’s "home area." In other words, if
your wireless plan as a limited calling area and you happen to go on vacation and decide to make a call back home, you’ll be
charged a roaming fee. In fact, if you simply travel three towns over and your calling plan doesn’t cover that area, you’ll be
charged a roaming fee.
Another incident of where roaming fees come into play is when your wireless phone plan outsources your call to another wireless
carrier. This usually occurs when there is a high volume of callers in your area and your wireless carrier cannot handle all the
calls on its towers.
Roaming fees often cost double (sometimes triple) the rate of your per minute fees because your wireless company has to pay another
wireless company for the privilege of allowing you to use their towers. are on TOP of your other expenses, including long distance
fees for being out of your calling area!
Nationwide
What does nationwide really mean? Each wireless carrier defines nationwide differently, so it is important that you understand what
nationwide means to the carrier you plan to sign up with. While one company may have reached an agreement with other wireless
carriers to allow you to make calls anywhere within the United States at no extra charge, other wireless carriers may limit your
nationwide calls to their network only.
International Calls
Most wireless plans do not include international calls. That means the caller must pay for international calls on a per call basis,
which can get pretty costly. Therefore, if you travel overseas or plan to make several calls outside the US, make sure your wireless
carrier has a plan to meet those needs.
Long Distance Fees
Long distance fees are what you pay when you make a call outside your wireless carrier’s local calling area. These fees can really
rack up, especially if your wireless carrier considers toll calls long distance. Even if you think you don’t enough many long
distance calls to warrant a nationwide plan, you owe it to yourself to investigate your options. Often, FREE long distance is
more affordable than a wireless plan without it.
Peak Minutes
Peak minutes are usually calls made during the most used portion of the day: after 6 a.m. and before 9 p.m. on weekdays. If you go
over your peak minutes, the per-minute rate can sky-rocket your cell phone bill.
Off-Peak Minutes
Off-peak minutes are usually calls made on Saturdays and Sundays or during the weekday before 6 a.m. and after 9 p.m.
Anytime Airtime Minutes
Anytime minutes are calls you make during peak or off-peak hours. If your plan has free nights and weekends or free member-to-member
calling, many carriers will convert your anytime minutes to peak hour usage.
Choosing the right anytime minutes is essential to keeping your cell phone costs down. If you don’t estimate the right number of
minutes and go over your plan’s allotted minutes, you could double your normal bill.
A wireless plan that offers 200 anytime minutes averages out to ten minutes per weekday, per month. In essence that’s a little over
three hours per month.
Nights and Weekends
Free nights and weekends sounds great, but if you do most of your calling during the week, these minutes will not do your budget
any good! Free nights and weekends usually start during off-peak hours: after 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and anytime on Saturday
and Sundays.
Overage Charges
Overage charges are fees for calls you make when you go over your wireless plan’s allotted minutes. Overage charges run anywhere
from .25 cents per minute to well over .65 per minute.
Rollover Minutes
Rollover minutes are offered by several wireless carriers as an option to keep the unused minutes from one month and use them the
following month. There’s usually a limitation on how many minutes you can forward to the following month and how long you can keep
those rollover minutes.
Free Cell-To-Cell Calls
Free cell-to-cell, otherwise known as member-to-member or two-way calling can really cut down on your minutes. How it works is
simple: you can call anyone within your wireless carrier’s network for free; anytime day or night.
If you have a group of friends or family members you call on a regular basis, free cell-to- cell may be the way to go—that is,
if you can get everyone to sign up with the same wireless carrier. In other words, if you have Verizon wireless service and your
partner has T-Mobile, this plan will not work for you.
Shared Plans
Shared plans mean exactly what the name implies: you have two different phones, but each user shares the same wireless plan. In
other words, two users share the same allotted minutes.
Shared cell phone plans are more affordable than signing up for two separate wireless plans, but if not monitored
carefully, could prove to be very detrimental to one’s monthly budget. For example, if you have 300 anytime minutes and your partner
uses 200 minutes without you knowing about it, and you in turn use 200 minutes, you will be charged for the extra 100 minutes at
your per-minute overage rate—which can be very costly.
Extra Features
Extra features are anything above-and-beyond what you “need” to make a cell phone call. Extra features usually cost more and depend
on the wireless carrier you sign up with. Extras include, but are not limited to:
- Call-Waiting
Call waiting allows you to accept calls while you are on the phone talking to someone else. When you’re talking on the phone
and someone else calls you, you will hear a beep. Click a button on your phone, and you can answer the call while putting your
original caller on hold. This is a great feature to have, especially if the second caller is calling about an emergency.
- Call-Forwarding
Call forwarding allows you to forward your cell phone to another number.
- Three-Way-Calling
Three-way-calling allows you to talk to two different people, on two different phones, at the same time. This feature can come
in handy when you’re at a group function or amusement park and need to decide where to meet up.
- Caller-Id
Caller id allows you to see who is calling you before you answer the phone.
- Voice messaging
Voice messaging allows you to turn off your cell phone and not miss an important call. When your cell phone is turned off, your
caller will automatically be sent to an answering machine. You can then check your messages and return calls at your convenience.
Be careful, because some plans not only charge you a monthly usage fee, but they charge you for both the incoming message and the
message retrieval.
- Data Services
Data services are extra fees added to your phone bill for perks such as: downloading ring tones, sharing photos, reading and
sending email, using wireless web, and text messaging.
Text messaging is the ability to use the keys on your cell phone as a mini-typewriter to send messages to other wireless users with
text message capabilities. But be very careful, because unless your wireless plan included unlimited text messaging, it can get
pretty costly. Text messaging fees vary from carrier to carrier, but often include a monthly usage fee, a web access fee, and a
per message fee. Picture and video images cost extra.
Accessories
Accessories are thing you need to keep your phone working, to keep you safe while using your phone, or fun perks. If you get lucky,
the wireless carrier you sign up with will throw in the accessories, free of charge, just for signing up with their service.
Accessories consist of, but are not limited to:
- Car Charger
- Home Charger
- Phone Case
- Hands Free Kit
Remember, it is against the law, in most states, to drive while talking on a cell Phone or when using one hand to hold a cell
phone to your ear.
In The End
Wireless phone plans and cellular phones can be an asset or a hindrance. It’s up to you, the consumer, to choose wisely. While there
are many benefits to using a cell phone, there are also disadvantages such as not knowing who your children are talking to and the
extra monthly expense. Know why you’re using buying a cell phone and what you need before you start shopping around and you'll make a
well-informed decision that makes even the tightest budget happy.
Enter your zip code to find the best wireless phone services in your area.
About The Author:
Alyice Edrich has been working from home, in one aspect or another, since the early 90s. She is the author of several
work-at-home e-books designed to help parents earn extra cash while spending more time with their children. Learn more at
http://thedabblingmum.com/ebookstore
* This article is available for your publication, for a F-E-E.
This article may NOT be reprinted without monetary compensation and written permission from the author.
For reprint rights or comments/questions about this article, please contact the author.
|
