Businesses run best on clear communication: whether it is a small business or a massive corporation, employees need to be able to collaborate with each other to finish their projects. When choosing a cellular service provider, the idea is to facilitate communication within the company. How do you make such an important decision? What are the qualities that a business should look for when choosing a cellular provider? Are the price points for these services prohibitive? And, most importantly, will a business plan actually meet employee needs? Luckily, managers who are looking to start a new company plan can find the answers to these questions with just a bit of research.
What are the Company Needs?
The most important consideration for a business cellular plan has little to do with a service provider and everything to do with the business itself. Managers will want to take into account how many of their people actually need mobile phones. Employees who need to travel frequently for work or supervisors who are on call when they are out of the office, for example, may need sizable talk and data plans. On the other hand, a smaller start start-up may prefer to make sure that every employee at least has access to email 24/7. To make the best decision, draft up an estimate of talk, data, and messaging needs before considering any plans from service providers.
Pro-tip: For most companies, smartphones are best for business use.
Costs and Plan Examples
The pricing for business cellular plans can vary widely. For example, Verizon offers a nationwide plan for business lines that is based on cost and usage per device. A relatively small plan with 450 monthly minutes, 500mb of data, and unlimited text would run approximately $85 per month for each device, where as a massive plan of 6,000 monthly minutes, unlimited text, and 10gb of data would be closer to $305 per month for each device. When you multiply this by the number of employees who would need devices, it becomes obvious how pricey it can be for a business to outfit all of its employees with a plan that will meet their business needs.
Advantages and Disadvantages
The prime advantages of investing in a business cellular plans are that they ensure that employees can stay connected and, in some cases, allow for a secure device that can be used to work from home. A business plan does not come without serious financial considerations, though, particularly in the risk of incurring significant fees if employees exceed their monthly minutes or data allowances. Best practices would recommend that a manager closely examine the first few billing statements once a new plan has been purchased to evaluate whether they are actually getting their money's worth.
