Business Telecoms

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OUTBOUND landline calls

We all rely heavily on our phones for contact with customers. Common sense requires us all to regularly review this important service for security and value.

 

phonerage

A large subject is made very complicated, by a lot of companies, calling you every day with price promises.

As a business you may think your phones have been cut off if you don’t receive  sales calls every week from any of the 450 telecoms companies. Such approaches are a nuisance and rarely come from the corporate telecoms suppliers.

Historical Suppliers

Typically 1,000’s of businesses both large and small are still with BT and/or cable companies despite the best efforts of the government regulators to point out they are often paying rates for calls that are higher than domestic rates!

The average business make upwards of 30% of their calls to mobile phones. In excess of 80% of the calls are <2mins. As an example compare typical rates below:

Key Points

  1. Your business should pay not pay a minimum call charge
  2. Calls to mobiles should be ~10p
  3. If you have multiple sites call between them should be free
  4. Certain suppliers will offer broadband for free if you transfer lines.

    To discuss reducing your telecoms costs contact Business Switch

    All content below is educational to help you understand the market

    Security & Service

    • Bose (UK) Ltd
    • Chelsea Football Club
    • St Helens Glass
    • Save the Children
    • James Irlam Logistics Ltd
    • Drayton Manor Park Ltd
    • ProntaPrint
    • TNT Logistics
    • CIA Insurance
    • Coffee Republic
    • Car Credit(UK) Ltd
    • Bispham Green Brewery
    • IKEA

    Companies that rely on their phone services as a vital bridge to their customers and suppliers are not paying the BT/cable rates. Companies such as those below make an important choice to marry security with cost efficacy.

    Security:

    The stability and reliability of your phone services is determined by your supplier. Some telecoms companies achieve very low call costs by pushing as much traffic as technically possible down the lines they have paid for.

    This often results in increased engaged tones, faxes that take forever to send, noise on the line, interrupted data transmission and calls that never even reach you.

    As with everything “you get what you pay for”

    Service:

    The market is often split between the large corporate carrier rates and the SME market. BT supply businesses via a franchise network of Local BT Business centres. Companies make the mistake of asking these independant BT franchise busiesses for phone services that are available at dramaticaly lower costs elsewhere. However the BT brand name is very very strong.

    If you are with BT how clear is your billing? Why do they give you a "Business Plan"? Why can't you just pay for what you use rather than comitting to a certain level of expenditure? -The main reasons are to keep you in contract for as long as possible, generate the maximum margin without it being obvious and to gaurantee their income. 

    Big corporate clients demand low costs, secure high quality routes, clear billing and transparent dealings. All companies deserve this level of service. Read more about the background to this competitive market.(pdf to come soon)