Business phone Guides

Making cheap business calls

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

If your business regularly makes calls to mobiles, international destinations and premium rate numbers, your phone bills can soon mount up. So, what’s the best way to make cheap calls? (Updated 2/3/10)

	Call XLN Business 0800 652 4113	Call BT Business now 0808 189 1332	Call Primus Business 0800 036 0122	Call Plusnet Business 0808 189 1286
Monthly cost *	£9.99 Guaranteed cheapest deal	£14.45 500 free minutes	£9.49 Capped call package	£13 Includes voicemail
Min. contract	12 Months	24 Months	12 Months	12 Months
What's included?	Calls capped at one hour - Local and national calls are capped at 10p and mobile calls at 30p. Keep your current line and number.	Set up your phone line with BT and get 500 free landline minutes a month, 24/7 support and call management tools to help lower your business costs and bills	Price promise guarantee - cheap calls and line rental, 24 hour account management & your phone line will still be repaired and maintained by BT Openreach	Low cost calls to local, international and mobile numbers. Plus add unlimited daytime calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers for just £6 per month.
	Call XLN Business now 0800 804 8988	Call BT Buisness now 0808 189 1332	Call Primus Business now 0800 036 0122	Call Plusnet Business now 0808 189 1286

* Excludes VAT. Terms and conditions apply.

Depending on the phone package your business has, frequently making calls to mobiles and numbers overseas can significantly increase your monthly phone bills. There are ways of cutting down your company’s calling costs though, such as switching provider.

Read our guide to find out how your business can make cheaper calls and save money on your phone package.

Finding the cheapest business call plan

Ensuring that you’re on the cheapest business phone package for your company’s needs is the quickest and easiest way of reducing your phone bills.

Firstly, you need to decide what kind of calling plan would suit you. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you make lots of calls to local and national numbers during the day?
2. Do you regularly call mobiles?
3. Do you regularly call international numbers?
4. Do you need multiple phone lines?
5. Do you also need a business broadband connection?

You should then use our business phone comparison service to find the cheapest packages available to your company. Simply enter your business’ postcode online and we’ll list all the providers and deals that are available in your area.

Pick the one that suits your needs best, and ring the provider to switch your phone service or speak to an adviser who will give you more information.

Business calling plans explained

Choosing the right business phone calling plan is the key to guaranteeing that you’re making the cheapest calls possible. But it can be difficult to make a decision on which is best for your firm. Below is a breakdown of the different types of business calling plans available:

• Capped calling plan - A capped calling plan, such as the Primus (0800 036 0122) Business Capped package, caps the amount that you’ll be charged for each call at a set rate. This may be a good tariff for your business if you make a lot of calls during the day.

• Standard calling plan - If you’re just looking to take out a phone package and line to supply your business broadband, signing up to a standard calling plan may be the cheapest option for you. BT (0808 189 1332 offers a business phone line and broadband contract for just £26.95 including line rental.

• Allocated minutes calling plan - Some providers offer a calling plan with a set number of allocated minutes to use, similar to how credit works on a pay-as-you-go mobile phone. Eclipse (0800 156 0516), for example, gives customers that sign-up to its Home Office package 1,000 minutes to call local and national UK landlines.

• Anytime calling plan - If you have a large company that makes a lot of calls during the day, choosing an anytime package, like the Primus’s (0800 036 0122) Business Anytime call plan, will help you considerably cut your costs, as you’ll get free calls to UK landlines at anytime of the day.

With any package, it’s important you compare prices for line rental and installation, as well as call charges for any calls made outside of your calling plan.

Making business calls over the internet

If you’re looking to cut costs further, you may find that you can use your business broadband to make cheap calls. Internet phone services (always known as VoIP) like Vonage or Skype let you make cheap - or even free - calls via your broadband.

If you sign-up to a package from Vonage for example, calls to other Vonage users are free. Subscribing to a pay monthly package means your business will also benefit from calls to landlines at a reduced price. This also cuts out all the line installation, set-up and line rental fees you’d have to pay with other business phone providers, like BT (www.bt.com) or Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com).

BT also offers a similar internet phone service, which you can use as an alternative to a business telephone system. Known as BT Broadband Talk, it requires a BT internet connection and doesn’t come with an installation or line rental fee. However you will be required to pay for daytime calls or pay a subscription charge of £5.82 a month. The system uses a BT Hub phone and operates just like a business phone line with a separate number to your main line.

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