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Business phone contracts

Thursday 20 January, 2011

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Whether your company is just starting or you’re simply looking to save money on your bills, it’s essential you compare different types of business phone contracts to find the best one for you.

There are plenty of business phone options available, and plenty of phone providers offering them - so when you decide to switch to a new contract, you need to consider all your options.

Read our guide below to find out more about the kind of business phone contracts on offer, so you can make an informed decision to switch and save your company money:

What do you need from your business phone contract?

Before you sign-up or switch to a new business phone contract with any particular provider, you need to make sure that what you’re planning to subscribe to is right for you. You don’t want to be locked into a 12, 18 or even 24-month contract only to find that you’re spending more on your bills than necessary.

Decide what’s most important for your company and what phone services it requires:

Do you want free calls to mobiles?
Do you want cheap or discounted calls to international destinations?
Do you want lots of phone lines or just one?
Do you want to bundle your broadband and/or your mobile phone services with your business phone?

Once you’ve decided what your company needs, then compare business phone contracts and sign-up for one that suits you.

Choosing a business phone contract

Choosing the right business phone contract is central to ensuring that you’re making the cheapest calls possible. Below is a breakdown of the different kinds of business contracts on offer:

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

Switching business phone providers could help dramatically reduce your costs

Standard calling plan - If you’re simply looking to take out a phone line and call package to supply your business broadband, signing up to a standard calling plan may be the cheapest option. BT (0808 189 1332) offers a business phone line and broadband contract for just £25.99, including VAT and line rental.

Allocated minutes calling plan - Some providers offer a calling plan with a set number of allocated minutes to use, similar to the way credit works on a pay-as-you-go mobile phone. Eclipse (0800 156 0516), for example, gives customers on 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 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 business phone contract, it’s important you compare prices for line rental and new business phone line installation, as well as charges for any calls made outside of your calling plan.

How much could my company save by switching?

If your business regularly makes calls to mobiles, overseas destinations and premium rate numbers, your monthly phone bills can soon mount up.

Switching to a new business phone provider could help dramatically reduce your costs, but the amount you can save will depend on several things. Speak to a sales rep from each of the big business phone providers, and see if they can tailor a package that best suits your company - you may find a very cheap deal.

Best business phone contracts


	Call XLN Business 0800 652 4113	Call BT Business now 0808 189 1332	Call TalkTalk Business 0800 542 6908	Call Plusnet Business 0808 189 1286
Monthly cost *	£9.99 Guaranteed cheapest deal	£14.45 500 free minutes	£10.00 Unlimited broadband & calls	£13.00 Includes voicemail
Min. contract	12 Months	24 Months	24 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	Package price including line rental just £13.95 per month. Fast and reliable business broadband and low UK mobile call rates from 9.95p per minute.	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 TalkTalk Business now 0800 542 6908	Call Plusnet Business now 0808 189 1286