Cheapest Business Call Providers - Is it Worth Switching?

BT the UK's largest telecoms provider is singing the praises of 'capped calls' and selling call plans on the basis of the savings these deals seem to offer - are these capped deals really that good or is this a financial smoke screen?.

Call rates are unusually tricky to find on websites, BT's own website proved awkward to say the least with over 50 long lists to look through I wouldn't be surprised if many new customers give up the search - or maybe thats the intention? Calling telecoms companies proved a bit more fruitfull athough overwhelming with the variety of products that seemed to offer good rates on one hand and take away with long contract obligations with the other.

Armed with call rates call rates for BT & alternative telecoms prividers, I had to to establish the average call length. Luckily Telecost performed this task in 2002 by looking at call records of 100 companies in different UK locations and mixed industry sectors. In total some 2 million records were analysed. Of course some time has gone by and without a bigger study it is difficult to be certain - so if anything this is a good guide:

Average length of call to mobile (07 numbers) - 110 seconds.

Average length of landline call (01 numbers) - 112 seconds.

Average length of call to landline (02 numbers) - 121 seconds.

I am therefore going to assume that the average call length is 2 minutes hence:

A 2 Minute call through BT Standard Rate to mobile would cost 45p and to landline would cost 15p (inc call setup fee).

A 2 Minute call through BT's 'Business Plan' to mobile would cost 25p (capped) and to landline would cost 8p on a 1 year contract.

A 2 minute mobile call using BT's 'Oneplan' is 20p (capped) and a 2 minute landline call is 5p (capped) on a 2 year contract with additional BT services required.

A 2 minute call through Westlake to mobile would cost 18p and to landline would cost 2.5p on a one year contract.

A 2 minute mobile call using Midland LCR to mobile is 16p and a 2 minute landline call is 1.8p on a 1 year contract with a minimum call spend requirement.

A 2 minute call through Gradwell Business VOIP to mobile would cost 20p and a 2 minute call to landline would be free (on all inclusive tarif else the call would cost 2.5p) on a 3 month contract.

The conclusion therefore is:- if your business makes average length calls then you are probably better off with LCR or VOIP, however if your business calls are long then BT offers good value, however...

The most efficient way to handle business calls is to use a telephone system such as Asterisk which is able to route calls via the most efficient methods: ie. route all national calls through VOIP hence take advantage of free calls and unlimited outbound trunks. Route mobile calls through GSM gateways to benefit from free calls to staff mobiles & mobile call rates of 4.5p. It is also not a bad idea to have a few BT lines on Oneplan to route long calls. This method also allows gives the user the benefit of mutiple failovers.

This article is merely a guide to help UK businesses make up their own minds - the call rates were obtained in Sept 08 hence may or may not be accurate at the time of reading.

Tags: Finance