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> Information Technology Center > Telephone Services
Controlling Cellular Costs
Review Quarterly Reports
- Both
Verizon and Cellular One provide quarterly reports
- Show
the total minutes and costs for each cell phone for the previous three
months
- Useful
tool to recognize areas in your organization where cellular costs could be
better controlled.
Pool Minutes Wisely
- The airtime minutes included free in the monthly rate plans can be shared among a group of phones.
- In order to share minutes, cellular phones must be on the same account and in the same market area.
- The quarterly report is broken out by pooling groups, which helps determine if you have enough minutes to cover the group.
- If not, it may be wise to adjust some users to a higher or lower plan to realize savings, as additional minutes are costly (.20).
Share Phones Among Infrequent Users
- Many
state employees use cell phones infrequently or just for travel.
- Some
agencies "check out" cell phones to users or share a cell phone within a
workgroup.
- This
is a great way to control costs.
- The
shared cell phone can be easily programmed to forward to the current
user's state voicemail on a "no answer" or "busy" condition.
Eliminate Unnecessary Phones
- Signing
up for a cell phone is not a lifetime commitment!
- Many
of our state employees never use their cell phones.
- Responsibilities
change and the cell phone gets tucked away in a drawer "just in
case".
- Whena phone is stored, the monthly charge
continues.
Require Approval for Equipment Purchases
- Currently,
there is a craze to switch to digital phones.
- The
new phones do not necessarily work better than the old phones. (SEE ANALOG
vs DIGITAL)
- Even
if the telephone set is provided for free, there will be additional costs
for batteries, chargers and other accessories.
- These
charges are added to the monthly statement, so it doesn't seem like a
"real" cost to the user.
Educate Cellular Users
- State
employees are often not aware of the details of their cellular plan.
- Do
your users know that they can go from border to border within Montana
without incurring roaming penalties?
- Do
they know how to switch to the "A" or "B" side?
- When
calling Helena from Wolf Point, do they know that the cell phone is a
better choice than the state calling card?
- Get a
"Cellular Fact Sheet" to distribute to users.
- This
sheet gives tips and also quotes state policy on the appropriate use of
cellular phones.
Distribute Cell Phone Statements
-
The number one way to control cellular costs is to distribute the individual
statements to supervisors and employees.
- The
user can see the record of every phone call and recognize the associated cost
to the State.
- An
educated employee will readily detect undeserved roaming charges, which are the
most common billing mistake.
- Attach
a "Cellular Fact Sheet" to the
statement, so the employee and supervisor can see how usage measures up against
state policy.
-
Upon recognition of the real costs, they may reconsider whether the cell phone is
vital to the employee's mission.
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