The Mike Blackberry: Is It For You?

January 30, 2009 By 1 Comment

Telus’ Mike brand announced its adoption of the Blackberry Curve 8350i – one of the first new Mike phones in a long time. Telus uses the Mike line to sell phones with two characteristics. First, Mike phones are often more rugged than a standard mobile. Mike’s marketing emphasizes this with a “tough guy” ad campaign. The Curve 8350i isn’t really representative of this aspect. It’s a high end Blackberry, so even though it’s quality hardware we wouldn’t advise you to shove one in your back pocket while you do some heavy construction work.

The Curve does harness the other Mike draw, however, which is Motorola’s iDEN technology. iDEN allows the Curve to function much like a two-way radio over cellular lines. This means that users in the network can talk to each other instantly by pushing a single button – a feature called, appropriately enough, “push to talk.” Does this work with a Blackberry’s role as more of a sit-down tool? That depends on what you use it for. If you need total access to office resources, the Curve is about as good as it gets. It’s a premium item, but if you perform proper telecom cost audit procedures you may find yourself reaping the benefits of a better connected mobile workforce.

If you need to rapidly communicate on the move iDEN is for you. This makes it a great solution if you have a traveling sales force. One thing to watch out for, however, is how support for iDEN may change in the wake of Sprint’s 2004 merger with Nextel. Sprint/Nextel is currently the US’ biggest iDEN provider, but it plans to switch to competing CDMA technology by 2010. This doesn’t affect Canadian Mike customers directly but it might influence future commitment to the technology. In the case of the 8350i loss of iDEN doesn’t completely blunt the advantages, as the phone also features off-network walkie-talkie style communications. Americans interested in iDEN may want to give it a second thought, or ensure that they have a way to easily migrate their plans in a year’s time.

So these are the pros and cons. If you want a more in depth view, contact us and we can discuss it in terms of your own cellular expense management needs.

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Data Caps and Cellular Expense Management

January 29, 2009 By 1 Comment

Data caps became a hot topic for Canadian iPhone users last year when Rogers announced their plans wouldn’t have the unlimited data privileges US iPhone owners enjoy. This was widely viewed as an abuse of Rogers’ effective monopoly. In response, Rogers rushed out a special, cheap plan for early adopters, but if you want an iPhone now, too bad: You can’t get that plan any more. Currently, the plans advertised on Rogers’ site have a 500 MB cap: paltry for a noted data hog like the iPhone.

Rogers seems to be gradually getting the idea that high end cellular customers know they’re paying more for no good reason, however; non-iPhone data plans have gradually improved, probably because unlike the iPhone, customers can take their business elsewhere. In the end, however, the key to managing cellular data expenses is the user. You need to track your data usage and select a plan accordingly. This is especially important if you go with something like Rogers’ Flex plan, where bumping even a bit over the threshold of one tier leaves you on the hook for a significant chunk of money.

Cellular expense management matters in these cases because an analyst is not only capable of looking at your usage trends, but comparing them to break points in pricing across multiple carriers. A Rogers plan might work for you if you’re regularly getting near, but not exceeding, the cap for a given plan. If you’re constantly bumping just over the threshold, however, it’s time to look elsewhere.When GILL Technologies gets involved, this is where we would manage a service migration in the background, ensuring continuity of service while we move you to a better plan (though sadly, we can’t migrate the iPhone to another carrier).

Remember: The best deal is no deal at all if you’re mostly paying for things you never use.

Filed Under: Cellular Expense Management, Cost Reduction, Telecom Expense Management Tagged With: , , , ,

It’s Time to Add Headsets to Your Mobile Phone Fleet

January 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Our cellular expense management services include uncovering hidden costs. I’m not just talking about parts of your service plan that could be better administered, but finding the right services and hardware for your needs. These days that means we’ll often recommend Bluetooth headsets as a standard accessory for the cell phones in your company fleet. There are two reasons for this:

  • More US states and Canadian provinces are banning hands-on cell phone use as time goes on. Since this is a recent development, enforcement will probably be more vigorous than you might think.
  • Hands-on cellular use really is dangerous. Headsets are cheaper than the price of a new company car after one of your distracted employees wraps the old one around a telephone pole.

Laws against driving while using the phone usually make exceptions for hands free devices and in any event, police are looking for the guy jamming one phone against his head while the other barely controls the wheel. Many states don’t have specific bans but they do have careless driving legislation that comes into effect if you commit a moving violation while you’re on the phone. If it appears the phone was distracting you you’ll face increased penalties.

Outfitting your business fleet with headsets should be mandatory if you expect employees to make contact while they’re on the road. You may not think you require this, but when in doubt perform this experiment: Instruct your employees to wait until they’re on foot to call you about everything, no matter how important it is. Try a week. If this disrupts business you’ll know that you’ve come to depend on road calls.

Fortunately, by picking the right source you can add reliable headsets at low cost. Our cellular customer service specializes in this kind of hardware procurement. Contact us to see how we can manage it for you.

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Your Telecom Expense Management New Year’s Resolutions

January 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

If your phone bill hasn’t come in already you should probably be prepared to pay more than usual to ring in the New Year. That’s because usage tends to increase in the run up to the holidays. But should your phone bill really by that big? Just saying “It doesn’t look right” isn’t a good enough analysis to save you money. Instead, follow these resolutions to get to know your cellular phone and landline bills.

Shop for Plans Based on Your Usage History

If you’re not texting like crazy, maybe an unlimited texting plan is a waste of your money. If you’re constantly uploading pictures, checking email or moving business documents from your phone, upgrade your package for improved data. Look at multiple providers. There’s enough competition in the industry to ensure that at any given time, someone’s offering a deal that fits the way you use your phone.

Look for VoIP Plans near You

There are very few reasons why the average person shouldn’t switch to VoIP. If you live in a smaller community, outsourced 911 services and unreliable broadband connectivity are fine reasons to think twice. If you’re a business with complicated service needs you’ll have to study your options carefully as well. Otherwise, the savings speak for themselves, particularly if you have relatives on the other side of the country, which for VoIP users, costs them same as ringing the next door neighbor.

See If You’re Tripping over Internet Bandwidth Caps

One of the biggest unanticipated communications expenses is internet usage in excess of the cap on your broadband plan. This is an issue where tracking bills over multiple months is extremely useful, since bandwidth usage can vary tremendously. If your work needs lead to odd periods of huge data transfers you can tally an average across a period to see if switching to another plan would help.

Use a Telecom Expense Management Expert for Complex Business Needs

If you’re running a business and juggling multiple phones or telecom services don’t waste time you could be using to grow your business fretting over your bills. Hire us for telecom expense management for every service, including Internet and mobile phones. Our no-risk service never costs you more than you’d pay on your own. Best of all, our client care staff makes sure it works without you having to waste time on the phone with telecom providers.

Filed Under: Cellular Expense Management, Cost Reduction, Telecom Audit, Telecom Expense Management Tagged With: , , ,