The cheapest hotel room in the search results costs £59. Then come breakfast, parking and a wifi connection that only works in the lobby, and by the time you check out, the room has cost more than the one you turned down. The price in the listing was correct. It just was not the whole price.
Choosing a business phone plan often works the same way. A price per plan and a data allowance get compared, while the things that shape everyday work end up in the small print: how the mobile works with the phone system, who manages it and what happens when someone travels.
Choosing the right business phone plan means comparing what the plan does for the business, not just what it costs each month. It comes down to how the mobile connects to the phone system, how easy the plans are to manage and how well they keep up as the company grows. Here are seven questions that help you tell the difference.
Why do companies so often choose the wrong business phone plan?
Because what shows up in a price list is what is easiest to compare, not what costs the most. Price per plan and gigabytes fit neatly into a table. The time it takes to order a SIM, move a user or untangle an invoice does not.
Say you pick the cheapest option and save £3 per plan per month. With twenty employees, that is £720 a year. If the administration also takes an hour a week from someone in the office, or a couple of customer calls a month are lost because the mobile cannot pass them on, the saving is gone well before Christmas.
So the most common mistake is not choosing the wrong operator. It is comparing the wrong things.
What does a business phone plan really cost?
More than the monthly fee, but rarely in the way people expect. The real cost of a business phone plan has four parts: the plan itself, the time it takes to manage, the cost of whatever is not included, such as calls to other countries, and the cost of calls that never get answered.
The last two rarely appear on an invoice. A customer who rings a salesperson's mobile, gets no answer and calls a competitor instead does not show up in any report. Nor does the new starter who spends a week without a working phone. We have written more about how to work out what a phone system really costs, and the same logic applies to plans: count the whole picture, not the top line.
Which questions should you ask before choosing a business phone plan?
These questions work whichever supplier you talk to, and the answers say more about everyday life than any price list. If you would like the full background first, it is in our guide to business phone plans for growing companies.
- Can the mobile connect to the phone system? Can it show the company number, take calls from answer groups and transfer calls like any other extension? If not, you have two phone systems instead of one.
- Can you choose a data allowance per user? The salesperson and the accountant rarely need the same data. Ask how quickly a change takes effect, too.
- How quickly can a new employee get started? With eSIM, the phone can be activated in a few minutes. With physical SIM cards, it depends on the post.
- Who manages the plans, and where? Can you start, change and close plans yourselves in an app, or does every change mean a ticket with customer support?
- What does the invoice look like? Can costs be split by department or company, or does everything land on one line that someone has to untangle?
- What happens when someone travels? Is roaming within the EU included, and is there a way to keep down the cost of calls from Sweden to other countries?
- Can you change operator without changing phone system? An operator independent phone system lets you choose plans to suit your needs and switch later if those needs change.
Good answers to all seven put you in a strong position. An “it depends” on any of the first four is your cue to ask more questions.
What does it look like when plans and the phone system work together?
As it happens, that is exactly how we built Lynes. Plans and the phone system live in the same app, and the answers to the questions above look like this:
- Number display: With number display, each user chooses which number is shown, such as the main number for customers and a direct number for colleagues.
- Data to suit: The administrator sets a data allowance per user and changes it in the app as needs change.
- eSIM: A new employee activates the phone with a code or a link and is up and running in minutes.
- Cost centres: With cost centres, plans are assigned to the right department automatically, on one shared invoice or on separate ones.
- Free roaming in the EU: Calls, texts and data work as they do at home across the EU and EEA, and Fixed Nordic and Fixed Europe give a fixed monthly cost for calls from Sweden to the Nordic countries and the rest of Europe.
Take a salesperson heading to a customer in Gothenburg. She calls from the train and shows the main number, so the customer calls the company back rather than her mobile. When she walks into the meeting, she sets her presence state to meeting, and calls that come in meanwhile go to a colleague in the same answer group. No customer needs to know she was on a train.
And because Lynes is operator independent, you can keep an existing operator for some users and use Lynes' own plans, which run on Telia's network, for others. The phone system works the same either way. You can see the whole setup under Lynes business plans.
Frequently asked questions about choosing a business phone plan
What matters most when choosing a business phone plan?
What matters most is how the plan works day to day, not just the monthly price. Check that the mobile can connect to the phone system, that you can choose a data allowance per user and that you can manage the plans yourselves. Then work out the total cost, including the time the administration takes.
Should every employee have the same plan?
Rarely. Needs vary a great deal between a salesperson out on the road and a colleague who mostly works at a desk. Choose a setup where the data allowance can be set per user and changed when needs change, so you are not paying for data that nobody uses.
Can we use different operators in the same company?
Yes, with an operator independent phone system. Lynes works with all the major Swedish networks, including Telia, Tele2, Tre and Telenor, so you can mix operators and still give every user the same phone system features. It also makes it easier to change operator later without changing your phone system.
What should a business phone plan include?
The basics are calls, texts and enough data for work, roaming within the EU and a link to the phone system. On top of that comes administration, meaning you can add, change and close plans yourselves. Extras such as data cards and fixed packages for calls to other countries are worth a look if you travel a lot.
TL;DR
The cheapest hotel room is rarely the cheapest stay, and the cheapest business phone plan is rarely the cheapest choice. Ask the seven questions, count the whole picture and pick the plan that makes everyday work easier for both your employees and whoever manages the plans.
Would you like to go through the questions for your company? Talk to us and we will take it from there. No small print.
