Anyone who has rented a flat knows that the most important line in the listing is rarely the rent. It is the line underneath, the one that tells you whether bills are included, whether there is a washing machine and whether broadband costs extra. Two flats with the same rent can end up as two very different monthly costs.
Business phone plans work the same way. Two plans at the same price can give you two very different working days, and knowing what to include in a business phone plan decides which one you get.
A business phone plan should include calls, texts and enough data for work, roaming that works when you travel and a link to the company phone system, so that the mobile becomes part of your telephony. Then there is administration: being able to add, change and close plans yourselves when you need to. Below, we go through what belongs in the basics, what makes the difference and which extras may be worth paying for.
Why is comparing data and price not enough?
Because data and price are the only things you can see straight away. What shapes everyday work only becomes clear once the plan has been in use for a while: when a new employee waits for a SIM card, when a customer rings a mobile that cannot pass the call on, or when the invoice after a trip looks different from what you expected.
Take a common example. A company with twelve employees chooses plans on price and data, and everything works nicely for six months. Then two salespeople start working with customers in Norway and Denmark, and those calls cost extra. A third person is hired and waits a week for a SIM card. And customers who ring the salespeople's mobiles end up in their voicemail instead of with a colleague. None of that was in the comparison.
That is also why our guide to business phone plans for growing companies gives administration and the phone system as much weight as data.
What should a business phone plan include from the start?
The basics of a business phone plan are calls, texts and enough data for work, plus roaming that works when you travel. This is the part that resembles a personal plan, and it should be so obvious that nobody needs to think about it.
- Calls and texts: Free calls and texts mean nobody has to count minutes or messages.
- Data: An allowance you can choose per user and change as needs change, instead of the same package for everyone.
- 5G: With 5G, data is faster and latency lower, which you notice in video meetings and in services that run in the cloud.
- Roaming within the EU: Calls, texts and data should work as they do at home when you travel within the EU and EEA, at no extra cost.
- eSIM: The option to activate a phone digitally, so new employees and new phones are up and running in a few minutes.
All of this is included in Lynes business plans. But the basics are only half the answer.
What makes the mobile part of your company telephony?
The link to the phone system. It is the part of a business phone plan most often missing from comparisons, and the part that makes the biggest difference to customers. When the mobile is part of the phone system, a call to the mobile is handled in the same way as a call to the office.
In practice, it means the mobile can show the company number when you call out, take calls from answer groups and transfer calls to a colleague. The service that makes the mobile number part of the phone system is often called MEX, or Mobile Extension, and with it the same rules apply whichever number the customer rings.
In Lynes, you control this with call forwarding, number display and presence state, directly in the app. And when coverage lets you down, you can call over the internet in the app with VoIP, keeping the same phone system features as usual.
Which extras are worth a look?
It depends on how you work. The extras are what turn a good plan into the right plan for you, and most companies only need a few of them.
| If you | Extra worth a look |
|---|---|
| Work on tablets or with a router | Data card that shares data with the plan |
| Often call Denmark, Finland, Norway or Iceland | Fixed Nordic with a fixed monthly cost |
| Often call other countries in Europe | Fixed Europe with a fixed monthly cost |
| Have employees living in other countries | International Numbers with local numbers there |
| Miss calls when everyone is busy | AI telephonist that answers, informs and transfers |
| Want fewer sales calls during focus time | Personal AI telephonist that only lets important calls through |
With a data card, you avoid taking out a separate plan for the tablet, and with Fixed Nordic or Fixed Europe, calls to neighbouring countries become predictable on the invoice. An AI telephonist answers when nobody else can, and because the AI is built into Lynes and developed by us, it needs no separate contract.
What should you be able to handle yourselves?
All the everyday things, without waiting for anyone else. Starting a plan, changing a data allowance, swapping a SIM, activating an eSIM and closing the plan of someone who is leaving are all things the administrator should be able to do directly in an app. The same goes for seeing invoices and splitting costs.
In Lynes, you do it in the app, from a mobile or a computer, and with cost centres every plan lands with the right department or company. It sounds like a detail, but it is the difference between managing plans in five minutes and turning it into a small project every time someone joins.
Frequently asked questions about what to include in a business phone plan
What does a typical business phone plan include?
A business phone plan usually includes calls, texts and a data allowance per user, often with roaming within the EU. The differences between suppliers lie in what comes on top: the link to the phone system, the ability to manage plans yourselves and extras such as data cards or fixed packages for calls to other countries.
Does a business phone plan need to connect to the phone system?
It does not have to, but it makes a big difference. Without the link, the mobile becomes a separate system next to the phone system, and calls to it cannot be handled with answer groups, call forwarding or shared opening hours. With the link, the same rules apply to every call, whether the customer rings the office or a mobile.
What is a data card?
A data card is an extra SIM card that shares data with an existing mobile plan. It suits a tablet, a router or a computer with a SIM slot, and saves you from taking out a separate plan for every device. The data comes from the same allowance as the regular plan.
Is roaming included in Lynes business plans?
Yes, free roaming within the EU and EEA is included. You can make and receive calls, send texts and use data just as you would at home, at no extra cost and with no settings to change before you travel. For calls from Sweden to other countries, the Fixed Nordic and Fixed Europe extras give you a fixed monthly cost.
TL;DR
The rent is only the number in the listing. What is included decides whether you are happy there. What to include in a business phone plan, then, is a solid set of basics with calls, texts, data and roaming, plus what makes the difference day to day: the link to the phone system and the ability to manage things yourselves. Pick the extras to match how you actually work.
Want to see what is included with us? Have a look at Lynes business plans. And if you would like to compare with other options, we have gathered the questions to ask in how to choose the right business phone plan.
