BT the UK's largest telecoms provider is dangling the carrotof caopped calls as a means of persuading customers to enter into 1 or 2 year agreements. I have written this article to find out if 'call capping' actually benefits the average business.
The problem with trying to decide if BT's deals are good or bad is the difficulty in obtaining information - BT's website does not seem to give call rates up easiliy - their pricelist points visitors to 58 mult-page documents hence, information is not made easy to find. The helpless search utility provided also proved equally challenging at delivering any form of reasonable data - email contact also proved tough hence calling was best way.
I also needed to establish the average length of a business call. Luckily for me Telecost performed this task a few years ago by analysing 2 million call records (2278614 to be precise) of 100 different companies in different parts of the UK. There was a wide range of company types in the study including high volume users such as: recruitment agencies, debt collection and media companies. It is of course difficult to know how representative the sample is however I don't expect BT will dish this information willingly. Results below:
Average length of call to mobile (07 numbers) - 110 seconds.
Average length of call to landline (01 numbers) - 112 seconds.
Average length of call to landline (02 numbers) - 121 seconds.
Assuming that an average UK call length is 2 minutes then:
A 2 Minute call at BT standard rate to mobile would cost 45p and to landline would cost 15p (inc call setup fee).
A 2 minute call on BT's 'Business Plan' to mobile is 25p(capped) and a 2 minute call to landline is 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 using Westlake LCR to mobile is 18p and to landline 2.5p on a one year contract.
A 2 minute call through Midland Telecom LCR to mobile would cost 16p and to landline would cost 1.8p on a 1 year contract with a minimum spend requirement.
A 2 minute call using Gradwell VOIP to mobile would cost 20p and a 2 minute call to landline would be free(subject to acceptable usage otherwise would cost 2.5p) on a 3 month contract.
The conclusion, based on the information above being correct therefore is:- if you run an 'average' business then you are better off with LCR or VOIP. If your bunsiness makes longer than average phonecalls then you are better off staying with BT, although...
To benefit from maximum call savings customers should consider using voip phone systems such as Asterisk which will can be programmed to take the most efficient route. For example: - you can route all national calls through VOIP hence take advantage of free calls and unlimited outbound trunks and make savings on your line rentals, you can route mobile calls through GSM - hence achieve free calls to staff mobiles & mobile tarifs of 1.45p 4.5p - use BT Oneplan to route long calls.
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. - 15246
The problem with trying to decide if BT's deals are good or bad is the difficulty in obtaining information - BT's website does not seem to give call rates up easiliy - their pricelist points visitors to 58 mult-page documents hence, information is not made easy to find. The helpless search utility provided also proved equally challenging at delivering any form of reasonable data - email contact also proved tough hence calling was best way.
I also needed to establish the average length of a business call. Luckily for me Telecost performed this task a few years ago by analysing 2 million call records (2278614 to be precise) of 100 different companies in different parts of the UK. There was a wide range of company types in the study including high volume users such as: recruitment agencies, debt collection and media companies. It is of course difficult to know how representative the sample is however I don't expect BT will dish this information willingly. Results below:
Average length of call to mobile (07 numbers) - 110 seconds.
Average length of call to landline (01 numbers) - 112 seconds.
Average length of call to landline (02 numbers) - 121 seconds.
Assuming that an average UK call length is 2 minutes then:
A 2 Minute call at BT standard rate to mobile would cost 45p and to landline would cost 15p (inc call setup fee).
A 2 minute call on BT's 'Business Plan' to mobile is 25p(capped) and a 2 minute call to landline is 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 using Westlake LCR to mobile is 18p and to landline 2.5p on a one year contract.
A 2 minute call through Midland Telecom LCR to mobile would cost 16p and to landline would cost 1.8p on a 1 year contract with a minimum spend requirement.
A 2 minute call using Gradwell VOIP to mobile would cost 20p and a 2 minute call to landline would be free(subject to acceptable usage otherwise would cost 2.5p) on a 3 month contract.
The conclusion, based on the information above being correct therefore is:- if you run an 'average' business then you are better off with LCR or VOIP. If your bunsiness makes longer than average phonecalls then you are better off staying with BT, although...
To benefit from maximum call savings customers should consider using voip phone systems such as Asterisk which will can be programmed to take the most efficient route. For example: - you can route all national calls through VOIP hence take advantage of free calls and unlimited outbound trunks and make savings on your line rentals, you can route mobile calls through GSM - hence achieve free calls to staff mobiles & mobile tarifs of 1.45p 4.5p - use BT Oneplan to route long calls.
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. - 15246
About the Author:
The author has been a IP phone systems consultant since 2003. Check out the latest UK Call Rates & comparisons.
