Times are hard for British Business, banks are folding on a monthly basis and consumers are tightening purse strings, yet BT the UK telecoms giant seems to be making hay with large year on year increase in connection fees, setup costs & line rentals.
BT line rentals today vary from 12.23GBP per PSTN line to 15.92GBP per ISDN channel on a one year contract. VOIP service providers have increased the price gap with IP line rentals of 1.50 per month per trunk.
BT's ISDN connection charge has gone up by 25% to 299GBP to the same time las year. BT is somewhat flexible on connection fees should the customer be willing to enter into a long term agreement. Many VOIP phone service providers don't appear to charge connection fees at all.
Hidden charges such as minimum call fees are not always transparent in published call pricing information. BT has a 6p call setup fee which is due to increase on the 16th September 08 to an astonishing 7p. BT says these fees are in line with their competition - although I am not sure as to who they are referring? VOIP service providers charge 1.5p - 2p minimum call fee, no setup charges and per second billing - I guess BT doesn't consider these operators as a competitors.
UK national minute rates vary from 0.8p to 4p & UK mobile minute rates vary from 8p to 19p - lowest rates usually carry contractual obligations and/or minimun call spend. Business VOIP service providers offer impressive no tie-in deals with mobile rates from 8-11p to mobiles and landlines rates of 1.25p - 1.5p. Many now offer all inclusive tarifs on geographic & international calls
BT 'Oneplan' offer 1 hour capped calls to mobiles/landlines at 20p/5p respectively. This offer is good if your business makes longer than average length calls, however you will be tied into a 2 year deal & will need 2 additional BT services to quality. According to Telecost the average call lengh is less than 2 minutes and therefore most calls would cost less on per minute deals.
For maximum telecoms savings companies should insure that their phone system is GSM ready. By incorporating GSM gateways UK companies can achieve free office to staff mobile calls & rates of 1.47p per minute to other mobile networks. These deals are more suited to companies with higher call volumes as some development & negotiation is required.
Companies that are thinking of switching to VOIP will need the following:
- IP compliant telephone system
- good quality internet connection
- sufficient bandwidth to cary all required calls
- structured cabling and IP telepnones
- Good advice & careful provisioning
BT line rentals today vary from 12.23GBP per PSTN line to 15.92GBP per ISDN channel on a one year contract. VOIP service providers have increased the price gap with IP line rentals of 1.50 per month per trunk.
BT's ISDN connection charge has gone up by 25% to 299GBP to the same time las year. BT is somewhat flexible on connection fees should the customer be willing to enter into a long term agreement. Many VOIP phone service providers don't appear to charge connection fees at all.
Hidden charges such as minimum call fees are not always transparent in published call pricing information. BT has a 6p call setup fee which is due to increase on the 16th September 08 to an astonishing 7p. BT says these fees are in line with their competition - although I am not sure as to who they are referring? VOIP service providers charge 1.5p - 2p minimum call fee, no setup charges and per second billing - I guess BT doesn't consider these operators as a competitors.
UK national minute rates vary from 0.8p to 4p & UK mobile minute rates vary from 8p to 19p - lowest rates usually carry contractual obligations and/or minimun call spend. Business VOIP service providers offer impressive no tie-in deals with mobile rates from 8-11p to mobiles and landlines rates of 1.25p - 1.5p. Many now offer all inclusive tarifs on geographic & international calls
BT 'Oneplan' offer 1 hour capped calls to mobiles/landlines at 20p/5p respectively. This offer is good if your business makes longer than average length calls, however you will be tied into a 2 year deal & will need 2 additional BT services to quality. According to Telecost the average call lengh is less than 2 minutes and therefore most calls would cost less on per minute deals.
For maximum telecoms savings companies should insure that their phone system is GSM ready. By incorporating GSM gateways UK companies can achieve free office to staff mobile calls & rates of 1.47p per minute to other mobile networks. These deals are more suited to companies with higher call volumes as some development & negotiation is required.
Companies that are thinking of switching to VOIP will need the following:
- IP compliant telephone system
- good quality internet connection
- sufficient bandwidth to cary all required calls
- structured cabling and IP telepnones
- Good advice & careful provisioning
About the Author:
The author is an established IP phone systems consultant and has worked in the industry since 2003. Check out UK Call Rates for the latest BT, LCRs & VOIP ITSP tariffs & price comparisons.
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