If I get an email to my iPhone and I am too busy (ie. don’t have enough hands) to type a response, I will simply click (touch) on the phone number in the signature and the handset dials the sender for me. Love it! I can deal with the enquiry or issue on the fly.

However recently I have noticed that businesses are getting fancy with their signatures and doing a beautiful graphic at the foot of each email. These look great but guess what? The footsoldiers that are roaming around the country side conducting their business from their smart phone are denied an easy way to call these people back.

It’s hard to ascertain whether or not this is a bad thing for the company producing the graphic or not, but I would think that any strategy you employ that reduces the ease with which someone can call you is not the best move.

Anyway, I’m only one person. Would be interested in some other opinions…feel free to coment.

Till next time

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A couple of simple things to keep in mind:

1. Always request the new rates in writing, preferably by email so you have a direct contact with the sales person. Another good idea is to ask the salesperson for their direct line so you can go through your first bill with them. Their response will show you whether they are genuine or not.

2. Don’t be led on by complicated credits. They rarely work and often have large line rentals.

3. All line rentals and plan charges are charged ‘in advance’. This means, depending on what time of the month you start the plan you will most probably see a prorate charge on the first bill. ie. if your line rental is $34.50 and you came on in the middle of the month then your next bill will have a ‘in advance’ charge of $34.50 and a prorate charge of $17.25 (34.50 / 2) for the current month’s usage.

Telcotalk has a free ‘no obligation’ annalysis service where we can advise you and suggest any changes that can benefit your usage. Of course we will always suggest our services but you will not be pressured into using them. Simply fax a copy of a recent bill to 1300 720 561 and we will pull it apart and come up with a better strategy for you. If you are on a good deal already, we’ll confirm it for you and you can move on confidant that you aren’t caught in the fog of the many ’smoke and mirror’ offers that dominate the Australian telco market.

If you would like to discuss this offer, please call 1300 720 591, or email enquiries@telcotalk.com.au and we’ll call you!

Till next time

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Depending on what plan you are on, a mobile plan rate can vary between 19c and 47c per 30 seconds and billed in 30 second blocks. Its very important when you are looking for a mobile plan to pay attention to this.

This means that if you are on a mid-range plan paying say 24c per 30 seconds, Every time you go over a 30 second block, another 24c is added to the charge. Example: If you make a 29 second call, you will be charged 24c plus the connection charge. If your call lasts a further 2 seconds and you hang up at 32 seconds, your charge will now be 48c plus your connection charge. That’s a very costly 2 seconds.

Look around, there are companies that bill per second. Telcotalk is one of these companies. If you are wondering what difference 30 second billing makes to the cost of an average mobile plan, we calculate that billing per second offers our customers a saving of between 7 – 15% on what they would have paid if they were paying in per 30 second blocks.

If you would like Telcotalk to analyse your usage and calculate how this would effect your spend, fax a copy of you recent phone bill to 1300 720 561 and we’ll break it down for you and let you know. This is an obligation free service. If you have any questions about this service you can call 1300 720 591

Till Later

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While preparing for a month long stint out of the office from next week I’m just reflecting on how easy it has becoming to undo the shackles that tie us to our desk. With the communication options available today the excuses for not getting out and about are becoming less justifiable.

Everything I need to take with me from the office now fits into a small computer bag (laptop and wireless stick) and my pocket (iPhone). The endless manila folders, etc are really not necessary to my being able to function. The iPhone alone has meant my compulsion to have the laptop setup has gone, I am in touch with the business, my customers and the world through this marvelous device.

Here’s a great example. A couple of weeks ago I was at a restaurant celebrating my daughter’s 5th birthday on a Friday evening. During a lull in the festivities I had a quick look at my email on my phone. Here I find a distressed email from a customer that had gone to South America without his service being configured for roaming and was trying to get a call out. In the good old days, this would not have been able to be sorted until the next day because the customer had emailed me directly. I was able to enable the customers service for roaming before the candles were blown out and nobody at the party even noticed that I was working.

I guess the downside to the mobile phone is that it is hard to get completely away for a break. I prefer to look at it a different way. The upside for me is that if you are set up correctly, the mobile phone and a well prepared communications suite of products will help you stay away longer!

Some great ideas I like to use include:

• the trusty iPhone/Blackberry
• fax to email
• VPN – links me to the office from laptop or PDA
• MobileMe (Apple Product) which can be used on PC’s
• autoresponders on email automatically communicates that I am out of the office and gives the customer another option. I can also see the email and follow up if necessary.

While not all these products are provided by Telcotalk, we can provide the advice to direct our customers to the right solution for them. Yell out if you need us.

Till next time

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I wonder if the deal didn’t get properly annalysed due to the shock of the friendly Te(not naming companies)tra rep.

Anyway here are the current details as provided by the patient.

Friend spends $450 per month on the following rates:

27c connection

19c per 30 seconds (ie. 38c per minute billed in 30 second blocks)

Average call is 3.15 minutes

Number of calls 300

The offer that is going to save him $371 per month is:

$79 Cap with $450 worth of calls included. My friend is told his future bills will be reduced to $79 per month. Its a no – brainer right? Wrong!

The $79 Cap has different call rates – they all do, irrespective of the provider. And here is the purpose of this post. BE AWARE – ALL CAPS HAVE DEARER CALL CHARGES.

In this instance the cap under the microscope has the following:

37c Connection

35c per 30 seconds (ie 70c per minute billed in 30 second blocks)

I’ll analyze this using the same data as with the above example:

Average call is 3.15 minutes

Number of calls 300

The math

300 calls x $0.37 (connection) = $110

3.15 minutes average duration x $0.70 x 300 calls = $661.50

Total = $771.50

Less $450 included calls = $321.50*.

Now this is below the $450 that my friend is currently paying so that’s good. However my friend is expecting a bill for $79 – and he entered into a 24 month contract to do it. What does he do now? (Actually that’s not a bad idea for a future post)

Let the buyer beware.

*This figure does not round up to the nearest 30 secs of the average call as would happen in the real world as the data was unavailable. The effect of this would be to raise the charge considerably. When the data comes to hand I will update the post.

Till next time

Disclaimer: Telcotalk does provide a range of mobile cap plans. When properly annalysed they can indeed be beneficial to the customer. This post was encouraged by the irresponsible sales practices roping people in to the wrong deal for them. The right deal for you is out there. Sing out if we can help clear the smoke and mirrors away or email mobiles@telcotalk.com.au and we’ll call you.

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