Mobile88 - Tips and Tricks

Things to Consider when Signing up for a Mobile Phone and Plan

written: 15/5/1998
by: Judy Davie For those of you not fortunate enough to walk into a new job with mobile handset and call allocation included in the package; buying a handset and signing onto a plan can be more complicated than signing up for a bank loan. It's easy to be put off with the many different service providers & resellers all offering different rates for plans and handsets. At Phonechoice we try to solve the problem for you by presenting all the facts in an easy to understand way. Here are some of the questions you must ask yourself before you walk through the door of a mobile dealer.

WHAT WILL YOU BE USING YOUR MOBILE PHONE FOR?
If you are using the phone for emergencies only and have the discipline not to use it for anything else, you can comfortably look at plans with lower access fees and higher call rates BEWARE, if you catch the mobile bug and start sneaking the odd call to family & friends to confirm social plans, you could be paying as much as RM0.60 for one minute talk time.

HOW OFTEN WILL YOU BE USING YOUR PHONE?.
Consider the number of calls you will make each day?
Consider how long on average each call will take?

WHERE WILL YOU BE USING YOUR PHONE?
If most of your calls made are long distance it would be worth considering a plan with a Flat Rate call charge.

WHEN WILL YOU BE USING THE PHONE MOST?
Peak and Off Peak Times on mobile services are different to those of your home phone. In most instances Peak Times are from Monday to Saturday between 7.00 am to 7.00 PM. Most people will be using their mobile phone during peak times so to avoid confusion concentrate on the call rate during these times. Off Peak rates are certainly cheaper.

WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR HANDSET TO DO?
Handsets come in huge variety of colours with a staggering amount of features. The phone which just dialled out and received calls is possibly sitting in the museum soon to be followed by the one which stored a few numbers and could redial the number you just rang. Although some of these phones do look gorgeous and are incredibly small and sexy try to remain in control.

The advice is, if you don't need it, don't get it. Fax and data transferal is a very useful tool for the businessman, as are conference call facilities, calculators, & dictaphones. They do however cost more, and even if they are advertised free with a plan, you will undoubtedly be paying for the phone within the plan.

For those of you who just love the latest in technology then ignore this advice ,as I did, and enjoy the endless hours of programming numbers, setting up voice mail, altering the ring signal dependant on the caller, and playing a game or two.

Answer these questions then have a flick through our pages. The plans range from Low Volume Users to Very High. You will find information on Handsets and Network Features and we offer simple to use calculators to work out how much your spend will be.

We hope you find this information useful, and would appreciate any suggestions you may have to improve the service.

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