The UK telecoms giant BT is selling of capped calls as a part of its business strategy- but are 'capped calls' really offering good value to the customer? I made it my task to find out:
Call rates are unusually tricky to find on websites, BT's own website proved awkward to say the least with over 50 long lists to look through I wouldn't be surprised if many new customers give up the search - or maybe thats the intention? Calling telecoms companies proved a bit more fruitfull athough overwhelming with the variety of products that seemed to offer good rates on one hand and take away with long contract obligations with the other.
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 landline call (02 numbers) - 121 seconds.
Assuming that the average call length therefore is 2 minutes:
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 with BT's 'Business Plan' to mobile would cost 25p (capped) and to landline would cost 8p on a 1 year contract.
A 2 Minute call with BT's Oneplan to mobile would cost 20p (capped) and to landline would cost 5p (capped) on a 2 year contract with 2 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 mobile call using Midland LCR to mobile is 16p and a 2 minute landline call is 1.8p on a 1 year contract with a minimum call 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.
Call rates are unusually tricky to find on websites, BT's own website proved awkward to say the least with over 50 long lists to look through I wouldn't be surprised if many new customers give up the search - or maybe thats the intention? Calling telecoms companies proved a bit more fruitfull athough overwhelming with the variety of products that seemed to offer good rates on one hand and take away with long contract obligations with the other.
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 landline call (02 numbers) - 121 seconds.
Assuming that the average call length therefore is 2 minutes:
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 with BT's 'Business Plan' to mobile would cost 25p (capped) and to landline would cost 8p on a 1 year contract.
A 2 Minute call with BT's Oneplan to mobile would cost 20p (capped) and to landline would cost 5p (capped) on a 2 year contract with 2 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 mobile call using Midland LCR to mobile is 16p and a 2 minute landline call is 1.8p on a 1 year contract with a minimum call 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.
About the Author:
The author has been a phone systems consultant since 2003. Check out the latest UK Call Rates & comparisons.
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