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Top 10 ways to save on your telephone costs

By Mark McLean

Telephone costs too high? This article explains ways in which organisations can reduce their bills.

1. Check what you’re currently paying

Look at your bills and the service charges you are incurring. Do you need all of those lines? Are there any old services that are surplus to current or future requirements? For a quick win, see what you can cancel today. In the longer term, you may be able to save on line rental if you have eight or more lines by installing ISDN or moving to a voice over IP (VoIP) system.

2. Eliminate internal costs

If you have staff at different sites who need to talk to each other a lot, then eliminate internal call costs by using a VoIP application such as Skype.

3. Review your tariffs

Are you on tariffs which reflect your current spread of calls to local, long-distance, mobile and international numbers? If not, review these with your supplier and/or consider an indirect access service such as Primus or Swiftcall, which allow you to retain your line rental but use a secondary supplier for certain types of call.

4. Consolidate

Could you consolidate some or all of your telephony services so that you are dealing with fewer suppliers? Now that non-BT companies can provide line rental, and mobile networks can provide fixed-line services, you may able to simplify things and attract more of a discount by having a higher overall spend with each of a smaller number of suppliers. If you have two or more different telephone systems, consider using a single supplier to maintain them.

5. Simplify

Do you use all of the features on your mobiles? You may be able to save money by switching to simpler equipment. There are now SIM-only deals available on mobiles, which save you and the phone company money if you don’t need the latest phone every year.

6. Unplug phone chargers

Ensure mobile phone chargers are switched off or unplugged when not in use.

7. Use free directory enquiry services

Rather than using premium-rate 118 directory enquiry services to find telephone numbers, use free services such as 0800 100 100 or online alternatives such as BT’s (British Telecom).

8. Consider pre-owned equipment

If you are looking to save money on telephone hardware, then some suppliers such as Nimans offer pre-owned equipment which is refurbished and has a 12 month warranty. Be aware, though the parts may be harder to replace for older systems.

9. Share the costs

You can also realise savings by sharing the cost of services or systems with partners. For example:

• Agencies in the same building could share common telephony equipment such as lines and handsets rather than having their own separate systems.
• Agencies in the same building can share any ‘reception’ staff for their main switchboard numbers. The switchboard can be set up so that the person taking the call knows which number is being called so can greet the caller with the name of the corresponding VCO.
• Agencies in the same subject area but with different capacities and opening hours can make arrangements for sharing, diverting, overflowing and transferring calls between more easily between them.
• Such arrangements do need co-ordinating and require a degree of trust from each of the parties involved, but can deliver savings (or act as a source of income) in the longer term and may be a catalyst for mutually beneficial collaboration in other areas.

10. Consider Outsourcing

If you have a specific requirement such as a need to acquire or retain donors, to process donations or to respond to a forthcoming campaign for which you expect a call demand that you are unlikely to be able to meet, you may save money by hiring an outsourcer who can handle the task from a setting with greater economies of scale that you can achieve yourself. However, you will need to factor in the time required for choosing and working with an outsourcer so that their call handlers are effective and appropriately-resourced ambassadors for your own organisation.

For more information on meeting your telephony needs please read the Good Telephony Guide (8.2 MB PDF file. Requires Adobe Reader. If you don't already have this, download it from Adobe).