Cell Phone Service Providers for Your Small Business

Only a few years ago, small business owners had to leave their customers hanging, even if they had a paging service. With cellular plans, reaching your customers is now a matter of instant gratification -- and a better bottom line.

Choosing among cell phone service providers is not easy. Unless you have a good idea of your actual phone use, you'll likely make the choice on the cheapest monthly rate. Don't make that error. Look at your real minutes each month, and shop around.

In this guide, you'll learn:

1. What to expect from national cellular service providers
2. Advantages of regional cell phone plans
3. When to look at pre-paid and flat-rate cellular plans
4. Coming high-speed wireless phone service

Choosing among national cellular plan providers

When cell phone service providers began bidding on frequencies in the 1990s, it seemed that U.S. businesses would have dozens of options. Since then, market forces and the cost of building out have pushed cell phone service providers to merge.
Try: 

At the national level, there are realistically four choices for cell phone service at this writing: Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint-Nextel, and Cingular (now AT&T). What national cell phone service providers give you is extensive, high-quality coverage, reliable paging service and high-speed data networks and, usually, competitive all-you-can-eat cellular plans. See the Business.com directory page on cell phone service providers and paging service providers.

When to choose regional cellular service providers

The grip on the national scene by bigger cellular service and paging service providers does not mean they are the best deal for you. Smaller cell phone service providers have perfectly fine local coverage and can roam nationally. They compete on price, too.
Try: 

You'll need to give them your zip code to determine if you are in their business coverage area, but for some that's half the country or more. Smaller wireless phone service companies include Alltel, CellularOne, Qwest, SunCom Wireless, and US Cellular. See more cellular service providers at Business.com.

Considering flat or pre-paid cell phone plans

One of the latest trends in cellular plans is the flat monthly fee wireless phone service plan. Instead of counting minutes, you pay, say, $40 or $50 but talk until the cows come home. Beware of pricing. Like regular cellular plans, the monthly quote does not include local and federal taxes on wireless phone service, and these plans rarely give away the handset like traditional cellular plans do.
Try: 

But, there's no contract, and no penalty for leaving the cell phone service for a competitor. Some providers of pre-paid and flat cellular plans include MetroPCS, TracFone, Liberty Wireless, and  Pocket Communications. Find out more about pre-paid cell phone service at Business.com.

What's next from cellular service providers

EVDO, UMTS, 3G and 4G ... there's an alphabet soup of acronyms, but it all means one thing: Cellular networks are catching up to broadband in terms of speed. That means online maps, people locaters, micropayments -- even live TV right on your phone.
Try: 

Cell phone plans won't change much, and you'll need to upgrade your phone, but for business users, high-speed data over cellular means power on the road. Take a look at some of the so-called "smartphone" options coming out from Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola.  Find more options for smartphones at Business.com.

• Cell phone plans often come in business packages with a huge bucket of minutes -- virtually limitless talk -- and cheap or free national long-distance. Look beyond personal cell phone plans when shopping.
• What's the best deal? Probably buying your phone through a Web consolidator. They often give you one or even a pair of high-end phones free and even pay you to sign up for a plan.
• Wireless phone service should improve in the coming years as spectrum is added. If your service now is shoddy or your phone is busted, it's a good time to switch cell phone service providers. Remember, numbers are portable now.