As the business world reopens in stages, there has never been a greater need to manage cashflow and levels of activity. Consolidating contracts or moving services for a more distributed approach to working and greater cost control means organisations will need to decide on an appropriate service/pricing model. Client-focused providers can help their customers choose which best suits them through a more flexible approach.
Per-user-per-month typical SaaS models are easy to budget for, but can be used to hide unneeded services, and don’t always include call costs – so that apparent convenience might not be all it seems.
Monthly usage contracts might offer more clarity, but specification depends on your ability to accurately estimate levels of use in advance. At a time when little in business is certain, going over plan limits unexpectedly can prove costly – or conversely, you can end up paying for minutes you don’t use. Even call plan billing can suffer from this on both ends, with overage charged at premium rates, making these approaches less suitable for many at times of flux. While being charged by the minute sounds fair, it can also mean being charged a full minute for each first second used, which can quickly add up.
Fair pay for call costs
With increased control and flexibility over costs a priority for many, a ‘pay for what you use/need’ approach, while not as neatly packaged up front, may suit much better. It provides a degree of transparency over the services being used, and your billing becomes a direct cost which varies with your level of activity, rather than having to predict that activity in advance. However your business changes, your telephony bills remain fair and cost-effective, and you remain in control.
To find out more, I spoke to Ian Guest, the Marketing Director for Pure IP. Providing voice services to enterprises for 15 years now, Pure IP have seen plenty of changes in the communications technology environment, even if they’ve never witnessed the changes in demand the world is presently facing. The fact that they are independently owned and solely focused on voice enables them to be flexible and responsive in servicing their global customer base, which is never more needed than during such unpredictable times, when maintaining stable voice communications is critical.
As Ian explained, “Initially when the world went into lockdown, those reliant on fixed line or PBX systems found they weren’t flexible enough. One quick fix that some businesses implemented was moving people to using mobiles for calling, but that is a potentially costly approach. We are now finding that our customers have started to move beyond disaster recovery measures, onto a consolidation phase where businesses look to more sustainable and flexible solutions with increased control over costs”
“We have seen an increased desire for pay as you go models as a way of controlling costs. The attraction of bundled pricing and call plans has waned in light of recent events with many businesses prioritising control and flexibility over convenience”
Balancing convenience, cost and flexibility
While unbundled services like pay as you use may be more cost effective, it will be for businesses to decide how best to trade off the admin overhead of itemised billing, vs. a fixed sum each month (assuming they remain within calling plan limits). For each organisation, that decision will be unique.
“While pay as you go models may not be as nicely packaged, they needn’t be complex. It is about keeping it simple, transparent and flexible. It could be that you need a very basic SIP trunk, or a number of channels and toll free numbers. A dedicated voice service provides a highly customised pick-and-mix service to set up exactly what the customer needs, with complete transparency,” Guest concluded.
Business considerations
Pure IP’s advice for deciding on the best billing model for your business, is to consider the following:
- Define your business priorities. Be clear about what is important to you and your business, and which areas you are prepared to compromise in
- Future-proof the decision. Bear in mind the cost of change when looking at different solutions
- Understand your usage. Analyse your normal traffic levels and forecast any expected growth/reduction
- Insist on transparency from your vendors. Get clarity on what is included in the contract or bundle, as well as what the terms and costs of exceeding any limits are
- Compare like-for-like. Don’t just look at the bundles or price per minute. Consider the billing intervals, rollover and how you are going to consume telephony services in 2-5 years as well
Whatever business you’re in, managing your voice calling costs as part of the UC system which best supports your business objectives is vital for future success.
