VoIP Service Plans

A VoIP service plan is a scheme or package that a VoIP provider offers that fits to the needs and budgets of different types of users. Service plans and packages vary from one service provider to another. If you have a look at the plans of the most popular providers, you will notice that there are four basic structures:

• Unlimited Calling

With this type of plan, you can call any number and talk for any length of time at any frequency without your monthly cost (which is normally fixed for this type pf plan) increasing.

These free calls are most of the time limited to a certain geographical area. For example, many US VoIP service providers limit their ‘unlimited’ calling plans to calls over the US and Canada only. Users who want to make international calls have to pay additional per-minute fees to be able to do so.

Many providers happily say ‘unlimited’ while there are some unmentioned limits. For example, you might learn with dismay that the unlimited service you just signed for does not include calls to mobile phones! Make sure you check that before signing. Normally, all this is clearly mentioned in the terms of service given by the company, which you can read on the web site of many VoIP companies. Else, you can enquire about the nature of the word ‘unlimited’ by phone or email directly from the company representatives. Anyhow, be cautious about what you see in advertisements.

• Predefined Usage

This plan structure allows you to make calls and talk for a certain of number of minutes for free per month. This amount of minutes can range from 400 to 1000 as at today. For example, Vonage offers 500 minutes per month in its residential basic predefined usage plan.

This does not mean that once your predefined package time elapses, you can no longer make calls. In fact, all calls made beyond the predefined number of minutes are charged a per-minute fee, which ranges between 2 to 7 dollar-cents per minute.

• Limited Unlimited

This structure allows you to make unlimited calls to any number within the same network, i.e. to subscribers of the same service provider; but calls to other numbers are charged per-minute.

• Free

Now this is real free, but as at today, it is limited to PC-to-PC calls. This plan structure allows you to make unlimited calls strictly to people using the same service. An example is Skype: you download and install its softphone, register for a user name, and you can call any other registered Skype user in the world, provided they are online when you call.

Residential and Business

Service plans are also divided into residential and business plans. The name says it all: if you want to implement VoIP in your company, as a business tool, then you have to sign for a business plan, else you can go for a residential plan. Residential plans are cheaper and come with less features, while business plans are more ‘powerful’ and are around twice as costly. The high cost of business plans is not associated only with its additional features and free minutes, but also with the very nature of the contract they will have to sign – which is commercial. You know that once something gets commercial, it becomes more costly.