For companies that provide company cell phones and manage a pool of minutes, is there a best practice target utilization of used pool minute? For example, if you had a pool of 20,000 minutes, should you target 18,000 as the average minutes used as you try to balance the
Pooled cell phone minutes
Answers
How are you going to accomplish this feat?
Sometimes I think we're too smart for our own good.... The idea is to reduce either expense or saw-toothed expenses. Purchase a plan (assuming they have one) that averages the number of minutes you users use.
Those who use an excessive amount of minutes, discuss their phone use. Those who use an excessive amount of international dialing (not on these plans) make sure they are necessary.
If you are consistently going over the pool minutes, either change your policy or purchase a higher plan.
Allocate any way you want...
You have to take a pragmatic approach in finding the right number of minutes to purchase. One thing you may want to consider is to find a plan that allows you to carry over minutes that are unused. That may not be the best carrier for coverage for your area, but it gives you more flexibility.
I have had some clients use Schooley Mitchell telecom consultants to manage the minutes pool and data plans for optimal usage. Their fee is 50% of the cost savings for three years and they will monitor usage on a monthly basis and adjust plans accordingly for maximum savings. Feel free to contact me if you'd like specific contact information.
Filed Under:
FP&A