Business Phones

[Vatzis]

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Not sure if right place, but trying to decide on new phone outright versus new phone on plan.

Currently on good casual deal with Telstra (no phone in plan) and it might be better if I buy phone outright. Has anyone gone through this recently?

[Jake Gardner]

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I use the plans just because its easy to write off with tax and i just get a new one every year.

[Dave Gillen – Former FS Concierge]

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Probably depends what phone. If it’s a cheap phone just buy it outright, but an expensive phone (e.g. iPhone) will be cheaper on the plan in my experience.

Dave

Dave Gillen | LinkedIn

[JohnTranter]

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A slight aside but just to say that we changed to Telstra Business and it’s probably the worst decision we ever made. Every call we make to them ends with the same “Please pop into your nearest Telstra Business store” but Telstra Business stores aren’t open on weekends, so you have to go during business hours.

I’ve wasted many hours trying to either get things done on the phone (next to impossible) or travelling into town during business hours.

[alex_hill]

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When I crunched the numbers it turned out I was better off going for a phone on a plan as it saved money in the long term. That said, I was eligible for corporate plans, so it might not be the same for small business plans.

On the aside that JohnTranter started, I moved back over to vodafone from Telstra after their vodafail era and I have had nothing but a good experience (and I didn’t have a few hours without data last week). Every now and then work takes me to remote mine sites where I have no coverage, but I can deal with that. It might be worth checking them out again for those who left a couple of years ago (and they still offer their 30 day network happiness guarantee).

[Gizmo]

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I buy phones outright.

If a phone is bought for business then I believe there is a tax offset for it (check with your accountant)
My mobile bill including 1GB of data and all my calls is costing me about $20 a month. It varies from $15 to $25.
I get it this low because I make MondoTalk VoIP calls via my mobile where ever I can using wifi, 3G or 4G internet.

Personally I think pre-paid is the best way to go for mobile plans. Then add a data pack on it for work and also to make VoIP calls which are super cheap.

But I do see the attraction of cap plans, just remember these plans are designed to take the laws of averages into account. So if you are not a heavy use you are paying more than you should.

Generally I avoid contracts, I don’t like be tied down to a certain piece of hardware or a call plan that in 2-3 years time could be super expensive.

[Mischelle]

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I have Optus mobile plans for my business, I get the capped plans, so I know exactly how much it will cost each month, with joint data, and we get new phone each year, and I do end up with too many phones sometimes, but I give them away, my brother got a new iPhone 6 he was wrapped LOL, I didn’t want it but it came free with my plan.

I am a very heavy user so my plan is higher, but it gives me unlimited calls, text, MMS, etc etc etc

[bluepenguin]

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Personally, I’ve found it works out cheapest and the least painful to buy outright from somewhere like Kogan, Digital World International or even eBay, and then use a pre-paid service like Amaysim or Aldi Mobile. I’m paying something like $25 a month for unlimited calls and texts, and 2gb of data. If I run out of data, it’s very cheap to add more.

Not being owned by anyone for the period of a contract is a very nice feeling indeed.

Because I’m really stingy, my last two phones were second-hand from eBay sellers who used them for a short time and decided they didn’t like them. No warranty, but I think getting a very good, current-model phone for $130 is worth the risk.

[bb1]

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I’ve had the same mobile for the last 5 years, why do you need to upgrade every year, mine will last another year or three, sure its beat up, but still works.. If you get a new one as part of your plan, you are still paying for it somewhere.

[MikeDav]

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I think that sometimes it depends on the phone on offer. I recently got a new Samsung from Telstra on a plan and it worked out a lot cheaper than buying it outright. If I had gone with an iPhone it wouldn’t have been as favorable.

[Gizmo]

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[USER=61549]@MikeDav[/USER] did you compare the buyout price being offered by telstra or a shop that deals in selling mobile phones outright as their main business?

[Lee333]

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I buy unlocked phones and use Amaysim. I was on Telstra until their recent run of what I call “outrages”. However, I found that my credit never lasted long even when the network was up. I’d turn off wi-fi and it would still rip through credit even when I didn’t use the phone much.

[Author]

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