Choosing The Best Business Cell Phone Plan

As of February 2021, nearly 9 in 10 adults in the United States own and use smartphones, as more people recognize these devices as essential business tools in a fast-paced world.

Like regular people, businesses face the dilemma of what phones to buy for their employees and what business phone plans to use. There are three major phone carriers in the US, and they all offer business cell phone plans. 

This article takes you through what these major carriers offer for medium and large businesses. It also discusses RingCentral, a VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, carrier for small businesses, and how to choose the best-fit business cell phone plan. 

Factors Every Business Must Consider Before Choosing A Phone Plan

• Business needs
• Employees' usage and needs
• Network coverage
• Security

Before you pick a plan, you have to be sure that you've calculated your business' needs. How much time do your employees need to spend on the phone? If your workers need to make many phone calls, you need a plan that offers unlimited talk time. 

Next comes your employees' needs. You have to figure out how much data your employees need. Do your team members spend lots of time browsing the web, creating and consuming content, or checking email? Do you have remote workers? Then, you will need to find a business plan that gives you lots of data. If your workers travel a lot, you might want to find carriers that offer unlimited international data and texting. 

An equally important factor to consider is network coverage. Some carriers, like Verizon, have a wide coverage across the country. This factor makes them a good choice if you have workers in different locations. If all your workers are in a specific region, you want to look for the carrier that provides the most robust services in that area. You can do some research and find reviews on local carriers.

If your employees have to send company emails on their phones, you want to make sure they can stay private. You also do not want your employees exposed to threats that compromise company security. 

Verizon Wireless Business Plan

Verizon Wireless has cell phone solutions designed for businesses. It offers internet, landline, and VoIP services. Verizon provides the broadest coverage - ensuring that most of your employees will be able to use it.

Your business can connect to the Verizon network using Verizon-supplied devices or compatible devices that you can buy elsewhere. If your business plans to use VoIP, Verizon allows you to download its mobile or desktop applications on any compatible device.

Verizon's business offerings begin at $30 per line per month from five lines and above. Each offering features unlimited talk, text, and data. You should note, however, that Verizon's pricing may vary by area. Also, you may have to pay an activation fee and sign up for a one- or two-year contract.

Verizon's Pricing for Business Cell Phones and VoIP

• Business Unlimited Start Smartphone: This business plan costs $30 per line each month and includes unlimited talk and text for your employees. It also has unlimited 4G LTE and 5G data.
• Business Unlimited Plus Smartphone: This business plan works for businesses with higher data needs. It costs a monthly $40 per line and offers unlimited talk, text, and data. Verizon guarantees Unlimited Plus users 4G and 5G speeds during peak hours and a 60 GB monthly data cap. Users can also share mobile hotspots at 4G speeds as long as they do not exceed 30GB.
• Business Unlimited Pro Smartphone: This is Verizon's most expensive business plan. It costs $50 per line per month and gives unlimited talk and text - like the other plans. Users have guaranteed 4G and 5G speeds during peak hours and a data allowance of 120GB per month. Users can also share mobile hotspots, but the speed slows after 60GB.
• VoIP Business Digital Voice: Verizon offers its VoIP service for business phone lines. The plan's pricing begins at $35 per month and includes unlimited nationwide calling and call transfer between devices. Verizon's VoIP service also offers more than 45 call management features and functions on desktop and mobile devices.

The Benefits of Verizon's Business Phone Plans

• National coverage: Verizon's coverage beats all other mobile carriers in the US, at a coverage reach of 70%. If you run a distributed team, you'll be hard-pressed to find a single cell phone carrier that all your employees can use.
• VoIP options: Of the major carriers, Verizon is the only one that allows users to buy VoIP plans. Businesses can subscribe to Verizon's VoIP package, which offers more than 45 features like voicemail-to-email, auto-attendant, mobile and desktop apps, and screen sharing.
• Mobile Security: Verizon offers features to help protect company data, employees, and their devices. The Plus and Pro plans offer a security bundle called Business Mobile Secure, which allows businesses to manage mobile devices, protect WiFi, get tech support, and set up mobile endpoint security.

The Downsides of Verizon's Business Phone Plans

Choosing Verizon for your business does come with a few downsides:

• Device Selection: Verizon has a lot of devices at different price points. Choosing one can be an overwhelming affair.
• While Verizon offers unlimited talk and text within the US, its international calls are expensive. If your employees make international calls regularly, this could be very expensive for your business.
• Verizon is excellent if you have a large team. However, the cost is not attractive if you have a small team.

AT&T Business Cell Phone Plan

AT&T is another carrier that offers cell phone plans for businesses. Its plans come in a variety, allowing businesses to mix and match based on their needs and reduce monthly fees.

For example, if your business requires constant and speedy internet, you can subscribe to a plan that guarantees your employees 5G data speeds for a specified data cap. These might be higher priced. However, if your business simply needs the internet for essential communications, you can choose a cheaper plan that reduces your speed during high-traffic periods.

AT&T's business plans begin at $30 per line per month. All plans offer unlimited talk and text in the US and to Mexico and Canada.

AT&T's Pricing for Business Cell Phones

AT&T allows you to choose from different types of business, pooled, and shared plans:

• Business Unlimited Starter: This plan is best for businesses that call a lot and have small internet needs. It costs $30 per line per month and offers unlimited domestic data, talk, and text. Users can call and text anywhere in the US, Mexico, and Canada. This plan offers basic mobile security and lets users access 5G speeds.
• Business Unlimited Performance: This plan is best suited for businesses with moderate data needs. It costs $35 per line per month and provides unlimited domestic data, talk, and text. Your employees can text or call anyone in America and have unlimited calls and texts to reach numbers in Mexico or Canada. For data, AT&T guarantees Unlimited Performance users 5G speeds for up to 50 GB per line and allows hotspots for up to 30GB.
• Business Unlimited Elite: This plan prioritizes businesses that have high data requirements. It costs $45 per line per month and offers unlimited talk, text, and guaranteed data speeds in times of high congestion. Users can share 5G mobile hotspots with a 100GB data cap and access advanced mobile security.
• AT&T Business 4 GB: AT&T charges $50 per line per month for its 4 GB plan. Each line gets unlimited talk, text, and 4 GB of data. Users can call Mexico and Canada and can share mobile hotspots.
• AT&T Mobile Select–Pooled: Pooled plans allow businesses to share data among multiple lines and limit the lot of them to a single cap. This lets the business save costs, as internet usage varies with employees. AT&T's Mobile Select pooled plan begins at $35 per line per month and gives each user 1 GB of data. The plan offers access to 5G speeds and includes unlimited domestic talk and texting.
• AT&T Mobile Share Plus for Business: This shared plan is good for businesses with higher data needs. It begins at $50 per line per month. It also offers 3 GB to 100GB of shareable data, unlimited domestic call, text, and mobile hotspot sharing. What's more, you can rollover unused data on this plan. This means if you do not finish your data allowance in one billing month, you carry the extra data into the next month.

The Benefits of AT&T's Business Phone Plans

• Plan Mixing and Matching: AT&T's variety and the ability to mix and match plans is an advantage for businesses. If you have employees that require data for their work, you can buy unlimited plans that will offer guaranteed high speeds and advanced mobile security. For employees that simply need to make phone calls, you can choose lower-priced plans that offer unlimited talk.
• Security: AT&T offers reliable mobile security for its business cell phone plans. Depending on your needs, you can choose basic or advanced protection. This may include spam and fraud protection, number screening, secure WiFi and VPN, safe browsing tools, and theft alerts.
• International Texting: Although the internet allows everyone to send free text messages, SMS is valuable when you cannot get online. AT&T allows people on select plans to send unlimited multimedia text messages to over 120 countries.

The Downsides of AT&T's Business Phone Plans

• Cost: AT&T is pricey, and your employees could rack up high bills very quickly.
• Slow Speeds: Unless you are using a plan that guarantees your speeds, you might experience slow speeds during congestion times.
• Customer Service Challenges: AT&T has a reputation for poor customer service.

T-Mobile Business Cell Phone Plan

T-Mobile was one of the four major carriers in the US until it acquired Sprint (another major carrier) in April 2020. Although this acquisition extended the company's network coverage, AT&T and Verizon still have a wider 4G coverage than T-Mobile. However, T-Mobile's 5G network covers more areas than Verizon and AT&T. 

T-Mobile offers business benefits with its varying low-cost plans that you can purchase for local or international teams. T-Mobile even offers plans that let your team stay online while flying. Unlike the other carriers that require five lines for a business subscription, T-Mobile allows you to register four lines, starting at $30 per line per month.

T-Mobile's Pricing for Business Cell Phones

• T-Mobile Essentials: Essentials is T-Mobile's entry-level package for businesses. At $30 per line per month, four to six lines can access unlimited talk, text, and data. This plan allows users to share unlimited 3G mobile hotspot data. However, speeds may slow after 50 GB of data use.
• T-Mobile Magenta for Business: For businesses with basic online connectivity and productivity requirements, T-Mobile's Magenta is $40 per line per month. These costs are tax inclusive and allow unlimited talk in the US, Mexico, and Canada. It also includes unlimited texting in 210 countries and unlimited 4G LTE data. Users get one Microsoft 365 basic license, unlimited mobile hotspots at 3G speeds, and one hour of in-flight WiFi when flying selected airlines.
• T-Mobile Magenta Plus for Business: T-Mobile charges $50 per line per month for its Magenta Plus plan. The plan's pricing covers all taxes and fees, unlimited talk, unlimited text worldwide, and unlimited data. Users can share mobile hotspots with 4G data for up to 20 GB and get unlimited in-flight WiFi on select airlines. For productivity, Magenta Plus users get one Microsoft 365 basic license and one Business Standard license. For security, T-Mobile provides Magenta Plus users with its Premium Scan Shield.
• Business Unlimited: T-Mobile's Business Unlimited plan is great for medium-sized companies. It costs $285 per month for thirteen lines and $25 per extra line. Users get unlimited talk, text, and data in the US, Mexico, and Canada and get unlimited 2G data and texting in 210 countries. Users get 10 GB of 4G hotspot data and can use in-flight WiFi for one hour on selected airlines. For productivity, T-Mobile offers two Microsoft 365 basic licenses along with this plan.
• Business Unlimited Plus: For medium-sized businesses that do not like limitations, T-Mobile offers a 365 basic license and one Business Standard license. After its standard offering of unlimited talk, text, and data, T-Mobile allows users to share 4G-speed hotspots for up to 30GB. It also gives unlimited WiFi on selected flights and offers Premium Scam Shield for mobile security.
• Simple Choice: T-Mobile offers its Simple Choice plan at $50 per line per month. Each user gets unlimited talk and text in the US and 2 GB of data for online comms. Users can roll unused data into the next month and mix between 2 GB, 6 GB, and 10 GB plans.

The Benefits of T-Mobile's Business Phone Plans

• Free Microsoft 365: Productivity and collaboration are important to every business. T-Mobile offers its Magenta and Unlimited plan users Microsoft 365 subscriptions, which teams can use to create word documents, spreadsheets, and slideshows in real-time. Microsoft 365 also offers project collaboration tools, email facilities, and a company intranet.
• In-Flight WiFi: Losing productivity due to travel can be a hindrance to business operations. T-Mobile offers business users access to in-flight WiFi on specific air carriers. With WiFi, your employees can check-in, finish business projects, or even host meetings while in transit.
• International features: T-Mobile gives its users unlimited international data and texting. Traveling employees can take advantage of this service to stay in contact with their colleagues and customers no matter where they are on the globe.

The Downsides of T-Mobile's Business Phone Plans

• Poor coverage in rural areas: Although T-Mobile's acquisition of Sprint led to an increase in network coverage, it is still under-represented in rural areas. If you have employees that live or operate in remote areas, T-Mobile may not work for you.
• Limited Data Plans: While T-Mobile may have decent 5G coverage, its business plans do not offer sufficient data without high costs. If your business requires a high volume of data for regular operations, you may have to find a different carrier or pay high fees.
• Limited international range: Although T-Mobile says it offers free unlimited data and texting worldwide, what it doesn't say is that the data is limited to 2G speeds. This is extremely slow and could be counterproductive when you need fast internet.

RingCentral Business Cell Phone Plan

RingCentral offers VoIP services to small businesses on a full-featured unified communications platform. Businesses can purchase smartphones, tablets, or computers and install the RingCentral Application to get connected.

RingCentral offers voicemail-to-text, assistance from an auto-attendant, and unlimited voice calls and text messages. Pricing begins at $19.99 per user per month and covers up to ten users. Still, RingCentral allows businesses to add dozens of employees to all plans.

RingCentral's Pricing for Business Cell Phones

• Essentials: RingCentral's essential plan is good for small businesses with less than ten employees. It costs $19.99 per user per month with an annual contract and offers unlimited calling and texting in the US and Canada. It also allows teams to send unlimited messages, share documents, and call each other for up to 100 toll-free minutes.
• Standard: The Standard plan is great for growing businesses. At $27.99 per user per month, the Standard plan offers unlimited audio conferencing and video meetings for up to 100 participants. Teams can share documents, send messages, and call each other for up to 1000 toll-free minutes.
• Premium: For its Premium plan, RingCentral charges $34.99 per user per month and offers video meetings for up to 200 participants. It also offers automatic call recording and advanced call handling features and allows users to call colleagues for up to 2,500 toll-free minutes.
• Ultimate: RingCentral charges $49.99 per user per month for its Ultimate Plan. Besides the regular benefits, the Ultimate plan also offers unlimited cloud storage and device status reports. Teams can also call each other for up to 10,000 toll-free minutes.

The Benefits of RingCentral's Business Phone Plans

• Device Flexibility: RingCentral does not require users to purchase devices before signing up for their services. Employees can access their plans and communicate whether they have a phone, tablet, or desktop computer. This flexibility allows businesses to set up a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy - letting employees decide what devices they want to use. It also saves funds for the business, as there's no need to buy expensive devices.
• Customizable Automatic Attendants: If your business receives calls from customers regularly, RingCentral allows you to attach an automated greeting to your business phone number. It also allows you to set up a call menu that callers can navigate to reach a particular employee or department.
• Video Conferencing: RingCentral plans allow companies to hold video meetings for up to 200 participants. If your company is distributed across the country, this function is valuable.

The Downsides of RingCentral's Business Phone Plans

• Advanced functions only available using premium plans: If you choose RingCentral, you will only get access to the plethora of functions it offers by paying for its Premium or Ultimate plans. Businesses that choose Essentials or Standard do not get access to all the great functions RingCentral offers.
• Potential Overkill: Purchasing premium packages is overkill and a high cost unless you have a large team.
• No hardware: RingCentral does not provide hardware for its subscribers. If you are looking for an end-to-end communication solution, you will need to find a different provider.

Conclusion

As a business owner, it is essential that you keep your employees connected - whether you run an office or work-from-home setup. The right business cell phone plan is flexible and affordable, allowing you to customize plans according to your employees' work-life and data needs.

Sometimes, you want to work with a carrier that all your employees can connect to, no matter where they are. If you have a physical office, you might want to use a business plan that allows you to employ VoIP services. Some business plans even help improve productivity. Regardless of which plan you choose, ensure that it works for your bottom line and keeps communication seamless.