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Choosing a business cell phone and service plan can be confusing with new plans & offers raining in almost daily? It may not as complicated, with a little search & look around effort.

If you are not habitually bugged to own the latest & expensive phones,
here is the basic guide to select the cell phone & plan that’s right for your business.

1. Find the Cell Phone Coverage You Need

If you work primarily in US metropolitan areas, a GSM, CDMA or TDMA phone is ok — all work well. But if you work in rural, remote or undeveloped areas, a CDMA or TDMA phone is a better choice.

CDMA and TDMA providers:

Verizon Wireless
Sprint-Nextel

Both CDMA service providers have the best coverage in rural/undeveloped areas.

On the other hand, if you intend to use your cell phone while travelling around the world,
GSM is the global communication standard used outside of North America. A GSM phone can be used abroad in any country and city. But mobile phone must be”unlocked”,
which means that the phone is not tied to a specific network.

If you own an unlocked GSM cell phone, you can swap the SIM card with local prepaid SIM card. This will avoid expensive roaming charges. However you will need the country-city specific SIM cards that are often available in mobile stores in most countries.

In the US, GSM providers

Cingular
T-Mobile.

Decide on the Cellphone rate plan

Choosing a business rate plan depends on your usage pattern. Most providers offer different plans based on different time periods in the day and week ends.
For day tome usage, a plan that offers the maximum talk time (minutes) during the day is a better choice.

Many phone companies will recommend a plan that minimizes your monthly cost.

Buy Your New Cell Phone:

If not going for the free phone offer with the call plan, these are phones having features of a business phone -

Nokia E71 - email handling, touch screen, GPS Yes/Maps Yes

Samsung i780 - email handling, touch screen, GPS yes/Maps No
HTC Ty TN II - email handling, touch screen, GPS Yes/Maps Yes
Blackberry Curve - email handling, touch screen, GPS No/Maps No
8300

Motorolla Maxx - email handling, touch screen, GPS No /Maps No

If buying a GSM phone for using while travelling worlwide, tri-band/tri-mode phones are a better choice. These phones can operate on many frequencies used by cell operators abroad. If needed consult the vendor technical staff for any doubts regarding selecting phone and plan.

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