If you are amongst the people who dream of affordable unlimited cell phone plans, this guide can help you achieve your dream. We are talking about the basic connectivity at this point and not addressing services like VoiceMail.
Let's get right to it:
Browse the following list, find your current cell phone plan and read our solution to exploit your plan to its fullest:
MyFave, MyCircle, etc: Basically any plan that allows you to make and receive unlimited calls to/from a certain number of contacts (called favorite contacts/numbers)
Pros:
This type of plans are really good for the people who 'usually' call certain people and receive the majority of their daily calls from them. You can talk to you girlfriend/boyfriend as much as you want for a flat monthly rate.
Cons:
You will run out of minutes fast if you call any other number (have you ever used your phone to make a call to a company's customer service? They put you on hold for hours and you can watch your beloved minutes wasting away; one after another!
Solution
There are services, like Google voice, that can help you turn your plan into an unlimited plan. You can setup these services in a way that all of your incoming look like being originated from a number that you already added into your "favorite numbers list" and therefore your incoming call minutes is unlimited. For the outgoing calls, you would have to call the same favorite number and then punch in the phone number that you want to call(two stage dialing).
Pros:
You will have an unlimited cell phone plan for an affordable cost.
Cons:
You will loose your caller-ID feature for all of your incoming calls. All of your calls will be coming from the same number regardless of who is calling you.
Your cell number will be changed and you will have to give your friends a new number to call you.
You cannot use your cellphone's phonebook to make calls.
It is a hassle to make outgoing calls in two stages.
Not a click-go setup
Unlimited incoming call plans: These plans allow you to receive unlimited incoming calls from any phone number. However, your outgoing minutes are limited.
Pros:
Great for the people who usually receive calls as oppose to making calls
Cons:
Expensive in case you exceed your outgoing minutes.
Use Call-Back Services like Vbuzzer, ComWave, etc. Here is how it works:
You call a certain number provided by your Call-Back service provider.
Your provider disconnects the call before it is answered(so, you are not getting charged for making that outgoing call)
Your provider will call you back and when you answer, you will be asked to punch in the number that you want to call.
Your call will be connected.
Basically, the Call-Back service turns your outgoing calls into incoming calls.
Pros:
You get an unlimited voice plan
Cons:
Making outgoing calls in two stage is a hassle.
The Call-Back service is not that cheap!
You cannot use your cell phone's phonebook to make calls.
Plans with limited incoming/outgoing minutes and unlimited data: This type of plan is usually not a pre-packaged product. You have to bundle you limited voice plan with an unlimited data plan to get such a plan.
Pros:
You can browse the internet as much as you want.
Cons:
You can only talk for the minutes included in your plan and have to pay extra for the extra minutes.
Since you have an unlimited data plan, we are going to assume that you have a smart phone otherwise why would pay for the data plan on a phone that does not support convenient web browsing? Let's assume you have an iPhone, Android phone or any other smart phone with the ability to install applications (BlackBerry is excluded). The solution is to use VoIP on your data plan. Depending on your device and your provider you could find a VoIP application that you can be installed on your device and use your data plan to make and receive calls. In the US, AT&T just started offering such a plan. They also allow their users to use VoIP on their network. In fact, you can get an unlimited data plan only with no voice plan!
Pros:
You get to make and receive unlimited calls on your cellphone.
Cons:
The calls that you make with your VoIP application will be originated from a different phone number than your original cellphone number. Technically, you'd have two different numbers. If you happen to get a data-only plan, this wouldn't be an issue because you wouldn't have any other number other than your VoIP number.
If your friends call your original cellphone number (and not your VoIP number) you still get charged.
VoIP call quality is not as good as a regular cellphone call quality.
The setup is not a click-go.
Limited outgoing/incoming plans and no/limited data plan.
Pros:
Affordable.
Cons:
You cannot really do much
This is the hardest category to address. There are some tips and potentially services that you can get to manage your minutes wisely(and we will talk about them in future). However, none of them would turn your limited plan into an unlimited one. However, there is a way to 'somehow' enhance your service if you have a WiFi enabled cellphone (iPhone, Android based devices, etc). There are many WiFi providers in the US/Canada (AT&T, Boingo, Bell, etc) that provide you with WiFi access at their hotspots for an affordable monthly fee. There are also free hotspots that you can find in coffee shops, hotels, shopping malls and more importantly StarBucks! I know the last one is also a coffee shop, technically, but I think there are enough of them in the world that can constitute a distinguished entity.
Using your Wifi service, you can benefit from a VoIP software and make/receive unlimited calls whenever you are at a hotspot.
Pros:
You get unlimited incoming and outgoing plan.
You can avoid roaming fees as well if you find a free hotspot (that's why I named Starbucks because they have stores all over the world; I often use this method when I am traveling).
Cons:
Besides all the cons of the previously discussed plan (the limited voice with unlimited data), you are also restricted to make and receive calls only at hotspots (if you want to avoid using your minutes)
There are also other services that enable you to seamlessly transfer your calls to a landline if you have access to one (for example at work) and save your cell phone minutes. We will talk about such services in a separate post.
