CONTRACTS

When you sign a contract for a service through M Phone you are contracting M Phone to you. To look after you and give you the rates we show you. If you contract through M Phone then contract with another provider, you are moving away from M Phone and our service will no longer be provided to you.  Do this before your contracts are finished completely and you will be penalized with exit fees, not to mention you’ll have to pay the other companies higher rates.  .

LAND LINE CONTRACTS

Land Line contracts are enforceable. Often this will take the form of a percentage of your projected calls plus rent for the remainder of your contract.

Contracts can be good for you - They not only work in the companies favour but also yours. Should you be lucky enough to, say have our rates, those rates are locked in for the life of the contract -

    Rises in rates will not effect you.

    Falls in rates - You can often be switched onto the new rates - but this will be a  new contract

When a Contract Ends - You can sit tight on the rates (The Plan) you have and chance the fact that the company will not abolish the rates you are on. Though the recommendation is you re-contract as soon as possible to the rate plan locking the company in and keeping the rates you like.

LAND LINES

PSTN or analogue - The  lines that most businesses and house holds have. Generally copper or optic fibre and run on average, at a speed of 4.5 kilobits per sec. Faxstream will allegedly double the speed to 9 kilobits per sec - Both forms of the line can carry voice or fax or internet (dial up internet is going the way of the dinosaurs - lack of speed and excessive cost for poor performance - pay for a call every time you connect, plus you can’t use the net and talk on the line at the same time) see broadband for additional information on differences.

You need to know Telstra times ALL calls, local included though on average you don’t pay for timed local calls. Telstra consider the average time on the phone to be less than two minutes.

ISDN or digital - The lines are most often used by business. They are copper and only copper. Each copper line carries two separate lines running at 64kilobits each. ISDN comes in multiples beginning with a pair known as ISDN 2 aka OnRamp2, then goes up in 10, 20 30. Hence the use by business in phone systems. From ISDN 2 up to 30, a 100 number In dial (100 virtual numbers which can be assigned to where ever you like within the system) can be attached at extra charge. ISDN is the most secure form of communication (considered untapable).

FLAG FALLS - LAND LINE / MOBILE

Flag Falls or connection fees are fees charged by the wholesaler for the use of the line or network. As much as possible at M Phone, we choose not to charge you Connection Fees (Flag Falls). So for the most part you will see NO FLAG FALL with us even on some mobile plans. Where we do have to charge them, we have kept them to  a bare minimum. 

FIXED RATE CALLS

Fixed rate calls can be good for you.

MOBILE PHONES

Contracts –There are often two contracts involved with mobiles, sometimes three. The first and most obvious is the PLAN, then the HANDSET and sometimes the DATA BUNDLE.

The PLAN often 24 months (though there are variations) and most often does not come with a free phone. Generally these plans will have very good rates and have Free Calls included. Should you want to break the contract, across the board you will most likely have to pay out your remaining months plus an exit fee. (Exit Fees vary from company to company, but are usually around $400). When the contract terminates at the end of 24 months, you are STILL on a plan - THE SAME plan but at the mercy of your provider. Should your provider choose to alter your rate and or remove benefits, (as has happened with some companies) they can and they will.

CHOOSING a PLAN isn’t hard, if its your first time, starting low may be prudent, but it does depend on how you expect to be using your mobile. You need a combination of the lowest rates and the lowest possible monthly fixed out lay.

If you are an experienced user, you have a history you can look back on, this means comparing your current costs per call with, for starters a comparable plan on another provider. SEE THE MATRIXES by clicking the link on the Mobile page for an easy comparison. Remember, just because you want to be spending less on the phone plan, choosing a low plan may back fire because the low plans, in normal and capped plans have higher rates. You need to find the best balance between fixed plan cost and actual calls and your REAL usage not what you hope you will use. If you are running high call frequency eleven out of the 12 months of the year DO NOT choose a low plan because of the that one month. It could put the call cost up by a third more over the remaining eleven months. You NEED a plan which works for the eleven months and you SAVE FAR MORE.

Free mobiles  A so called free mobile (First of all NOTHING IS FREE!) Cost of the handset can sometimes be hidden within the plan cost and increased call rates. From the time the plan is active you will be paying higher bills than necessary, simply to have a free mobile. That mobile is NOT FREE. Cancelling your plan you can find that you have TWO contracts to pay out.

Nine times out of ten, its better to buy your own and take the lowest rates possible.

Unless it’s an advertised special we operate this way, FREE up front, (No Money Down) then a small monthly installment (depending on the mobile handset you choose) This way you get the lowest rate calls possible.

FREE CALLS are when the provider absorbs the cost of the call e.g. Our FREE 10 minute call to and from mobiles. The call allowance with in caps is not free, you pay for that. When the plan includes a call like our internal call that is free.

CAPS are designed to be broken. Sure there is a place for them, but the call rate can be as much as five to ten times that of a standard plan meaning that by the time you have done the math you get just as much talk time on a standard plan as a cap. This obviously means that for example, your 49 CAP with 300 dollars of included calls (NOT FREE CALLS) will burn just as quickly as 40 or 50 dollar standard plan but at the end of it, when you break the cap (spend your allowance) you will be paying excessive crippling rates.  The same ratio applies to 79, 99, 129, etc. The idea of a cap is simple, you pay more than you normally would to get more calls - which are virtual.

Our CAP rates are no better or worse than any body else’s, though we have grouping on all our caps which with our free 24/7 10 minute call makes us the best in the market. With M Phone, you can combine the mobile phone caps you have, for one truly massive monthly spend, e.g. 4 x 99 cap = $4,000.00 a month.

Data Bundles on most handsets are a waste of money. How much internet surfing can you do on a 2 inch screen. Ok if you are going to use your mobile as a modem for an external computer, but other than that - NOT recommended unless you have appropriate equipment

3G and 3.5G (generically known as 3G) are data services for mobile they are NOT a distance or location solution despite what other companies might say. They do have a slightly stronger signal and wider band width thus being an improvement over GSM but are not terrain solutions as was CDMA

1900

DO NOT CALL THEM !!! From a mobile or land line stay away from them - they can end up costing you thousands for absolutely NO benefit. If you have to look at men or women naked, buy a DVD its cheaper and you can load it onto your mobile. Stay away from competitions with 1900 numbers, there will be an ongoing charge. Telecommunications companies are NOT responsible for these charges, they just pass them on. BE WARNED!

BROADBAND - ADSL

ADSL or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line the most common form of Broad Band runs exclusively on copper lines. Simply that means faster down than up. ADSL can not be used with eftpos, ISDN and some enhanced services as they are incompatible. ADSL is a permanently connected internet which enables you to talk at the same time. A simple explanation of this is, think of ADSL as a big pipe which opens up a smaller pipe within it to allow voice or fax calls. The ADSL range begins with standard ADSL, (fast) then ADSL 2 (faster) then ADSL 2+ (fastest).

CHOOSING YOUR ADSL plan really comes down this 1) What do you want it to do? 2) How much do you want to spend? STAY AWAY FROM - half price or ultra low price packages on companies that offer NO download You can burn limited downloads in half a day, just with back ground program up dates, then find yourself paying 16c a megabyte. You’ll end up paying way more for your plan through the excess. So you need unlimited down load,  best speed you can afford. Video and music transfers are best on high speed connections, but if you aren’t doing that, DON’T pay the extra for the high speed big capacity plan. SAVE your money and choose a plan which gives you what you need.

BROADBAND - MOBILE

ALL companies use the same systems the only difference is tower placement. It doesn't matter what its called, its doing the same thing. No better or worse. If you don’t want land lines or are mobile, this is the system for you. Draw backs are these: Not as fast, More expensive, some times less reliable, less capacity. PLUSES: mobility, no need for extra rent on a land line, use VOIP on it and have your voice line for a fraction of the cost. (quality and reliability will not be as good but acceptable for low uses)

1300 NUMBERS

1300 numbers are NOT FREE they are NOT TOLL FREE! 1300 numbers are virtual and can be attached to any number or mobile. (receiving calls to or from a mobile will incur an extra cost) It costs 25c to call a 1300 number. If you want a 1300, the benefits are many, your customers and clients can call you from any where for just 25c, your location remains anonymous, they can have split answer point E.G. Sydney and Melbourne - but you must keep the call with in time allowed by the provider or you will pay a per minute charge extra

131 numbers are essentially the same as 1300 numbers but incur massive extra charges courtesy of the government.

1800 NUMBERS

1800 numbers are truly free to call, BUT if you intend on having a 1800 number you must realize that you will be paying for every call which is made to you on that number. A 1800 is a virtual number as well and can be attached, like the 1300 and 131 to any non-virtual  number. Generally its best to stick with 1300 number option for business.

VOIP

VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCAL This system runs across the internet. The faster your connection the better the quality. Most commonly seen in messenger services such as MSN and Yahoo, where it is totally free. Or can also be had with Skype and Engin and others where it is used as a sue do telephone line with a separate number and handset. As mentioned above the quality can be patchy to poor to very good. This depends on your Broadband connection.

WANT TO KNOW?

Below in WANT TO KNOW? I’ll try and give you simple explanations of how things work, what certain terms mean and how things can vary between companies. If this doesn't explain a particular question you might have, you can email and I’ll reply with the answer.