Small Business Telephone: Business Phone Plans and Termination Fees
No matter what type of small business telephone solution you’re using, perhaps nothing is more frustrating than early termination fees for business phone plans. We’ve likely all been stung by these at one time or another and since they’re notated in the fine print of a business phone plan more often than not, they can be easy to overlook.
In this article, I want to take a quick look at the types of early termination fees associated with small business telephone plans and how you can be sure that you aren’t burned if and when you choose to terminate a relationship with the provider of your business phone plan.
Early termination of contracts
Obviously, the most common type of early termination fee is for terminating business phone plans that require the user to lock into a contract. I’m sure that you’re familiar with these fees as nearly all of us are in a contract with our wireless phone provider. Generally, they help the vendor of your small business telephone plan cover costs associated with adding you as a user to their system. With VoIP providers, this can relate to additional bandwidth required or any hardware that may be provided to you that you will be using during the course of the contract for which they do not directly bill you.
Be sure to understand whether or not you will be entering a contract when you sign up for a business phone plan. Perhaps the most common term is three years, however, they are offered for as little as one year and sometimes for up to five years. More often than not, if you attempt to exit one of these business phone plan contracts, you’ll be required to pay either a flat fee or the remainder of all monthly billing cycles and this can reach into the thousands of dollars. Be careful!
Length of service termination fees
On occasion, a business phone plan provider will include a stipulation in their terms of service that if you are not a customer for a particular length of time (one year is common), that you will be charged a flat early termination fee. You need to pay close attention to this type of fee as it is sometimes attached to month to month small business telephone plans for which you might sign up for the express purpose of being able to cancel when you want. In fact, with these charges, although they’re typically relatively minor, you will still be required to pay a fee for not meeting the minimum length of service.
Written notice of cancellation
Generally, small business telephone plan providers require that you notify them in writing when you plan to cancel and this notice must be delivered to them a minimum number of days in advance of that date. The most common term is 30 days, but it can be any length of time that the provider chooses. Business phone plan vendors will indicate this is the terms of service that you agree to when you activate the service. You will want to comply with this request if and when you choose to terminate service with your small business telephone provider or you may be required to pay monthly charges through the period during which you should have notified them.
This review of termination fees is not intended to alarm you or prevent you from selecting a business phone plan through a provider that is suitable for your business. In fact, most of the VoIP small business providers on the market offer an outstanding product and service. However, you need to be fully aware of the provider’s terms and conditions to ensure that the service meets your small business telephone requirements and that you don’t incur more expenses than necessary should you choose to change providers.