I'm sure I can be doing better with this... advice welcome

altyfc

I have 4 lines for business and 1 for home. Here's my current situation - I'm sure I could be doing far better, particularly from a business point of view, but have never got around to it. Would appreciate any advice.

Business line 1 - used for very occasional outgoing calls (does get some incoming, but they are usually sales based)... last bill £41.15+VAT which I think is solely for line rental

Business line 2 - used for BT Redcare to protect our building from theft... last bill £51.05+VAT which is £41.15 line rental and £9.90 maintenance charges (whatever that is ??)

Business line 3 - our main line for outgoing and incoming calls (we don't call out that much)... last bill came to £66.21 (inc. VAT, I think) made up of £11.82 (cost of calls), -£2.62 discount/benefit (-£2.42 Business Choices level 1 and £0.19 Key Numbers) and £47.15 service charges (£41.15 line rental and £6 discount options)... I guess the £6 discount options is doing nothing for me if I've only generated a £2.62 discount from it!!!

Business line 4 - our fax line... last bill £60.24 inc. VAT made up of a whopping £0.22 in cost of calls, £51.05 service charges and £8.97 VAT.

Home line - we are on BT Together Option 1 and use Talk Talk so our last bill with BT was just £36.89.

I find this all a bit of a minefield so I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks

Aaron

Edinburghlass_2

First question I guess is why so many lines? I can see the point in the dedicated fax line and the alarm system line but could these two not be combined?

Business lines 1 & 3, can you not do away with one and combine them to reduce the line rental or do you get a lot of incoming calls that you want 2 lines? Perhaps you could utilise the fax line more?

I would do away with the discount option and sign up to https://www.call1899.co.uk for making any 01/02 calls at 3p per connected call and https://www.call18185.co.uk for any mobiles and 0845 and 0870 calls.

chilli_dog

Ditch business line 2 (redcare) and have it moved over to one of your other lines. redcare does not need a seperate line,

http://www.redcare.bt.com/security/products/redcare.htm

No need for an extra telephone line (a Modem Compatible Device may be required if fax and data services are to be used on same line).

Do you have four seperate bt jack points in your home for your four lines?

Mike_by_the_Sea

Hi Aaron

Do you need to have your lines as business lines? From my experience this is likely to be much more expensive than "domestic" lines. As the other replies above, it seems that you could reduce the number to 2 or 3, depending on quantity of faxes received etc. Another option might be to install a basic switchboard and route the calls. Alternatively, talk to BT about "smart" ways to manage your current set-up and then decide what would work best for you. The bottom line seems to be that you are paying a lot for line rental and not much for calls.