Solution to cellphone overspend launched in SA

A service offering that analyses, optimises, and manages clients’ celllphone spend has been launched in South Africa, initially to corporate clients, but with a consumer service to follow..

Targeting businesses and high-end cellular users, Tariffic utilises a sophisticated software suite to analyse and then optimise cell phone bills, thus reducing monthly telecoms expenditure. The company brings much needed simplicity to a sector where bewildering choice and complexity, paired with a lack of transparency, make it nearly impossible for a cellular user to choose the package that is aligned with requirements.

Pilot projects indicate that Tariffic can help corporate clients reduce monthly cellular spend by on average 40%, and in some cases, by up to 90%. As an on-going service, Tariffic provides analysis and support to clients so they remain up to date with the constantly changing landscape in the cellular market.

‚”With more than 10 000 options available, comprising different cell phone contracts, data and SMS bundle combinations, and a plethora of deals available from South Africa’s four mobile network operators and six major service providers, few cellular users know which choice is actually the right one for their needs,‚” says Tariffic founder and managing director, Adam Pantanowitz. ‚”The picture is complicated further by opaque terms and conditions and the industry’s use of jargon.

‚”The result is that millions of South African cell phone users are on the wrong packages, and overspend by hundreds of millions of rand between them each month. This is a situation that the cellular industry is in no apparent hurry to change meaning that there is scope for a business such as ours to help mobile users reduce their costs.‚”

Basic call costs vary between 75c and R2.80 per minute, while data costs range between 3c and R2 per megabyte, depending on the package and the operator. That means ensuring that all employees are on the correct packages for their needs could save a significant chunk of the monthly telecoms bill in an organisation that has dozens or hundreds of employee cell phone contracts.

Tariffic’s software will analyse cell phone bills, and make sense of the real usage and wasted minutes, SMSes and data. Tariffic will then make recommendations that are based on the customer’s actual, historical usage that will save money by looking at all networks operators and every possible combination of contracts and add-ons.

Some questions the software answers include:

· Should you buy an unlimited contract?

· Must you add on extra bundles?

· How much data does your smartphone use?

· How much do you pay for data roaming and international calls?

¬∑ Should you determine your contract based on what ‚”free phone‚” is provided with it? How much do ‚’free minutes‚” actually cost?

¬∑ What is the difference between contracts that give you ‚”free minutes‚” and contracts that give you ‚”free value‚”?

‚”People don’t understand which cell phone package will suit their needs based on their actual, historical usage,‚” says Pantanowitz. ‚”There is also lot of confusion and misinformation surrounding how the choice of phone affects expenditure beyond the phone’s actual cost. It is our aim to change that by ensuring our clients’ employees are on the right cell phone contract packages, with the right networks and the right bundles, according to their usage.‚”

* Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

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