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Choosing a wireless service provider

Choosing a wireless service provider Take a ‘cell assessment’ Making a commitment Avoid surprises in your wireless bill Prevent theft and fraud Welcome Why are you here? To learn how to choose the best wireless plan and avoid potential pitfalls. What you will learn: Choosing the best plan

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Choosing a wireless service provider

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  1. Choosing a wireless service provider Take a ‘cell assessment’ Making a commitment Avoid surprises in your wireless bill Prevent theft and fraud Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  2. Welcome • Why are you here? • To learn how to choose the best wireless plan and avoid potential pitfalls. Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  3. What you will learn: • Choosing the best plan • Cellular industry vocabulary • Prepaid vs. Monthly Wireless plans • Choosing the right phone for the plan • Reading wireless bills Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  4. What’s in your folder? • Brochure • Backgrounder guide • Slides in handout form • Activities • Sample billing statement • Quiz • Order form for free multilingual materials Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  5. Expectations Activity • Your name • Your agency & title • What you hope to get out of this seminar today Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  6. Available plans • Local • Roaming • Regional • National • International Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  7. Local Plans • Allow calls within a metropolitan area or portions of a state without long distance charges Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  8. Roaming • Making calls outside of the carrier’s network • Higher per minute charges with some plans Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  9. Regional plans • Users can make calls within a state or group of states without any long distance or roaming fees Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  10. National plans • Often called nationwide plans • Users can make calls within the U.S. • No long distance or roaming charges *Remember to clarify all plan details with your carrier in advance Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  11. International plans • May provide better deals to other countries • Prepaid plans also offer overseas calling options Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  12. What to ask? • What type of questions should you ask when comparing calling plans? Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  13. What to consider? • Basic monthly charge • Anytime minutes • Free nights & weekend minutes • Per minute rate if exceeded • Long distance charge • Roaming charges • Peak vs. off peak hours • Text messages / Internet access • Contract issues Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  14. Family plans • What is a family plan? • Does anyone have a family plan? Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  15. Family Plans • A less expensive way to add multiple phones and services to one account • Share minutes • Difficult to control shared minutes Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  16. Family plan features • Two or more cell phones share one bucket of minutes • Bucket of minutes is an industry term for an allotment, usually monthly • Plans offer buckets of 250, 500, 700 or 1000 minutes per month Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  17. Family plan features • With some plans, unused minutes roll over to the next month • Outgoing & incoming calls and toll free calls will use bucket minutes • Buy enough minutes to cover calling pattern • Going over minutes = 40 cents/min Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  18. Comparison sites • www.point.com • www.myrateplan.com • www.letstalk.com • www.wirefly.com • www.consumerreports.org (fee) Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  19. What do you think? • Are all cell phones the same? • What is free mobile to mobile? • Can you estimate your monthly usage? How? • Can you control incoming calls? • Do U.S. cell phones work overseas? Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  20. Break • See you in 15 minutes! Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  21. Activity - 15 minutes • Break into small groups • Choosing a wireless service activity (page 9 in training curriculum) • Choose a spokesperson • Choose a recorder • Be ready to share findings Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  22. Cost of service • First bill can be higher than normal due to activation fee • Pro-rating of charges can increase your bill when changing plans or adding new features • Request an estimate • Final charges include taxes/surcharges and will be higher than calling plan fee Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  23. Carriers may allow • Checking minutes • Checking balance Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  24. Data Service • What is data service? Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  25. Data Service • Downloading photos • Checking e-mail • Reading news headlines • Text messaging • Usually billed by kilobytes Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  26. Billing mistakes • Contact carrier immediately • Take notes on your conversation • Request an e-mail confirmation Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  27. Activity • Break into small groups • Review Laura Fish’s wireless bill • Answer the questions on page 12 • Choose a spokesperson • Choose a recorder • Be ready to share findings Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  28. Choosing a phone • How many people here have a cell phone? • Family members? • What kind of cell phone do you have & why? Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  29. Types of phones • Flip up & ‘candy bar’ phones • PDAs - Personal digital assistants • Smart phones • Retractable antenna • Ringer levels / vibrate settings • Separate volume controls Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  30. Making a choice • Accepting a free phone • Blocking the purchase of ring tones • Rebate offers • Phone replacement insurance Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  31. Thank you! • Did we meet your expectations? • If you were facilitating this workshop tomorrow or next week, what information would you need to be effective? • Other comments? Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

  32. Contact us • Consumer Action - 1.800.999.7981 • www.consumer-action.org Consumer Action - AT&T Wireless Phone Education Partnership

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