How small businesses in South Africa can cut their phone bill

For a small business, the phone bill is one of the few costs that feels impossible to question. It arrives, it is paid. But most of it comes from three things, and each can be reduced.

1. Line rental and contracts. A landline or a business contract charges you every month before a single call is made, usually for a fixed term. *What to do:* ask what you are paying for the line itself, apart from calls. A cloud number has no line to rent and no term.

2. Calls from staff cellphones. These are often the biggest part of the bill and the hardest to see, because they sit on several personal contracts and claims. *What to do:* give staff a business number in an app. Calls go against one prepaid business balance, charged per second, with every call listed.

3. Calls to other countries and to cellphones. Suppliers abroad, customers on other networks, long holds with service providers. *What to do:* check the rate before the call. Internet-based calling is commonly 40 to 70% cheaper than a normal mobile call.

A small worked picture. A guesthouse with an owner and two staff takes bookings on the owner's personal cell. They move to one cloud number that rings on all three phones. Bookings stop depending on one person. Outgoing calls come off a balance the owner can read. The owner's private number goes back to being private.

What it costs with Ukutel: R80, R160 or R360 (about $4.86, $9.72 or $21.87) a month, with R50, R100 or R150 (about $3.04, $6.07 or $9.11) of airtime included and two, four or six devices on one number. Extra airtime is topped up as needed and does not expire.

Two things to check first: that your premises have reliable internet, and who should answer which calls.

It will not suit every business. For most small ones, the saving is real and the change takes an afternoon.