250 DC mins, is this enough??? HELP

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to this forum so sorry if I sound like a newbie. I was considering getting Nextel. I was looking at the Team Shared Plan which has 400 cell minutes and 250 DC minutes and then adding two "add on" phones for $15.00 each. I know 400 cell minutes for 3 people is very little but our plan is to not use them (we all have other cell phone providers) this seems to be the cheapest way to have 3 radios. We would be sharing 750 DC minutes. We plan to only use the radio time.

Here is the question...Is 250 per phone too little. I have one Nextel guy telling that 250 munites is more than enough and another telling that 250 is nothing.

We are a VERY small company who plans to just keep in contact between us three guys. One guy sometimes does pickups and deliveries so he can take a phone with him, sometimes the guy that stays in the shop doesnt get to regular phone in time so this way he can have a radio on his belt and I will be on the streets (trying to sell our products) but I need to sometimes contact the other two guys as they might need to contact me. I know its impossible to predict how much someone will use the phone but I just want to get a idea from other people how much is 250.

Any feedback would really help!!!
Hector

PS thanks to all in advance

You can answer you question in two ways.

First check each of your cell phone bills now. See how many minutes each one of you speak to the other two during a month. Multiply by three (3) the highest number of minutes, whoever has the called the other two the most, to determine your estimated monthly usage. Some websites have suggested to then increase this by 20% (x1.20) to cover unanticipated calls (to clients and family on the iden network).

Second, our sales person stated that Nextel has done a study of Direct connect users and found that the average usage was 100 minutes. Keep in mind Direct connect is reported to being billed in one second increments.

Whichever plan you chose can be changed. After a month ( or three) your Nextel dealer can perform a account review to determine if you need to increase your shared minutes.

Remember to ask for discounts!. If you accept American express you can get 5% off your monthly fee. Go to the american express website and look under merchants benefits. Punch in your american express vendor id, and you will see Nextel's site with a 5% discount. Also if you service large companys you may want to ask your dealer if you eligible for discounts.

Finally purchase at the end of the month when the dealer is trying reach their monthly quota.

if you are only looking for the direct connect feature you may want to consider boost mobile. they are the prepaid nextel service. if you are going to be using it for a business this may be a better option for you. it costs $1 per day for unlimited direct connect but it only charges you for the days that you use it, so if you don't work on weekends you would not be charged for those two days.

1 second increments past the first 6 and you dont pay while you recieve the reply, so its 250 (minutes) x 60 (seconds). The average DC call is much shorter than a phone conversation because the technology demands brevity and you dont have to shoot the breeze. If you talk for about 250 minutes a month on the cell now, you'll be more than fine with the DC. Just keep an eye on your usage- if you start to experience overage, adjust or use the phone every so often.

250 seems like nothing for me. I usually use in excess of 800 DC minutes a month, and that's just talking to friends, not conducting business.

There seems to be some confusion on how Direct Connect is billed.

This is the complete definition of Direct Connect Billing:

The Originator of the call is defined as the person who makes a connection first (alerts do not count, alerts are always free) The DC call will last until there is a 6 second break in the conversation (at that point your screen changes to recent calls). The next person to speak after the 6 second break is the initiator of a new DC call

2 seconds (one for themself, one for the person they are talking to) are billed against the originator's phone for every second that the call lasts. If the originator goes over the allowed minutes for thier Price plan they will have overages charges of 0.15 per minute that they go over (most plans) Many plans have unlimited minutes so this is not an issue.

For Nationwide Direct Connect the Originator is billed 0.20 per minute (0.10 for them self, 0.10 for the person they are talking to) as a long distance charge if the two phones are in different calling areas. Even if the phones are outside of thier home calling area, as long as they are in the same calling area as each other, there is no NDC charge ... Unlimited NDC can be added to any price plan, but unlimited NDC only means that you will not be charged the 0.20 per minute long distance charge, you can still get overages @ 0.15 per minute if you use more minutes than what is available on your plan

International Direct Connect is charged if you originate a DC call while you are pulling off of a tower that is outside the US (even if you are physically inside the US - so be careful near the boarders) The Charge for IDC is 0.50 per minute or can purchase unlimited NDC and IDC together for 20.00 per month.

So, if you are not the originator of the call, you do not get charged minutes, or NDC charges or IDC charges - you are in the clear. But most people do not pay attention to the 6 second rule and don't realize that they are starting a new call, or don't realize that if you answer an alert that you are paying for the other person's minutes ... but all in all, most direct connect conversations are short compared to cell calls so it's no big deal