In fact, the provision of a business mobile plan could also be essential if you have frontline workers. Think, for example, of employees who have to travel between sites for client meetings multiple times a day, while also having to make critical decisions on the way.

So how do you go about selecting the best business mobile plan for your business? Start by considering these questions.

1. How much will you spend on a business mobile plan?

As with most small businesses, you might be working hard to ensure that your cashflow is sound and that unnecessary expenses are minimised. Think about how much you can realistically spend on a mobile plan, how many employees will need it and how much they will be using it in a given month. 

Take into account all the other essential requirements for your employees, such as data limits, speed, device model or SIM-only options to select a plan that best fits within your monthly budget. 

2. Do you need a device or just SIM-only plans? 

Mobile plans can come with a device included, or they can be SIM-only. If you are starting with a small team and feel the need to provide the team members a dedicated work device, it may be worth looking at plans that include phones.

But if you already have a team that prefers to use their phones, or if you work with many temporary or contract staff, SIM-only plans might be a better option. You will only need to provide the SIM card and they can use the plan on their own phones.

Singtel provides SIM-Only Plus plans on a short or no contract period from $20.

3. How much talk time and SMS will you need? 

Mobile business plans usually come with a set talktime and number of SMS. Generally, talktime ranges from 100 to 1800 minutes while you may be able to send between 100 and 1800 SMS messages depending on the plan. Think about how your employees will be using these features. There are also value added services or bundles that can be added onto mobile plans for more talktime and SMS.

Some may prefer to use apps such as WhatsApp for voice calls and messaging, relying on data but others may prefer to use calls and SMSes from the network provider. And in some cases, such as when sales personnel need to contact clients, they may only have the option of a direct phone call. Make an estimate of how many minutes on average your employees will be using these features and choose a plan that can accommodate their needs. 

4. How much data will you employees use?

Your employees will also often need to use data for viewing, downloading and sharing large files, or even for browsing the net for looking up essential information to help them in their work. With mobile data usage in Singapore rising rapidly, it is reasonable to expect that employees may also rely on mobile data for work more.

According to Statista, mobile data usage in Singapore reached an average of 71 petabytes (71,390 terabytes) per month in the beginning of 2022, almost doubling from the third quarter in 2019.

This data usage can also vary depending on the type of work and team. For example, designers and marketing teams will have to work with large media files and artwork. And if they have to share these files on the go and do not have access to WiFi, they will be using up data on their mobile plans. Both Singtel SIM Only Plus and XO Plus mobile plans come with large data bundle promotions.

5. Do you need high speed connectivity?

The speed of connectivity can also make a big difference in your team's productivity. Slow speeds can result in delays during file transfer or client calls breaking up and interrupting good conversations. On the other hand, high speed 5G connectivity can ensure that your team has access to all the files and information they need to do their work in quick time and that poor connectivity issues don't jeopardise client calls. 

Singapore leads the way among countries which have adopted 5G connectivity. In fact, according to Singtel, Singapore is the first country in the world to achieve over 95% of 5G nationwide coverage. As such, SMBs in Singapore have a unique opportunity to take full advantage of 5G connectivity speeds for their work. 

6. Can you add on additional features?

Some mobile business plans also offer the option of adding on features. This could be increasing the talk time and data or sharing these between devices or different types of business roaming plans for employees who travel a lot. 

Singtel’s 5G MobileShare Plus is a plan that lets you share a bundle with up to 3 other mobile lines. It also offers additional 5GB local data per month for every 5G MobileShare Plus line added.

At the end of the day, the choice of your mobile plan should meet the needs of your team and also give you value for money. With Singtel’s Business Mobile Plans, you will see a number of options that answer the above questions and like many other SMB owners, find one that suits you the best.