Looking at the Verizon and Cingular maps, it appears that most areas are well covered by both providers. There are pockets that have less coverage, but most of the area looks good. You will see that the prices of their rate plans are quite similar and both providers will have low-cost devices.
If you are interested in the “Push to Talk” feature (referred to as “Walkie-Talkie”, Cingular has this feature for its users. The cost is $ 9.99 per user for unlimited push to talk. add-on to your voice plans Please note that you must have a voice plan in order to have the PTT add-on.
Both Cingular and Verizon have family rate plans that allow you to pool your minutes (for all of your employees), which would save costs. Also, with either provider, calls between your employees will not count towards your minutes because they are considered “mobile to mobile” and most rate plans include free unlimited mobile to mobile calling.
When it comes to customer service, Verizon was rated # 1 and Cingular was rated # 2. These types of surveys are typically conducted by companies hired by vendors, so I wouldn’t put too much value on them. I would base my decision on customer service and reputation more on word of mouth, that is, on people you know who have had good (or bad) experiences. This is a much better indicator.
The good news is that you can try the service from each of the providers and if you are not satisfied with the coverage, you can cancel your service without penalty; with Verizon, you have 15 days, with Cingular, 30 days. If you are not satisfied with the service, you can return the device and cancel your service without penalty. You only pay for the minutes you used, that is, the prorated portion of the rate plan you signed up for. No termination fees.
So if I were you, I would choose Verizon or Cingular and buy a device or two and try them out during the trial period. If you are satisfied with the service, then you would get the rest of the devices. If you are not satisfied, I would try the other provider. Or better yet, get two devices from Verizon and two from Cingular (and maybe even two from Sprint, they have a 14-day return policy) and see which ones work best for your employees. This way, you can see for yourself what works best for you and your employees, and you won’t have to guess or trust what vendors tell you.
FYI, all providers will claim “fewer dropped calls, most reliable network, largest network” etc, but keep in mind that your location and phone device also have a lot to do with your experience. Dropped calls are often more related to the phone devices themselves.
One last thing. Verizon uses CDMA technology for its voice users and Cingular uses GSM (Sprint uses CDMA and T-Mobile uses GSM). GSM is the “global” standard, so people who travel abroad and want to use their phones would want a GSM provider.
