cell Phones

[Mitchell]

I was wondering how many pro's and part-timers use cell phones in the field? I have used mine when calling customers from the field, or bidding on jobs.(I have never had a customer tell me no when I called them at work and told them my quote and that I was in front of thier house ready to go.) They are also very handy to call the wife and tell her when to have supper ready! (or if I need to stop and pick-up)

[Vandora Lawn & Landscape]

Excellent business tools. I couldn't live without mine. Call customers on the run. Arrange rentals. Call dealer and see if he has a part in stock. Call home talk to mother :). Call significant other. Anything else?

[geogunn]

I stay connected. VERIZON is my provider. even though I don't travel widely, my coverage is national, no roaming, no extra fees. very nice.

GEO

[MOW ED]

Have one for 6 years now and its very valueable.

[Vibe Ray]

Very useful, but in my opinion, not worth the $$$

[dmk395]

My cellphone is my business phone, along with a laptop its like i have a virtual office in my truck!

[PLS]

Mine has paid for itself for the year with just one call. I don't use it much, but when I need it, it can save many miles driven or hours wasted. So many plans to choose from now, surely there's one to fit anyone's budget.

PLS

[Prime Seasons]

Those who use cellular are just a little too stuck up... yeah, I used to think that way. For the last two years now, the cell phone is almost as important as the ztr's on my trailer.

I can't imagine not having a cell phone while out and about. Also consider call forwarding. This is real handy for me as I am a solo operator-- no secretary waiting to field calls for me back at the office. Makes a much better image when you can respond to customers and other potentials immediately as opposed to checking for messages every few hours!!!


gus $.02

[John DiMartino]

I use mine a lot,especially when plowing,we have terrible service in my area,no signal,especially with digital,im always getting "all circuits busy' when i try to dial out.we need a major overhalu of our system.My father actualy won a case against the phone co,he returned phone and cancelled service due to lack of service signal and all circuits busy,whenever he tried to use it.Phone co slapped him with big $$$ fine for not fulfilling 15 mo commitment-he had his attorney file papers and they settled before court-all fines dropped.I will; be trying the walky-talky type phones next year,friends who have them love them.

[Duncan IN]

If you are haveing problems with a bad signal try one of the portable antennas. I too am in a bad signal area alot of the times I only get one bar. But with the exteral attenna I get three bars out of 4. Not bad

.02

Levi Duncan

[RMc Lawn]

I always thought there was no reason to have a cell phone. However I am not sure if I could do buisness without one. Call to see if parts are in stock, get more product coming let wife know the day did not go good and now am way behind schedule so won't be home for supper etc. etc.. Very important tool!!!!!!

[thelawnguy]

I agree, a valuable tool. No more getting home and finding a message from a customer I was next door to that day. When I have a breakdown in the field Im on the phone hunting down the part. While plowing snow I can phone two towns over and see if conditions there are any different.

Its to the point I carry a set of local phone books in the truck now(white page edition + yellow pages.)

[bob]

Try to imagine not having a cell phone. You would have to stop at payphone or wait until you got home.

[cos]

I am also thinking about carrying a couple of phone books too. Directory assitant is 99cents. Not worth it. the phone book will do just fine.

[chrisbolte]

Cell phones are great. Cheap and you can use them anywhere. I go to school 100 miles from where I provide service but all customers can reach me at a number that in local to them and is afforadable to me.

[CCLC]

I didn't notice that anyone said they used NEXTEL phones. We dumped our regular cell phones for these. They have phones and two-way radios built in. The phones are great to keep in touch with customers and suppliers. The two-ways are great for instantly getting in touch with the crews. The cost is well worth it. Quick communication has saved us a lot of time and money trying to track a crew or customer down.

[lawnboy]

Nextel is the way to go I agree. Although I think it is expensive. They need to offer plans that you can just have two way and no min. on the phones. That would be more practical for a couple of my phones.

[thelawnguy]

I live in a heavily populated urban area, and the Nextel network is absolutely lousy. Its only good for using between crews around here, and if you are going to do that you might as well spend $60 for a pair of walkie talkies.

[bondlawn]

I carry my cell phone everywhere and certainly won't be caught without it. The one problem I have (hopefully someone can help me) is that when I'm running an engine I can't hear the phone even if its on my belt.

The best I've been able to do so far is to check for messages (hopefully they left one) when I shut the engine down. Sometimes it may be 5 hours before that happens (when I run out of fuel) on my larger properties. Not an ideal solution for customer service!

If anyone has a solution, lets hear it.

[toddman35]

Some cell phones have an option that you can set it so it vibrates. You might want to read the manual on your to see if you can do this to your and how.

[cat320]

Nextel is way too much money I pay $11 dolars a month and $39/29 cents a min. only thing i don't have 2 way but it beats paying $70 a month.I have heard some stories that you can't get out with them and bad service so for that kind of mony i would expect better service and if there is so many of them out there why are they so much money?

[CCLC]

Nextel does cost alot and their quality/service is less than acceptable at times. We feel that with crews going different ways it is well worth the trouble and cost.

[Davis TLC]

I consider my cell phone to be a very valuable tool. Like others have said, call to see if parts in stock, let the wife know when I'll be home, etc. In my area Verizon is about the only provider with decent coverage. Currently they are upgrading the system here to add digital, so the analog service is the pits at times. But they assure me that once the digital is on line service will improve.

[yardsmith]

I lost my cell phone bushhogging a field 2.5 weeks ago, & it was a week before new one came in. Man, I don't know how I could operate without one! I use Sprint PCS, & they've been alright by me for the most part. This industry is still in it's infancy; most any carrier will piss you off from time to time, & Sprint has done its share to me.
Anyways, I upgraded my package while still getting 1st incoming minute free. So if the wife calls me, I have the first minute free; after that the minutes start ticking away. My phone also has minute beeper. Before a minute passes, I hear a beep. So I hang up & wife hits redial & we talk for a minute at a time until we complete our conversation. Not as cheesy as it sounds; Sprint no longer offers it anymore, & just last month I had 83! free minutes of airtime that way during peak hours that I didn't pay a penny for, nor did it come out of my minutes package.
About the vibra-call feature- I tried that a few times, & I miss more calls that way because the mower is bouncing & vibrating anyways & I couldn't tell the diff.

[thelawnguy]

"About the vibra-call feature- I tried that a few times, & I miss more calls that way because the mower is bouncing & vibrating anyways & I couldn't tell the diff."

I have found that if u keep the phone in a shirt pocket, the resulting "hermy" will alert you to a vibrating call... ;)

[Premo Services]

It is definetly a valuable tool, didn`t have one for two weeks due to upgrade and problems,the long distance at pay phones like to broke me. Also have a pager with number that is bus. number works great. When I started I had a business number 70.00 month and checked it all time for messages,whew the cell bills, but with my pager it is working out great,get page and talk to customers. It also has alpha messages and wife pages me from home or work and tells me simple message and that is it, but when she calls me the minutes really add up quick because you always talk about something else. :)

[lawnboy]

Nextel offers many diffent plans. We use are phones all the time. If you buy just two ways you can only reach your workers and no one else. What happens if you are out of range and something bad happens. "911" They are a safe and handy thing to have. Plus for $70 like someone stated you get 400 cell minutes, and 300 two way minutes. In my area Nextel works great. I will agree that they should offer different plans such as one that is only two way, and maybe 10 min. on the cell. That may be more practical for your crews, because they really shouldn't need to use it for anything else.

[KirbysLawn]

http://www.unionturf.com/wtf.gifLet me tell you something. When I called to cancel my nextel account they were trying to offer me better rates & more minutes. May want to give that a try if you want a better program.

[CCLC]

One thing to remember about nextel is that when the two ways are "out of range" so is the cellular. The coverage is not as good as most cellular providers but in time I think they will improve. Go to your nextel retailer and look at a coverage map and then go somewhere else and look at a coverage map and you'll see the difference.