By Ashok Bindra, TMCnet Contributor

A recent Phone (News - Alert).com blog post suggests that a prepaid cell phone service may be a better option for your business when it comes to saving dollars.

The blogger Jeb came to this conclusion after meeting a good old friend, who invited him for dinner one evening. The friend, who calls himself Ben, recently bought a smartphone. Yes, it is 2012, but he just could not justify buying an expensive gadget as there were many other commitments. Finally, after saving money, Ben gets his hands on iPhone (News - Alert) 4. Being on restricted budget, he gets his SIM card and an inexpensive plan from Straight Talk.

The blog post indicates that Ben got a deal from Straight Talk. For just $45 a month, Ben get’s unlimited talk, text and Internet use.  By comparison to T-Mobile’s (News - Alert) $95 with only a 5 GB data plan, the savings are tremendous.

So, if small and medium sized companies can provide a cell phone to their employees, they can save a fortune by going to a prepaid plan similar to the one offered by Straight Talk. Even though many people think prepaid cell phone companies are not reliable, the savings are in thousands of dollars every month, depending on the size of the company, according to Jeb.

In reality, many of the prepaid service providers, also known as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) buy their voice, text and data service from the major cell phone providers.  So, if AT&T (News - Alert) is the only service that works in your office, then pick a SIM from a company that uses AT&T towers, argues Jeb.

However, there are a few limitations.   MMS messages can be an issue sometimes, and 4G could be a problem on some phones.  Plus, it does not provide roaming outside the U.S.  If International roaming is necessary, then the blogger recommends buying an International roaming SIM. And, if you are using Phone.com, you can just forward your calls to the International roaming SIM number and callers won’t know the difference, says Jeb.

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