Overview

The BillShrink application for Wireless enables you to discover the best cell phone carrier and plan that meet your personal usage requirements, with the best call quality, at the lowest cost. The fact of the matter is that there are hundreds of cell phone plans available on the market, with literally millions of various add-on combinations. With all this unavoidable complexity, there is no single “right” answer for everyone; rather, the optimal choice depends squarely on how you personally use your cell phone (i.e. who you call, when you call, how much you call, whether you use SMS, etc.) To solve this problem, our application allows you to interactively describe your wireless usage profile, and in return, receive comprehensive, real-time analysis and feedback on which plans are the best fit for you.

In the section below, you will find responses to the following frequently asked questions about the Wireless application:

• How are the plans ranked?
  
• What will you tell me about each plan that you recommend?
  
• How do I personalize my wireless profile?
  
• How do you factor for the strength of coverage provided by the wireless carriers?
  
• How do you determine my personalized savings?
  
• Why should I use the “Analyze Your Bill” feature?
  
• What if I don't already have an online account with my wireless carrier?
  
• How do I use the coverage map feature?
  
• How can you help me stay on the best plan?
  
• If I switch to one of the recommended plans, will I still be able to keep my existing cell phone number?

How are the plans ranked?
We rank plans as a function of the two parameters that wireless subscribers tend to care most about: a) how much a plan costs; and b) which carriers will provide the best call quality. For cost, we leverage our in-depth understanding of how each plan is structured to calculate exactly how much your cell phone usage would cost on that plan. Naturally the plans that support your usage with the lowest associated cost are rated highest in the cost dimension. For call quality, we perform a comparison of the expected signal strength provided by each carrier’s network at the locations that matter most to you (i.e. at home, at work, etc). Naturally, the carriers with the strongest network in those areas will rank the highest in the call quality dimension. Lastly, we combine the cost and coverage sub-rankings to come up with an aggregate plan rank. Full details of our plan ranking methodology are available for each plan we display by clicking the "BillShrink Score" graphic on the left-edge of each plan result.

What will you tell me about each plan that you recommend?
Since each plan is ranked and recommended as a result of detailed analysis against your personal requirements, we are able to provide a significant about of information relating to all of our recommendations. The illustration below highlights the information available to you with each of our recommended plans:

How do I personalize my wireless profile?
The left side of the results page features a convenient set of input elements that allow you to enhance your profile. As a starting point, we populate your profile with certain assumptions (such as the national calling average for number of anytime minutes, the zip code that your computer is associated with for determining home/work location, etc) and show you the top-ranked plans for those default settings. However to improve the accuracy of your recommendations, we encourage you personalize you profile by interacting with the various toolbar elements. Please note that the Usage module gives you the option of automatically importing your wireless bill details, or you may instead use the sliders/buttons to describe your usage profile. You will notice the Profile Completion Meter in the top-right corner will approach 100% as you continue to enhance your profile.

How do you factor for the strength of coverage provided by the wireless carriers?
Since most cell phone users expect a reliable signal and clear call quality from their wireless service provider, a key aspect of our plan recommendation service is to analyze how each carrier’s network is expected to perform in the locations that are important to you. For example, when you provide us with your home and work addresses (via the Location toolbar module), we will determine the expected signal strength from each carrier at the indicated locations, as well as the commute path in between the locations. The signal strength ratings for any particular location, as well as the average rating across all the analyzed locations, are expressed in the number of bars you might expect to see on your cell phone. Naturally, the greater the number of bars, the better the expected cell phone signal, which lets you quickly compare the carriers against one another in terms of personalized network coverage. The signal strength ratings we provide are based on network coverage information published by each of the carriers which is typically based on the location and configuration of their cell towers and network infrastructure. While we are confident that we are basing our recommendations on the most reliable information available, please note there are a number of external factors (i.e. weather, trees, buildings, handset-specific issues, etc) which may lead to your actual signal strength experience differing from our indicated rating.

How do you determine my personalized savings?
A key aspect of our analysis is calculating how much each plan would cost you for your indicated (or imported) usage profile. Since we already have that information, as long as we know how much you are currently spending per month (which you can enter via the Current Service module on the toolbar), we will show you precisely how much money you can save with different plans. If you also tell us the status of your wireless contract, if in fact you are currently under contract, we can factor for any applicable termination fees and give you a bottom-line savings figure. To get a detailed breakdown of how the savings figure was computed for any plan, simply click on the "per year" link just below the savings figure.

Why should I use the “Analyze Your Bill” feature?
It’s quite simple. The more we know about your wireless usage, the more precisely we can assess how all the plan alternatives fit with your personal profile. By choosing to let BillShrink analyze your bill, we spare you from having to recall and manually input your usage details. Moreover, the automated import feature also allows us to comprehend your usage in much more detail. Think about the 20+ page cell phone bill many of us receive each month – BillShrink will account for literally every line item on that bill to understand exactly how you use your cell phone. With this level of detail, we can compute precisely how much your monthly usage would cost on every other plan on the market. In addition, once the bill import is successfully completed, we will display a detailed overview of your bill that will help you gain insights relating to your wireless usage patterns. The diagram below highlights some of the content . Also, please be assured that BillShrink is committed to protecting your secure information and only uses your account information for the purposes of connecting to your account on your behalf.

What if I don't already have an online account with my wireless carrier?
Fortunately, it is quick and easy to register for an online account with your current wireless service provider. Refer to our handy registration guide for step-by-step instructions for all the national carriers.

How do I use the coverage map feature?
The coverage map provides a visual interface for quickly viewing and comparing the signal strength provided by each carrier’s network in the locations of interest to you. There is a small version of the map adjacent to the plan recommendations and a larger version of the map accessible from a link just above the small map and from several other pages on the site. We recommend utilizing the large map to take advantage of additional functionality, as highlighted in the diagram below:

How can you help me stay on the best plan?
Change is inevitable. Your usage patterns may change over time. Or there could be changes in the market with the introduction of new plans, adjustments to existing plans, upgrades to carrier networks, changes to the carriers that your frequent contacts are using, etc. Our goal is to keep you updated of these events in the case that they represent a change in our top plan recommendations. If you activate the Recheck Monthly feature (accessible via the Filters & Alerts module on the toolbar) we can automatically track how your set of recommended plans vary each month and will notify you by email should there be anything meaningful that you should be aware of. Our goal is to build a long-term relationship with our users to help them make intelligent purchase decisions persistently.

If I switch to one of the recommended plans, will I still be able to keep my existing cell phone number?
Yes. With some recent regulatory changes (known as number portability) consumers now have the right to take their cell phone number even if they switch to a different wireless carrier. You will simply need to follow the instructions provided by each of our retail partners during checkout to ensure that your number is transferred to your new cell phone service.