A great way for parents and kids to stay in touch is through the use of smartphones. This allows for text messaging, full telephone service, the ability to leave voice messages and also for email access anywhere there is internet availability.
The large mobile carriers and service providers offer several phones that are “kid friendly” and what they market as low cost, but there are typically a lot of strings attached to those phones, including the requirement for one or two-year contracts. To get away from this need that can lock a family into long-term plans, the use of prepaid smartphones with no contract is a great option for parents to consider.
The Advantages
By using prepaid smartphones with no contract, the parents and the teens or older kids have the option of upgrading the phone to the latest model whenever they like. With contracts, the user will not be able to upgrade, or will have to continue to pay on the original phone as well as the upgrade, adding to the cost.
With a prepaid phone, there is no phone charge spread out over the months on the contract. At just a fraction of the cost of the cell phone service provider’s phones, these phones are perfect for anyone that likes to have the latest in phones.
Better Plans
Depending on the carrier you select, prepaid smartphones with no contract can also offer a better option with the plans offered. Some of the services that accept these phones offer unlimited text, data and calls, something that is certainly not offered through the traditional cell phone service providers.
There are even some of the prepaid plans that allow users to bank or roll over their unused minutes on specific types of plans. This is ideal for those families where use isn’t always constant and may increase over some months and drop off over others.
Switching Carriers
Another feature for parents to consider with prepaid smartphones for both themselves and the family is that there is no long-term requirement to stay with one specific carrier or one specific type of plan.
With optimum flexibility, families can choose carriers based on pricing as well as service. Changing carriers or providers is as easy as simply moving at the end of the month, as with no contract there is only a service agreement on a monthly basis, allowing you to move to the lowest cost carrier to suit your budget needs.