Upgrading or Downgrading Your Subscription

Upgrading or Downgrading Your Subscription

This guide teaches you how to upgrade to a higher plan tier, downgrade to a lower tier, add or remove extensions, understand pricing changes, manage pro-rata charges, and troubleshoot subscription modifications. You'll also learn best practices for scaling your service as your business grows or shrinks.

Overview

Your Zonitel subscription is flexible and designed to grow with your business. Whether you need to add extensions for new employees, upgrade to a higher-tier plan, or reduce services, making changes is quick and simple. Changes typically take effect immediately, with billing adjustments reflected on your next invoice.

Understanding Zonitel Plans

Plan Tiers and Pricing

What's an Extension?

An extension represents:

• One desk phone with a dedicated business line
• One mobile/web user access to your business number
• One SIP phone endpoint
• One virtual user seat

You can have multiple extensions, but you're only charged for active ones.

Business Voice Plan – Plan Comparison

Notes

• * Each extra Voice Service Number assigned to your account will incur a charge of $4 per each after the number included.

• **All base features include: call recording, contacts, faxes, social integrations, and SMS One-to-One.

• Plan price primarily depends on the number of extensions.

• Additional usage charges (SMS campaigns, AI features, WhatsApp, faxes) are billed separately based on consumption.

How to Upgrade Your Plan

Why Upgrade?

You should upgrade when:

• Adding more employees/users to your business
• The current plan tier's extension limit is insufficient
• You want to reduce per-extension costs

Example: You have 5 extensions on Small Business ($30/ext). If you add 2 more extensions, you must upgrade to Growing Business ($25/ext) to accommodate 7 extensions.

How to Downgrade Your Plan

Why Downgrade?

You might downgrade to:

• Reduce costs if your business has fewer employees
• Consolidate operations
• Remove unused extensions

Note: You can only downgrade if your extension count falls within the lower tier's limits.

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Growing from 3 to 8 Extensions

Situation: Your business is growing. You need to add 5 more extensions.

Current Status:

• Small Business: 3 extensions × $30 = $90/month
• Today's date: January 10th

What Happens:

1. You add 5 extensions (now 8 total)
2. System recognizes 8 > 5 (exceeds Small Business limit)
3. Automatic upgrade to Growing Business: 8 × $25 = $200/month

Pro-Rata Calculation (Jan 10-31, 21 days):

• Small Business rate (Jan 1-9): 3 × $30 × (9÷31) = $26.13
• Growing Business rate (Jan 10-31): 8 × $25 × (21÷31) = $135.48
• January total: $161.61
• February onwards: 8 × $25 = $200/month

Scenario 2: Consolidating from 12 to 6 Extensions

Situation: You're consolidating operations, removing 6 extensions.

Current Status:

• Enterprise: 12 extensions × $20 = $240/month
• Today's date: January 15th
• Days remaining: 17 days

What Happens:

1. You remove 6 extensions (now 6 total)
2. System recognizes 6 falls within the Growing Business limit (6-10)
3. Manual downgrade request to Growing Business: 6 × $25 = $150/month

Pro-Rata Credit Calculation:

• Removed 6 extensions (Jan 15-31, 17 days): 6 × $20 × (17÷31) = $65.81 credit
• Current month credit: -$65.81 (reduces amount due)
• February onwards: 6 × $25 = $150/month

Scenario 3: Temporary Extension Addition

Situation: You need an extra extension for a seasonal employee.

Timeline:

• Jan 1: Add seasonal extension (now 6 extensions)
• Mar 31: Remove seasonal extension (back to 5)

Charges:

• Jan: 5 × $30 + 1 × $30 × (31÷31) = $180
• Feb: 6 × $25 = $150
• Mar: 6 × $25 - 1 × $25 × (1÷31) = $149.19 (credit for partial month)

Understanding Mid-Month Changes

How Pro-Rata Billing Works

Pro-rata means you pay only for what you use:

Formula: (Monthly Rate ÷ Days in Month) × Days Used

Example:

• Monthly rate: $30
• Days in January: 31
• Days used: 15
• Pro-rata charge: ($30 ÷ 31) × 15 = $14.52

When Pro-Rata Applies

Pro-rata adjustments occur for:

• Adding extensions mid-month
• Removing extensions mid-month
• Upgrading to a higher plan tier
• Downgrading to a lower plan tier
• Changing plan tiers mid-month

When Pro-Rata Does NOT Apply

• Monthly subscription fee if you use the service for any part of the month
• Recurring add-on fees (billed on schedule)
• Setup/one-time fees

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I downgrade immediately? A: Yes, as long as your current extension count fits within the lower plan's limits.

Q: Do I get a refund for downgrades? A: No refund, but you receive a pro-rata credit on your current month's invoice.

Q: Can I upgrade and downgrade multiple times per month? A: Yes, but each change includes pro-rata recalculations. Frequent changes may be flagged by our team.

Q: What happens to my phone numbers if I downgrade? A: Your numbers stay with your account. You simply have fewer active extensions using them.

Q: Can I schedule a plan change for the future? A: Yes. Go to Services > Scheduled Changes and set the effective date.

Q: How long does a plan change take to process? A: Upgrades are immediate. Downgrades are processed within 24 hours after removing extensions.

Q: If I upgrade mid-month, do I pay the full month at both rates? A: No. You pay a pro-rata blend of both rates based on the number of days at each rate.

Q: Can I add/remove extensions from my mobile app? A: Yes. Log in to the app, go to Services > Extensions, and make changes. Changes sync to your account immediately.

Q: What's the maximum number of extensions I can have? A: Technically unlimited, though billed at Enterprise tier rates ($20/extension) after 11+.

Q: If I remove an extension, can I use that number elsewhere? A: Yes. After removal, the number can be reassigned to a new extension or managed independently.

Need Help With Subscription Changes?

Our team is ready to assist:

• Call us: (833) 966-4835
• Email: info@zonitel.com
• Text/WhatsApp: (833) 966-4835
• Live Chat: Available through your account portal