Talking Cell Phone Safety (NAPSA)—If you tend to ring in the holidays by talking on the phone, you've got company. Americans spend more time chatting with friends and family during the holiday season than they do most other times of the year. Try these cell phone tips to help keep you safe and save you moneythis holiday season. Safety First If you talk on the phone while driving, experts recommend you: * Remember your headset—Use a hands-free device that lets you answer a ringing phone with a voice command. * Use voice mail—Only take calls that are necessary. The less you talk on a cell phone while driving, the safer you will be. * Keep it light—Whendriving, avoid distracting calls that are emotional or intense. * Text later—Alwaysrefrain from other distractions such as sending and receiving text messages while driving. * Play it safe—Pull over to the side of the road to dial or if a call requires too muchattention. Cost Cutting While calling to say happy holidays is a great way to keep in touch, it can sometimesresult in an unwanted holiday surprise—an unusually high cell phone bill! One of the best ways to avoid such surprises from all the add-on fees and taxes that may result from going over your monthly minute allotment is to switch to a prepaid wireless phone. Companies such as TracFone Wireless, rated number one in Make It Home For The Holidays— Pull to the side of the road if you need to dial a number on your cell phone while driving. wireless customer service by Planet feedback.com, let users know up front what their exact cost per minute will be. That helps eliminate surprisingly large cell phone bills at the end of the month. The companyoffers a variety of airtime cards to fit into any budget. Rates start as low as 10 cents per minute. Going with the largest prepaid provider also has advantages. One of the best advantages is TracFone’s increasingly popular handset feature—a minute meter that tracks “real time” phone usage. The prepaid idea has caught on with an increasing number of Americans. According to the Yankee Group, the numberof prepaid subscribers in the U.S. will increase from 18 million to 25 million by 2008. For more information, tips and to buy a Tracfone as gift this holiday season, visit www. tracfone.com.
