Contract Service
Contract service is more like insurance than maintenance. You pay a low fixed annual or monthly rate to equalize your cost of maintenance with no big surprises.
The question with contract service is one of who is the better guesser of your actual service cost. On a brand new system the odds are about even. Generally speaking, the odds are in your favor for older equipment and the service provider for newer equipment. Contract service is generally a good choice for those who want the service provider to do on-site maintenance. Typically, the cost for contract service covering everything but abuse and accessories will average around 10% of the equipment original cost. paid on an annual basis.
Putting it another way, you could expect the annual contract service cost of a five thousand dollar repeater station (excluding the antenna system) to be around $500 per year. Most service providers prefer an annual payment term although many offer monthly terms (typically calculated at 115% of the original equipment cost which would be $575 divided by 12 or about $48 per month).
These calculations assume normal business hours of 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. 24/7 service is basically double that of daytime service ($1,000 per year in this example). Personally, we believe that our unique TimeShare Service is a better plan for most users (See selection menu at the left).