Article Contributed by Amy Bennett
Many companies have changed recently from dishing out BlackBerrys and iPhones to their employees to opting for the ‘bring your own device’ policy. There are clearly a number of advantages to this policy, with the main one being that you will no longer have to fork out for mobile phones, laptops and tablets. However, is it the best option? Or are we moving away from what actually was the best solution?
BYOD
Saving money is important especially when the recession is only just starting to seem as though it could soon be a distant memory. Businesses are still struggling, and making sure you keep costs down should be a priority. Therefore implementing a ‘bring your own device’ policy could save you a bundle when you work out the figures.
There are a number of other advantages of the policy such as the increased efficiency of your staff. With each employee using devices of their own choice and of which they are familiar with, they will spend less time getting to know the features. They will also be able to choose the apps and techniques they use for each task that suit their way of working the best. If as a company you supplied the device, it may not give people the same flexibility.
However, there can be arguments against most policies and this one is no exception. Many business executives believe that this is a bad idea and take the attitude that if something isn’t broke then don’t fix it. So how does providing company phones weigh up against simply reimbursing people for their calls?
Company Devices
When someone starts with your company, it can be a simple task to issue them with their contract as well as a laptop and a mobile phone. How could this benefit your company more by having to pay for the device yourself? Well actually in a surprising number of ways it can, especially if you work within a large corporation.
Many companies will offer you discounts if you have a constant supply of phones and laptops from them for business use. Although this will still cost you money, you will have the reassurance that if one of the devices breaks that you will be able to have it repaired or replaced in no time at all. You could also have the option of having a backup device if anything goes wrong. This will improve the overall efficiency of your staff compared to waiting for them to fix their own device. They may not want to do this due to money issues or simply not having time and it could cause you as a company to lose money in terms of work productivity.
The main issue that many businesses experience with ‘bring you own device’ policies is the time and labour costs it takes to sort out all of the expenses claims. Each employee will submit a claim each month and this is then verified and approved by the finance team. Especially with large corporations, submitting these expenses can take a huge amount of time and would actually be far easier if a company contract was used and automatically paid. Systems that flag up anomalies can be installed so that any employee who spends a large amount can be approached.
About The Author
This was written by Amy Bennett who believes that company devices have and always will be the best answer. Midland Telecom has provided her craft business with a business phone system that has really made a difference.