Many IT Execs are faced with choices of BYOD, CYOD COPE,  etc etc etc.   Deciphering the best way to put wireless devices in employee’s hands is a tough call.  Additionally, none of the information is simple and all parties involved can get very judgey about the right course of actions.

We have a 4 part series looking at the key issues of equipping employees.  This Part 3  (see Part 1 here and Part 2 here) reviews the best way to pay the monthly bill and how to address key monthly issues like maintenance, usage and security.

PART 3:  DECIDE WHO OWNS THE MONTHLY COST

If Corporate Owns Monthly Cost: 

The Corporation will have much more control over cost, security, productivity, usage and accountability.  This requires some expertise to gather billing data, identify trends and pull out meaningful information but is worth the trade-off in savings.

If Individual Owns Monthly Cost:

The main benefit is less hassle when managing monthly billing using Individual Liable. While this is a “out of sight out of mind” approach, it is believed the risks far outweigh the benefits of not purchasing monthly services corporately.

The overwhelming industry opinion is that Corporate Liable billing is the most cost effective mechanism to pay for monthly service.

Consider these statements:

“The most effective way for an organization to manage its telecommunications resources is to treat wireless the way most organizations treat wireline services and other business productivity services.  This means that users contract for centralized billing for business lines”…. from the In-Stat report, Wireless Billing for Organizations:  Penny Wise and Pound Foolish.  

In an ATT internally published article:  Making the case for Enterprise Mobility:  Wireless Management and Spend Control, “There was a significant improvement in ll key management and cost metrics for the lines managed by the Enterprise purchasing in a corporate liable environment….with the organization in control of the devices, decisions can be made that embrace pooling, flat rates or other cost-savings measures that are just not possible in the individual liable model.  This can represent aggregate savings in excel of 30% for most organizations.

Bill Police too has seen significant cost reductions moving from Individual Liable to Corporate liable where the client saved over $600,000 in 13 months.  See the results in the below Table:   

Again,  as in Part 2,  an Important Additional Consideration:  Set a Policy:  Use the below considerations to set guidelines

No matter which choice is made, it is imperative to have an exhaustive policy in writing which makes sure the employee understands the process and signs agreement.  The policy should include:

1. How the employee will obtain service?
2. Who pays for the service?  How is this done?
3. Who is supporting the service and rate plan to fit the user’s need?
4. How are services insured that the organization is not overpaying?
5. How is corporate billing information secured?
6. What happens if the equipment is lost, stolen and who suspends?
7. What if there is a breach of confidentiality (text messages with personal patient information send resulting in a HIPAA violation?)
8. Who is responsible for monitoring productive and cost effective rates/plans?
9.  What happens if the employee is using the device for home internet?
10. What Apps will be allowed on the device and how is this monitored?   (Netflix sure sucks up the data and could cause overages on data pools)
11. What happens when the employee leaves? (changing responsibility and who keeps the phone number?)

Still Protecting Your Wireless Rights…