Policies Covering Mobile Phones

Transcription

1 Policies Covering Mobile Phones MAPI Council Survey January 2012 No. 215 By: Don Norman Council Director and Economist Assisted By: Jun Lee Research Associate Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation 1600 Wilson Blvd, Ste 1100, Arlington, VA T mapi.net

2 Policies Covering Mobile Phones MAPI Council Survey January 2012 No. 215 By: Don Norman, Council Director and Economist The results of the survey on policies covering mobile phones are summarized below. QUESTION 1 Does your company have a formal mobile phone policy? Yes No QUESTION 2 If your company has a formal mobile phone policy, what areas does it cover? (Check all that apply) Frequency (Based on 58 Responses) Reimbursement for expenses Phone Selection Personal Use Security Other Other: Everyone is provided Company Blackberry's. Legal (Hands Free) - Reimbursement for damage - Use cannot conflict with any Company Policy Mandatory use of hands free devices is required in automobiles. Security software must be installed on personal phones (and tablets) that are configured to receive . Standard phone and minutes plan. Employee can purchase a "nicer" phone if desired but has to pay. Downloading/Applications. Policy dictates how often you can get a new company paid device. Preferred Carriers & Services Covered. Mobile phone use covered in travel policies related to talking while driving. QUESTION 3 Comments or elaboration on your company s mobile phone policy? Some policies are global where others are regional. We are formalizing a policy currently to roll out to our associate population. Phone options and available plans and services are set by company policy with no option for the user to make changes. Provide Blackberry's for business use. Limited to the level of the person as to what type of phone received

3 My answers are based on what we do for employee s who are issued a company phone. Long term agreements are established at the corporate level and cover phone model offering, domestic and international calling plans. Phone security is also covered by our corporate IT group. 1.) Type of device that can be used. 2.) Identification of people who will be supplied a company phone 3. Identification of people who will get reimbursed for company pone use. The policy outlines when an employee is eligible for a company phone. All phones are company issue under global agreements with service providers. Recently updated to be more comprehensive. Company pays minutes and standard phone. Nicer phones paid for by employee but they own the phone. Use is intended for company business, some personal use that does not cost $$ and does not interfere with business is allowed. Phones and phone services are selected and managed centrally. We offer two carriers, ATT and Verizon. Moving away from BlackBerry to iphones; BU's determine who is eligible; annual review of expenses at corporate. Policy covers who is eligible for a company paid phone, and policies around that company paid phone. If you choose to use your personal phone for company activity, certain rules also apply, and you are eligible for reimbursement. Our company policy also includes an eligibility matrix, recommended providers and guidelines for business use of personal devices. We allow many employees who travel to have a company-issued phone. Expenses are paid by the company BUT we ask employees to pay a modest co-pay to use the device as their personal phone as well. We provide employees a monthly mobile phone allowance (either $50 or $100 per month). This is to cover the business portion of their mobile phones. They can use any plan and get any phone they like as the phones are personal. No bills are submitted and the only thing we control is if the employee is eligible for the mobile phone allowance. If an employee wants a smart phone hooked up to the company's computer system, we restrict the type of phone, how they hook into the company computers and how company data is available and secured. With respect to question 4, while all costs are paid, policy indicates that it is expected that personal use be limited. We have been recently discussing this issue and are seriously considering the elimination of mobile phone expense reimbursement. a. Hands free usage when in car B. if employee wants on personal phone C. employee must use Airwatch d. device must be password protected e. covers tablets also Blackberries provided at certain levels in the company. Below those levels, reimbursement of personal phone usage occurs on a case-by-case basis. We manage this pretty tightly and don't allow personal usage of company devices. Company does not pay for hardware. Employee is responsible to purchase phone and service. Company will reimburse for required communication cost. Totally decentralized, some businesses tightly regulate use, others are like zoning in Houston. Code of business conduct covers how mobile devices are to be used/protected. Employees can elect away from the company supported BlackBerry for an iphone but only the BlackBerry will be supported. If you want an iphone, you are responsible for managing updates. Only Company owned devices may connect to the system. Focus is on non-use or, at best, hands-free use of a mobile phone while driving a car for company business.

4 QUESTION 4 How would you characterize your company s coverage of mobile phone expenses? All mobile phone costs are paid directly by the company Employees are fully reimbursed for their mobile phone expenses Employees are partially reimbursed for their mobile phone expenses Employees are not reimbursed for mobile phone expenses QUESTION 5 If mobile phone expenses are partially covered by your company, what qualifies for reimbursement? (Check all that apply) Frequency (Based on 19 Responses) The cost of the phone All monthly phone charges business and personal Monthly phone charges for business related calls and 57.9 text messages only 11 Data plans (e.g., the monthly charge for Internet access on smart phones) Based on 19 responses Comments or Clarifications? Within our company, current practice is "management discretion." This means, effectively, the reimbursement policies are unevenly applied. Company pays for 100 text messages a month We are issued with blackberries. Max $100/month cost reimbursement (unless actual bill is less) for voice, text and data. $100 for a new handset every three years. Full reimbursement only for approved devices for approved employees (eligibility matrix). Basically our policy is we provide a "stipend" for business use of a personal mobile phone. The company doesn't really care how much, or how little is spent by the employee on their phone and/or phone plan as these are all personal expenses to the employee. Employees at a certain level receive a company blackberry. Others are able to claim incremental business expense portion on their expense reports. The Company pays 100%, sometimes through the company program and sometimes via expense report. Employees must justify to use programs outside the Company We are moving toward a policy in which those who are identified as requiring a phone will get a specified monthly allowance in their paycheck (grossed up for taxes) to purchase whatever phone services they require.

5 QUESTION 6 Does your company specify the mobile phone that employees must use? Yes No QUESTION 7 If employees can choose the mobile phone they use, are there any restrictions on that choice? Yes No QUESTION 8 How do you maintain data security/integrity on your mobile devices? Handled by IT (6 companies) Combination of factors including encryption and password protection. (16 companies) Goes through the company server. Security maintained the same as laptops, etc. Limited devices where security is sound. Enterprise servers for . Airwatch software. (2 companies) Software that wipes the phone when stolen. (4 companies) List of approved operating systems and use of MDM tool. Software tools that detects malware and shuts down the phone. At the network level (2 companies) Company owned devices required This is a new, hot topic for our IT department. Policies are currently being developed. No formal policy. QUESTION 9 Does your company utilize mobile device management solutions? Yes No

6 QUESTION 10 If your company utilizes mobile device management solutions, what service or solution does it use? Airwatch (3 companies) Blackberry (3 companies) BES/Afaria Cellution Embedded into Blackberry or Good MDM is in pilot phase. We are considering Mobile Iron. We do have a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) Mind Wireless (2 companies) Mobile Iron (3 companies) Remote disabling for IPhones Tangoe Verizon Wireless Business Connection (2 companies)