Get to Grips with your Business Mobile Spend

A recent case of mobile phone abuse has cost a borough council thousands of pounds in unnecessary charges, highlighting the need for better mobile technology management and security at every level. 

Business Mobile costs may be seemingly smaller than IT costs, but they are not insignificant, and managing mobile technology contracts is becoming increasingly important, especially when it comes to departing staff. 

A confidential investigation was triggered at Blackburn with Darwen borough council following an audit that concluded the council had been open to "significant abuse" of its £182,000 mobile phone contract.  One member of staff was found to have been racking up a £200 monthly bill on a council-issued mobile phone, despite having left three years earlier.  Ridiculously, that is not where the story ends, with a further 327 phones deemed untraceable and more than 60 staff who had left the council, still in possession of their phones.  In 2010 alone, they racked up £3000 worth of charges. 

 

With the right management, organisations could cut their spending on mobile phones by up to a quarter, our suggestions include:

• Identify and recover the costs of non-business calls
• Reduce the number of mobiles given out to staff
• Consolidate all contracts into one
• Ensure that all hardware is returned to the company when a member of staff leaves or retires
• Use online billing to monitor usage

Fundamental to ongoing mobile management, is suitable security on all handsets particularly with the rising use of smartphones in business.  To avoid expensive reactive costs, there is a need for active investment.  For less than £20 you can now arm a smartphone with anti-spam, anti-virus and anti-theft software.

Adodo’s business mobile solutions incorporate first-class technology management, account management, and security protection as standard.  Ask Adodo today to find out what we can help you with.