Why You Should Upgrade Your Company Phones As Often As You Upgrade Other Hardware
There are many benefits to giving your staff company mobile phone devices. It allows you to make better use of smartphone tools, because you know everybody who needs it has a device compatible with any apps you want to use, and you also don’t have to worry about having your staff access information like company email from their own personal phones. For the staff, it is a great alternative to using their own phone for work purposes, because they can switch it off when they are not working without missing any personal calls or messages, and get rid of that ‘constantly working’ feeling that modern communication tech can bring.
Why Your Company Phones Have A Limited Lifespan
Of course, smartphone handsets are being developed and released all the time, and this means that investing in one set of company devices to give to your staff is not the end when it comes to equipping everyone with the mobile technology you want them to have. As a result of this, you need a strategy for replacing handsets as they start to go out of date. Remember also that modern smartphones are not really designed to last more than a couple of years, and the batteries can start to fail with time. Because you don’t want a large proportion of your team suffering battery issues, you need to make sure their phones are always relatively new.
How Often To Replace
Consider how often you replace other hardware, like laptops, or how quickly you roll out new operating systems when they become available. Your cycle for replacing all of your staff phones should certainly not be any longer than that of other hardware, but may need to be shorter, as laptops tend to be built to last longer and vary a great deal less in terms of their compatibility. Most contract mobile phone companies offer their customers an upgrade every one or two years, and this is the type of policy you should also consider, and your corporate phone provider may even offer this.
What To Do With The Old Phones
One of the easiest ways to dispose of the old phones when you roll out replacements is simply to let staff hang on to them. No matter what phone network you had them on, they may be able to use a service like unlockingsmart.co.uk to be able to keep the handset and put it on their own network. Alternatively, you could donate them to charity, or give them away to staff who are perhaps not given phones as part of their jobs, like more junior personnel. As long as you dispose of them responsibly, there is no real issue.
When you start issuing company phones, make sure you have a plan in place for when to replace them, how to roll out the new phones, and what to do with the old handsets.
