The age of mobile working
“If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you want to have with you?”
We’ve all heard this question in one form or another, whether to judge someone’s character or as an ice breaker of sorts. Although we’ve all tried to come up with some smart answers, you’d be lying if you said ‘my mobile phone’ hadn’t crossed your mind just now. You’re not alone.
From the moment we wake up, to the moment we go to bed (and more often than not, the second we fall asleep), our mobile devices play an integral part in our daily routine.
The average person in the UK checks their phone every 12 minutes.
From looking up directions to a restaurant, to answering work emails and checking our online banking – our lives simply wouldn’t be the same without that handy device in our pockets.
According to Statista, the number of smartphone users worldwide in 2020 surpassed three billion and is forecast to further grow by several hundred million in the next few years.
This is certainly no surprise. Mobile has substantially evolved over the past two decades: smartphones are now as powerful as laptops, but much easier to use and carry around
In our careers, our mobile working technology allow us to stay connected to the business from wherever we are; to multitask; to seamlessly communicate with our colleagues and customers.
There are countless advantages of mobile working. That is, until our mobile service suddenly fails us and our smartphone goes back to being an expensive alarm clock.
Mobility is clearly critical to our working experience and business productivity. Nonetheless, getting it right is not always easy and requires a well-thought-out strategy and technology to support it – for the sake of both our customers and our mobile workers.
Say hello to the mobile working era
Simply put, mobile working describes a method of working that doesn’t see employees tied to a desk to do their jobs.
More specifically, it sees employees using devices such a smartphones, tablets, and laptops to work from anywhere. They can even connect devices.
In the past few years, this trend has taken on many names and grown in popularity – most recently, remote working has been the most widely used term to describe it, mostly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mobile working’s popularity is not likely to slow down any time soon. According to a report by Technavio, the global enterprise mobility market size is poised to grow by $862 million by 2024.3However, mobile working is more than just checking emails on a smartphone.
It’s having the ability to work, collaborate and communicate seamlessly and securely regardless of location. This firmly relies on technology and devices that allow employees to work from anywhere, at any time, without compromising their working experience, productivity, or customer service.
What is mobile working?
While it may seem like an easy concept to accomplish, a careless adoption of mobile working could be disastrous for any business. Poor data services or cellular networks are mobile working’s worst enemy.
Mobile working requires a great focus on device management and security measures and, most importantly, reliable connectivity and fast access to business-critical applications.
More often than not, remote employees have to suffer through connectivity issues, hindering their ability to work and increasing their frustration. Moreover, with 5G technology becoming readily available and mobile capabilities increasing, mobile working will likely see a much bigger amount of data interactions and real-time connectivity becoming possible. While the potential for these new technologies is exciting, it will also create an insurmountable gap between those businesses that will be able to harness and those that won’t.
It’s not just about flexibility
Effective mobility doesn’t just offer your employees a more flexible working environment. That is certainly a great perk, and it will definitely help you retain and acquire new talents, but ultimately, mobile working has the power to benefit your whole business. Transitioning to a successful mobile working environment can help your business to unleash its full potential and deliver tangible business benefits.
Better collaboration
Effective mobile service and mobile working strategy can help your business close the gap between mobile and office-based workers, reducing delays in decision making and improving processes.
Higher customer satisfaction and loyalty
When your customers can’t reach you because your mobile service is poor, they will turn to your competitors. 32% of customers would stop doing business with a brand after just one bad (or non-existent) experience.
Increased employee productivity and efficiency
Mobile devices boost worker productivity by 34%, saving employees two hours per day on average.
Lower business continuity risks
You can’t control unexpected events such as snow, floods, roadworks or even a global pandemic, but with the right mobile working strategy, you can ensure that your business can rely on its mobile service in case your fixed-line infrastructure is down.
Success comes down to your mobile service
Mobile technology has become indispensable to businesses.
It helps employees stay on top of calls and in touch with customers while they’re out of the office. It keeps workflows moving despite not everyone being physically at their desk. It enables flexible working, giving way to a better work-life balance.
To fully harness the advantages of mobile working, choosing the right mobile provider is critical. After all, not all mobile services were made equal. The wrong choice could prove disastrous for your business, while the right one could improve productivity, efficiency, and overall business success.
Made for business or consumers?
Your chosen provider’s network coverage will be a key factor in determining the success of your mobile solution. It’s critical for any successful mobile working transformation.
With the rise in remote working and working on the move, you’ll want to equip your employees with the best possible coverage for total productivity, no matter where they are. For instance, think of sales staff taking calls while on the road or keeping up to date with emails around customer meetings.
Patchy data service and poor voice quality can be hugely detrimental in these cases.
Smartphone user habits are also changing. With the advent of 5G, more and more people are ditching their fixed broadband setup and using their phone for data instead.6 With mobile working on the rise, this is only set to increase further.
Some of your mobile workforce may even buck the ‘bring your own device’ trend, harnessing a smartphone or device that has advanced capabilities and truly shines under the most robust network access.
Your chosen provider should put an emphasis on network investments and deploying new technologies to support the never-ending changes in the way employees are using mobility services. Success comes down to your mobile services.
In light of this, you should also consider whether the service itself has been designed for business or consumer use.
Many providers’ core business is consumer-led, so investment in network features and future service developments are likely to be driven by consumer demand, rather than business needs.
A business-only provider will ensure your mobile service has been designed with business requirements in mind and that your network won’t be clogged up by consumer traffic.
How can they help?
No matter how good the mobile service, it’s inevitable that you’ll need to get in touch with customer service at one stage or another.
It’s vital to ensure you have a provider whose customer service arm is available, knowledgeable, and responsive when you need support.
Consider: how are your feelings about the initial interactions you’ve had with your prospective provider? How insightful are they about your business and industry? How easy will it be for you to contact the provider outside of normal working hours? What are the agreed SLAs? And most importantly, how much control do they have over the service? If they have access to the core network, should any problems arise, they can be dealt with quickly and directly.
Simplicity is key
You’ll want a provider, and a mobile solution, with a reputation for reliability. One that can help make the management of your mobile estate simple and stress-free. To do this, look for providers who offer access to usage and billing information. Ideally, you’re after a customer portal or similar that will allow you to review timely and accurate usage stats and invoices so that you are able to quickly assess the state of your mobile strategy. This requires calls, text and data to be organised within your bills in a clear and coherent way.
No one likes to overpay for data and features they’re not using.
The best provider will work with you to find efficiencies. Their contracts and tariffs will allow for a degree of flexibility, meaning your solution can grow in line with your business needs.
Conclusion
Mobile working has never been more critical to business success. With so many employees choosing, or having to work away from the office, providing them with a stable, secure and reliable connection to conduct their business on the move is vital.
Unfortunately, getting it right is easier said than done. Poor mobile services are hindering your business productivity, frustrating your employees and turning away your customers. With so many things that could go wrong, your business must choose the right mobile service.
By taking into consideration mobile coverage, customer service and tariffs – and singling out the providers that offer them – you’ll be in the best position to make sure your next mobile provider can add the maximum value to your team and your business.
Start your journey to a successful mobile working strategy today.
Gamma Mobile is the business-only mobile service designed to deliver improved coverage for voice and data to empower, not hinder, conducting business while on the move.
Get in touch today and we’ll help you choose the right mobile solution for your business.
