For years, businesses have encountered the challenge of effectively, safely, and legally communicating with employees.
While it’s true that organizations have several solutions to overcome this problem, it’s also true that information isn’t clear and many employers can get in trouble before understanding which one is the right way to proceed.
This problem has become especially visible now that thousands of companies have been forced to send employees to work from home, a solution many don’t actually like but now has become a matter of health.
Giving Business-Issued Phones
When we work with company-owned phones, many aspects of the problem can disappear in the act. Privacy and intellectual property are in check as businesses have more control over their assets and how communication takes place. Also, this way the company makes sure that the worker has the proper tools to make his or her job.
Now, where do we have the actual problem? In the cost. Issuing phones for everyone in the company comes with a serious cost, both financially and logistically speaking. Add to this the chance of breaking or losing it. The organizations will also have to store a stock of phones to make sure everyone has what they need on time
Forcing Them to Use Their Personal Phones
It’s more common to see businesses forcing employees to use their personal phones for work-related tasks. This is, of course, a serious problem, especially if we see it from the “forcing” point of view.
The only way for this to work is if the company and the employee reach the right conditions. For example, the organization may pay for the entire personal phone bill. Yes, it’s a solution but it also opens the door for more trouble for the company as it doesn’t have any control over the use of such phone and the employee may be abusing the situation.
Instead of paying for the entire bill, the employer may only pay a negotiated fixed amount. The problem here is that it puts pressure on the worker and may lead to discussions about such a fixed amount and arguments about its fairness.
On top of this, companies may establish policies for control and accountability, asking workers to provide detailed reports of their phone usage. This way the organization may calculate the right amount and pay for it each month. The problem? The significant administrative cost of analyzing these reports. Most of the time, such an effort is not worth it.
Also, businesses must take into consideration that forcing the employee to use their personal phone without the proper agreement between the two parts is illegal and may lead to lawsuits.
Implementing a VoIP Solution
In the times of COVID-19 and forced remote work, smart solutions must be implemented. One is VoIP for business communication. Relying on business-owned phones or arguments about using personal phones for work-related calls is something from the past.
So, what about using a modern solution to this modern problem? VoIP technologies are the best, smartest option to get the whole personal phone dilemma out of the equation.
These are highly cost-effective, scalable, easily manageable, and secure. Instead of trying to control dozens or hundreds of smartphones, centralize all communication on one effective and flexible platform that will cost way less and keep the legal troubles at bay.
At My IT Guy, we have been helping our clients with VoIP solutions for years. They have chosen this technology to simplify their communication protocols and save plenty of resources in the process.
Want to know more? Send us a message today.