Business mobile solutions

What business mobile solutions cover

A business mobile solution is more than a contract for some phones. It is the set of services, devices and tools that lets your team work, communicate and stay secure wherever the job takes them. In practice, it usually covers:

• Airtime. Business mobile plans for phones, data-only plans for tablets and laptops, and shared or pooled data where it helps. See business mobile plans.
• Devices. Phones, tablets, laptops with built-in mobile connectivity and rugged devices for frontline work. See business mobile phones.
• Connectivity. Business mobile broadband, data SIMs for vehicles and equipment, 5G for business and wireless broadband for sites.
• Business mobile communications. Calling features such as Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile and Mobile Voice Recording on EE Business, Wi-Fi Calling where indoor signal is weak, and keeping your existing numbers when you move.
• Management and security. Mobile device management software and mobile threat defence, so every device can be set up, updated, locked or wiped from one place.
• Cost control. Spend caps, roaming controls and usage reporting across the account.

Not every business needs all of these at once. A five-person firm may only need good plans, a short list of phones and a simple way to lock a lost device; a large organisation will want a joined-up approach to enterprise mobility. The building blocks are the same, which is why mobile solutions for business scale well as you grow.

Mobile solutions for business: the building blocks

This table maps each part of a business mobile solution to the guide that covers it in more detail:

We can look after any of these on its own, or all of them together, so you deal with one supplier for your business mobile connectivity, devices and management rather than several.

Business mobility and enterprise mobility

Business mobility is the ability of your people to do their work productively wherever they are, using mobile devices, mobile connectivity and cloud apps. It covers the sales manager answering email between meetings, the engineer closing a job from site and the shop assistant taking a payment on the shop floor.

Enterprise mobility is the same idea applied at scale, with more emphasis on control: identity and sign-in, device management, security policy, data protection and support across hundreds or thousands of devices. You will also see the terms enterprise mobility management (EMM) and unified endpoint management (UEM) for the software that manages phones, tablets and computers from one console.

Whatever the size of the business, good workforce mobility shares a few traits:

• People can reach what they need from any approved device, without workarounds
• Devices are managed from the day they arrive, and can be locked or wiped if lost
• Connectivity matches the work, from coverage along a delivery route to backup at a site
• Costs are visible, with spend caps and usage reports rather than surprises on the bill

The benefits of mobile devices in business are practical rather than abstract: information is captured once, at the point of work, customers get answers sooner and fewer journeys are wasted going back to the office for paperwork.

Building an enterprise business mobile strategy

An enterprise business mobile strategy does not need to be a long document. It needs to answer six practical questions, and to be reviewed when your business changes:

1. Users and roles. Who needs a mobile line, a tablet or a data connection, and what each role actually does day to day. Office, hybrid, field and frontline staff have very different needs.
2. Devices. Which phones and tablets you approve for each role, how long their published security update period runs, and whether any role needs a rugged device. Keep the approved list short.
3. Security policy. How devices are enrolled in management, what the screen lock and encryption rules are, whether staff can use their own phones, and what happens when a device is lost or someone leaves. Write it down in a company mobile phone policy.
4. Connectivity. Which network suits each team's area, which lines need roaming, which devices need data SIMs, and where 5G or wireless broadband would help.
5. Lifecycle. How new devices reach staff ready to use through zero-touch enrolment, how repairs and replacements are handled, and how old devices are wiped and recycled.
6. Cost control. Spend caps, roaming bars, shared data where it helps, and a regular review of usage so plans match what people use.

We can help you work through each of these, starting from your current contracts, devices and users rather than a blank sheet.

Mobile technology in business: where it pays off

Mobile technology pays off most where people are away from a desk. A few examples of where mobile technology for business earns its keep:

• Field service and trades. Job sheets, photos, signatures and parts lookups on a phone or tablet, with data SIMs and rugged devices where the work is tough. See business mobile devices for field staff.
• Sales and account management. Email, CRM and video calls on the move, with Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile on EE Business putting Teams calling on the mobile number.
• Retail and hospitality. Tablets for orders and stock, and card machines on business data SIMs at markets, pop-ups and events.
• Construction and temporary sites. 5G business broadband for site offices waiting for a fixed line, and mobile broadband for teams on the move.
• Regulated and customer-facing teams. EE Business Mobile Voice Recording captures calls and texts on business mobiles and helps businesses meet record-keeping obligations.
• Offices and hybrid teams. Wi-Fi Calling where indoor signal is weak, eSIM for quick set-up and a single business account for everyone's lines.

The common thread is that the device, the connection and the management have to work together. A tablet without a reliable connection, or a phone nobody can wipe when it is lost, quickly becomes a cost rather than a benefit.

Mobile solutions for small business

Mobile solutions for small businesses should be simple to run without an IT department. A sensible starting point:

• A business account with all your lines on it, so the business owns the numbers and pays one bill. See business mobile phones for small business.
• Airtime first. Put lines on business plans that match how each person works, and keep using phones that are still up to date, or buy new ones outright. Our sister site covers small business SIM only plans.
• Basic device management. Even a few phones benefit from a way to lock or wipe a lost device; Apple Business includes built-in device management for Apple devices, and the networks offer their own services.
• Spend caps and roaming controls on every line, so a single trip abroad does not land a large bill.
• A data SIM or hotspot for the laptop or tablet that goes out on jobs, and a backup connection for the shop or office.

This approach scales: as you add users, you add lines and devices to the same account and the same management, rather than starting again. Small business mobile solutions that start tidy stay manageable at twenty or fifty people.

Security and device management for a mobile workforce

Every mobile device that holds company email, files or customer details needs managing. Two layers do most of the work:

• Mobile device management (MDM or UEM) enrols each device, applies policies such as screen lock and encryption, installs work apps, keeps work and personal data apart and can lock or wipe a device remotely. Options include Microsoft Intune, Sophos Mobile, IBM MaaS360, Apple Business's built-in management and Samsung Knox Manage; see mobile device management software.
• Mobile threat defence detects phishing links, malicious apps and risky networks on the device and tells your MDM when a device is at risk. We supply products from vendors including Check Point, CrowdStrike, Lookout and Sophos; see mobile device management and security.

The networks also offer their own services with business lines.

EE Business EE Business offers device enrolment and management, enrolling devices into Apple Business Manager, Android zero-touch enrolment or Samsung Knox Mobile Enrollment so they appear in your MDM, and lists mobile threat defence and device lifecycle management among its services. See Jamf with EE Business and Ivanti with EE Business.

Three Business Three Business offers Three Device Management, a cloud device management service powered by Ivanti for businesses with more than 25 devices, and Three Mobile Protect, which helps protect up to 25 devices against phishing and malware. See Three Business security and device services.

Three's small print: "Minimum term applies. Three Business product terms apply."

If staff use their own phones for work, check how Cyber Essentials treats BYOD and home working.

How Forever Communications helps

Forever Communications supplies EE Business and Three Business, and can also supply O2 Business and Vodafone Business. Through Forever Group we also supply device management and mobile security software, so we can look at your mobile set-up as a whole. We can:

1. Review your current contracts, end dates, lines, devices and usage
2. Map your roles to the right plans, devices and connectivity, on the network that works where your people work
3. Help you choose device management and mobile security that fit the tools you already use
4. Plan the move, including keeping your numbers and enrolling devices so they arrive ready to use
5. Quote for airtime, connectivity and software together, with licensed software billable monthly and terms confirmed at quote

We focus on getting your airtime costs down, so you can buy phones separately and refresh them when it suits you. Pricing depends on the networks, plans, devices and software you choose, so ask us for a quote.

Contact us to talk about business mobile solutions for your team.