Those who bring their own device from work have quickly gone from the minority to the majority, and the benefits are countless. Yet modern smartphones are rendered almost useless without an Internet connection, and 3G can get pricy quickly. Wi-Fi has gone from being an extra perk to a necessity. I know how shocking it has been when I’ve traveled abroad for work and forgotten to turn my data usage off and returned home only to find a hefty bill waiting there for me.
This is why I’d like to introduce BYOD’s new counterpart— BYON – “Bring Your Own Network.” If you already are bringing your own device to work, why not bring your own network? At iPass, we’ve just announced a new IT-Sponsored billing option that does just that – allows the individual business user to add the iPass service to their personal device that they use for work.
IT negotiates the rate, configures the client options and helps to manage the service. The end-user signs up for the service with their credit card, gets the same great service that they received on their corporate managed devices all at their low corporate rate.
Traveling for work can be rough; going from airport to airport, trying to fit a week’s worth of business casual in a small carry-on, inevitably forgetting a smartphone charger or pair of socks at home. Working while traveling shouldn’t be difficult or expensive, but it is when you don’t know when you’ll be able to access the Internet next.
If you BYON, you can relax knowing that you can use your Wi-Fi at any of our thousands of hotspots, look up the hotspot locations in advance using our Hotspot Finder, and use that money you just saved to buy an extra pair of socks or belt when on the road.
Today, we announced an expansion of our iPass Open Mobile Express solution to help organizations tackle the rising costs of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).
To control the increasing costs of roaming with these individual (and often multiple) mobile devices per employees, IT can negotiate the best Wi-Fi connection rates and enable other departments to take fiscal responsibility for their Wi-Fi network needs. As well, IT can maintain control and support of a hybrid environment of both corporate-owned and employee-owned smartphones and tablets.
To complement the BYOD trend, we call this BYON, or “Bring-Your-Own-Network,” as employees will have access to over 1 million commercial-grade hotspots. iPass provides the ability to monitor usage and also assess networks speeds.
Enterprise IT can now offer their departments and employees a direct credit card billing option for seamless global Wi-Fi access on smartphones and tablets. More employees prefer to use their own devices, and many organizations are taking advantage of this trend.
If you want to try this with our 24-hour trial, apply today!
As Tim Cook is currently saying…this is a Post-PC world.
Our recent Mobile Workforce Report was crammed full of statistics, but we couldn’t fit it all in. Here’s some additional data on the intersection of roaming, Wi-Fi and preferred applications.
Q: Which network do you prefer for mobile application use such as email, Facebook, streaming video etc?
In looking at Wi-Fi vs. cellular, mobile workers prefer Wi-Fi overwhelmingly for email. However, those from Europe and North America chose Wi-Fi more (68%) over Asia-Pacific (60%).
International calls, which can be very expensive when roaming, are more split. Mobile workers from North America preferred using Wi-Fi, whereas the other regions slightly preferred using 3G/4G networks. This comes as a surprise when the survey shows that more respondents from Asia-Pacific and Europe report exceeding their monthly data plan. Perhaps there’s an availability and usability issue here. Some calls just can’t wait for you to find a Wi-Fi hotspot and get logged in. (Of course iPass connects you to more hotspots, and you can connect automatically!).
Finally, one of our questions asked mobile workers which device they primarily logged into Wi-Fi. Our respondents gently reminded us that this is not an “either-or” question. Yes, laptop, but many people responded that they log into Wi-Fi first with their smartphone; then the laptop. For Europe, smartphone was nearly equal as the primary device.
And as the iPhone 5 is showing better battery, longer talk times, and faster Page loads, these newer devices are the first thing that a mobile worker will want to connect with.
We’ve discussed the security issues of Wi-Fi as well as the number of Wi-Fi only electronics growing quickly, but we yet to mention the cap 3G/4G puts on your electronics. Here’s how your smartphone can get more from your 3G/4G data caps:
4. 3G/4G data caps (and International roaming) limit what apps and functions we can do on smartphones and tablets. We often hear from our customers, “my smartphone has 3G/LTE/4G data service, I have all the bandwidth and coverage I need.” However, what these same users forget is that all that added bandwidth (with bigger data application needs and file transfers) now means that monthly data limits are reached sooner than ever before. That new iPad Retina display might look really nice, but once you start streaming videos or video-chatting, you’re gonna run into your data limits (or overage charges) sooner rather than later. Wi-Fi is THE cost effective alternative to parsimonious and pricey 3G/4G data limits. Why limit the usefulness of you smartphone or tablet by sticking to the low thresholds imposed by 3G/4G data plans? For international travelers, the need for global Wi-Fi is even clearer.
Check back next week to see our fifth and final reason, “Premium ‘command and control’ services + Integration with Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions”
Those who bring their own device from work have quickly gone from the minority to the majority, and the benefits are countless. Yet modern smartphones are rendered almost useless without an Internet connection, and 3G can get pricy quickly. Wi-Fi has gone from being an extra perk to a necessity. I know how shocking it has been when I’ve traveled abroad for work and forgotten to turn my data usage off and returned home only to find a hefty bill waiting there for me.
As Tim Cook is currently saying…this is a Post-PC world.
