Mobile Usage Control – The Headache for Employers

Data overages and security threats – your complete guide to controlling employee mobile usage 

Mobile usage…what’s the problem?

It’s an accepted fact that employees use their company mobile phones to a certain degree for personal use. In the new digital era, you must be ‘connected’ at all times and contactable at any minute of the day. However, managers share the common pet peeve of witnessing employees scrolling Facebook, perusing Amazon or even watching YouTube on company devices. Recognised ‘phone separation anxiety’ highlights just how addicted we are to mobile usage. Stress levels spike when we are away from our devices. In fact, the average American checks their phone every 12 minutes.

Incoming alerts and messages distract employees’ flow of concentration and decreases productivity. However, this common annoyance becomes a more serious problem if employees are racking up data overages and you are responsible for the expenses. What’s more, you know that the problem will only get worse when 5G arrives due to faster download speeds. So, what mobile usage and data management options are out there you wonder? 

Possible Options

Capping Devices 

Perhaps you have considered contacting your operator to set a cap on data mobile usage. A ‘4 GB maximum per device…easy, problem solved’ you say to yourself. However, this method opens itself up to a host of problems. For example, what if your employees are using data roaming overseas and reach their data limit? Consequently, they can’t access their business emails and related applications. Or, what about the security risk of employees visiting sketchy or even dangerous websites? You know that cyber attacks are becoming more regular on mobile devices and are concerned about sensitive company information being stolen. Realizing that this option only solves half the problem, you go back to the drawing board…

Data Pool Plan

It is at this point that someone suggests a pooled data plan. You investigate deeper and discover an attractive 1 terabyte plan that all employees can share. But how do you divide this terabyte equally and ensure that a particular employee isn’t munching up all the data? Aside from overages, what about the risk of cyberattacks when cellular browsing and controlling what websites your employees visits? Over four hundred companies per day are targeted by phishing scams, and malware attacks costs a company $2.4m on average. Again, you remember that your carrier won’t be able to monitor threats and prevent cyber attacks. Now you’re back to square one…

Mobile Device Management System 

Maybe you have done some further research and decided that an MDM is the way to go. After a quick browse online, their features sound impressive. They can blacklist social media sites, perform security audits and they work on both android and iOS devices, perfect! But wait, MDM’s can only detect malware and viruses after they have infiltrated mobile devices, they can’t prevent threats. As well, employees can easily get around blacklisting restrictions by accessing the same platforms through their browsers. 

Corrata

By now, you’re beginning to feel a bit frazzled. The pros and cons of each data management solution are starting to blur into one. However, the gods have been listening and have answered your prayers: Corrata Mobile Security and Control. You discover that devices can be capped while still allowing business applications to operate when the data limit has been reached. You learn that Corrata also solves the security issue. Corrata’s software blocks threats in real-time by restricting access to malicious or suspicious websites. Lastly, internet browsing is anonymous, adhering to employee privacy policies and GDPR regulations. Installation is instant and simple to deploy across all company devices. Finally, you sleep soundly at night knowing that you will never have the bill shock nightmare again!

To find out more visit corrata.com or email info@corrata.com.

For more industry news, insights and analysis – follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter