Employee Wireless Coverage for Travel and Home

Implications: Corporate customers have been resistant to company-wide business plans because of these coverage and usage issues:
    1. Traveling to regional offices,
    2. Sales territories,
    3. Employee’s home,
    4. Calling work peers,
    5. Handset ownership.

Analysis: In-Stat’s study of only 44% company-wide business wireless plans compared to employee-reimbursement is caused by trying to find a carrier that covers offices, sales territories, and homes.  The company increases its mobile productivity if the employee chooses their own carrier according to work locations.  First, traveling between regional offices raises the problem of whether one carrier has the network across the locations.  Secondly, if the company has salespersons, the coverage issue is magnified into network across sales territories.  Thirdly, coverage in the employee’s home area makes a difference in job productivity.  The In-Stat study pointed out that with business plans, less time is spent on personal calls.  However, coverage in the home allows the employee to work longer hours and be more accessible.  Fourthly, the company business plan probably leads to increased calling of work peers for morale type of conversation like talking at the in-office water cooler.  With employee-expensed wireless, an employee is less likely to submit a bill with unnecessary calling of work peers.  And fifth, under employee-reimbursement, the employee will choose and care for handsets more diligently than a company business plan.  In summary, the employee takes ownership of wireless with their own plan compared to a company program.