BYOD vs COPE: Which is Better for Your Business

Customers aren’t the only ones who like to have options, employees and businesses enjoy the very same privilege when establishing their presence in the industry. When it comes to technology, it seems that we have many choices, but few businesses do their homework when determining the best option for their own teams, budgets, and long-term expectations. Since employees often rely on computers, tablets, and mobile phones to do their work, communicate with clients, and interact with colleagues, it makes sense for companies to see what the most optimal solution will be.

Each business is different, and depending on a range of different factors, you can evaluate your situation and pick a solution that will help you keep your employees happy and engaged without risking your finances or your business security. There are two key policies that businesses implement, BYOD, which stands for “bring your own device”, and “corporate owned, personally enabled”, or COPE for short. These two are most commonly chosen by businesses of all sizes, but to help you make an informed call, here are a few key features to consider.

COPE helps with remote management

In addition to stronger security measures available through a COPE-based plan for your team, you know that your employees don’t always work strictly from the office. They’ll find themselves at networking events, traveling to conferences, or any other business-related scenario, and they can easily get their phone stolen or simply leave it behind. In any case, having access to their phones remotely helps you prevent any data breaches and keep your company-related information safe.

Company-issued phones can easily be wiped remotely, which means that even if your employees have had client information such as phone numbers, text messages, emails, or any other exchanges stored on the device, you can remove them remotely. Yes, it’s not ideal to give up on the device itself, but this will help you preserve your business integrity.

BYOD for greater productivity and engagement

While some companies fear that BYOD can lead to employees spending too much of their office time on frivolous online interactions, it seems that this practice has the potential to do the exact opposite for some corporate cultures. Allowing employees to choose mobile phone plans for both their personal and professional purposes can actually entice them to be wiser with their phone use and tweak their habits accordingly.

Owning the device and taking care of their payments introduces greater responsibility, and it even allows your employees to work from home on their own devices when need be, with familiar apps and other tools. This helps them wrap up tasks more quickly, and they’ll inevitably be more engaged since the phone is fully personalized to their liking.

COPE helps with limiting distractions

The very fact that the phones are owned by your business means that your employees will be aware of the limitations the devices come with. Although you can allow them to install and visit their personal social media pages, this is a practice many businesses steer clear of, precisely in order to avoid one of the key reasons for opting out of BYOD in the first place, which is spending too much company time on personal matters online.

If you’re running a tight ship and you have too many employees to handle, then a COPE policy is a great start to help minimize distractions in the form of visiting unwanted social platforms, websites, and other communication channels. Then again, a certain level of personalization is necessary, so each business needs to find its own balance.

BYOD is a great choice for your budget

Small businesses need to cut their expenses at every turn, but not reduce their productivity or growth potential while doing so. That said, smarter decision-making in terms of distributing financial resources can mean letting employees use their own phones for the purposes of making business calls, logging into their corporate email account, or running the company’s social media profiles. If these interactions are mostly conducted via the internet, or your Wi-Fi at the office, you’re looking at extremely low costs compared to purchasing phone bundles for your teams.

By using their own phones on your office network, you can help employees stay on top of their work without burdening your budget. It’s a cost-effective strategy, especially if some of your employees don’t use phones to communicate with clients that frequently, making it much simpler for your business to reduce expenses while keeping your employees happy.

Businesses can operate successfully with the help of both of these policies, but selecting one can mean a world of a difference to your employees, as well as other aspects of doing business. Before you choose a contract with your provider, take these particular aspects into consideration to make sure that you’re on the right track and that all of your business needs will be covered, as well as your employees’ preferences.