Mobile Device Costs: does a change in use mean extra cost?
04 Jul 2012 | Filed under: Cost & Purchase Management
Posted by: Mark Stevens
Recent research from O2 highlights that making calls is now the fifth most-used function on smartphones, with web browsing and social media updates heading the list as the most-used functions.
If you manage a fleet of mobile phones or devices and pay close attention to the bills, you’ll no doubt see that data volumes have risen over time as a result of this trend, so the answer to my rhetorical question is normally “yes”. But you can mitigate changes in costs by digging into usage in fine detail.
Traditionally, buying decisions have been made on headline cost-per-minute call costs and, perhaps, the size of call bundle. But with increased data costs, it’s important that you also find a tariff which also matches current data usage and takes account of future growth, otherwise you may fall into the trap of being locked into high data costs for a long contract period. In addition to understanding call volumes and durations you might want to specifically consider the total data used, and average data per user and data trends over the last 12 months before approaching the market. It’s also useful to introduce and regularly update a mobile/tablet usage policy taking account of emerging trends.
If it looks daunting, feel free to make contact and discuss whether Auditel’s cost management service can help.
