7 BYOD Considerations for Your Enterprise

Employees are simply more comfortable using a personal device than something issued by the company. Individuals are more likely to upgrade phones consistently than companies are, so often the company benefits by getting the latest technology to work for them. In addition, employees that are using their personal devices for personal reasons during non-work hours are more likely to be drawn into completing work tasks while technically off-duty – whether that be proofreading a document, responding to e-mails or working on a future presentation or project in their spare time. The greatest benefit is to employee satisfaction, though. Any individual is going to be happier with a device that they chose and have grown comfortable using daily than something that is assigned to them in which they had no say. The biggest drawback is in procuring technology that connects to a number of device types, whether Android, Windows or iOS operated.

Allowing employees to connect their own devices to presentation technology is a good way to streamline a presentation. When an employee can connect through wireless distribution their device to a screen or projector, they are automatically familiar with the technology they are using to present. Consider also customer, clients or potential business partners that come in to present – they may not be accustomed to your technology but they are well in tune with their personal device. This might mean a dynamic system in which a device connects to a display in order to drive content. This content can be manipulated on-screen, annotated, saved and shared. On the other hand, it could be as simple as screen-sharing technology that displays the same images on the device on a screen, where the presenter is scrolling through content on their own device and driving the presentation.

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This takes things a step further in how companies can allow employee devices to interact with enterprise technology. Where presentations allow employees to show what’s on their screen, collaboration technology can allow employees to connect their personal devices to interactive technology. Usually accompanied by a downloadable app, collaboration tech can screen share content over a display and several devices, and then allow that content to be manipulated and annotated to be reflected across all devices. Several employees can run a presentation together, taking and passing control of the screen as they go.

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Employees are more on the go than ever, and often must call in during meetings. Obviously dialing in from a cell phone is not a problem, but there is technology that will securely save the information for dial-ins so that employees can connect easily while on the go. Once they reach the office they can switch to their office phone, and then again switch back to their mobile device if they need to be pulled away. This increases efficiency and punctuality, and ensures that dial-in info isn’t lost to the point where employees can’t enter an audio conferencing session.

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There are obviously a number of basic video conferencing apps that are available for mobile devices, but there is the added possibility of roping in personal devices to your enterprise video conferencing system. Remote employees can join and participate or view video conferencing sessions straight from their mobile devices, on the go. This means remote employees don’t need expensive equipment to stay in touch, and they can stay on the road even during large, important video conferencing sessions. Video capture technology can also serve to save these sessions for later viewing across personal employee devices.

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In order to support a growing number of mobile devices on your company’s network, you have to ensure that your network has the bandwidth to support all of these devices. Consider that for every laptop wirelessly or otherwise connected to your system, there is likely a personal smart phone that is also connected, as well as the potential for a personal tablet to connect as well. So there is the potential for 3 connected devices for every employee in the building. You can see how network concerns can become a problem, especially for companies that do a significant amount of business online. Private clouds can be a solution, but they are expensive to create and even more so to maintain. Public clouds are great also, but security can become an issue. A hybrid solution is often the best bet for companies. You can learn more about the public/private/hybrid dynamic in our feature The Cloud: Public, Private, or Both?

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With all of these new devices on your network there is more of a threat than ever to the network’s security. Between viruses, malware and tainted applications that any given employee may carry on their phone, it’s very possible for an intruder to infiltrate a personal device and hide away until that device is connected to the network. The easiest and most necessary thing to do is to educate and inform your employees on the dangers of these threats and the ways these threats invade phones. Regular updates are a must, and employees should never give away password or username information through e-mail. In addition to this, powerful network security software is available from a number of trustworthy providers. Weigh your options and choose which works best for your company.

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