Wireless Expense Management Blog

Oct 21 2015

4 Tips for Managing Employees Who Are Data Black Holes

There’s one in every company. The person who just can’t seem to stop watching every video on the internet that they find. I mean, how many times can you honestly watch the “Charlie Bit My Finger” video?

Tip #1: Provide a Mobile Device Policy. The Bill Police has templates, but you can create your own policy that sets expectations for minutes, data and text usage per month (compare these to corporate averages) as well as how the device is intended to be used (not as a replacement for their home cable provider or for Netflix).

Tip #2 Address the usage: You can call them into the office for “a talk.” Gently explain to them that their data usage is out of line (provide examples if possible) and how it is costing the company to pay data overages.

Tip #3: Set a Limit

This tip will only work if you have the time and are willing to follow through on your limits. A couple of ideas to start — the employee has to reimburse the company, they have a data limit placed on their phone, or in the case of a multiple-offender, they are addressed for misuse of company property.

Tip #4: Suggest Apps

Give them suggestions on apps that can help them keep track of their phone minutes, texts, and data usage. A few popular ones for data are My Data Manager and Data Usage. For phone and text usage, carriers often have options for turning on alerts to phones; contact your representative to ask about your options.

Tip #5: Auto-Update on Cellular = Off and use Wi-Fi

This goes for all employees, but make sure all phones only auto-update when connected to a Wi-Fi network. This saves A LOT of unnecessary data usage and most apps will survive the maybe two-hour wait until your employee gets back to the office.

If you have questions about saving your company money through the auditing, optimizing, or managing of your wireless services, please click here to contact The Bill Police.

Still protecting your wireless rights.

Oct 19 2015

3 Tips for Effectively Managing Your Wireless Plan

Wireless management is tough in a company. Not only are wireless plans continuously changing, but the workforce is more mobile than ever! In the name of efficiency, we’ve gathered three tips that can make it much easier for you to manage your company’s wireless plan.

Tip #1: Track Your Lines

This will require monthly (and possibly bi-weekly or weekly in larger companies) upkeep. A simple template that you can create in Excel or Word which lists a few key elements will make a huge difference in the efficiency of your management. Bonus points for alphabetical organization. 😉

> Name (First and Last)

> Phone Number

> Phone/Plan Type

Tip #2: Keep Up On Plan Updates

Carriers sure don’t make it easy for enterprises to keep up on the latest happenings. This is something that you can delegate to one of your employees or use a third party provider like The Bill Police to assist. Have them keep track of the latest carrier plan specials; this will make it easier to negotiate for a better rate or freebies (such as text messaging) when the time comes.

Tip #3: Set Up an Audit

For a hands-off approach, let someone come in and audit your bill and service, like us, The Bill Police. We provide outsourced telecom expense management that simplifies billing and reporting while saving clients millions in wireless costs.

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If you have questions about saving your company money through the auditing, optimizing, or managing of your wireless services, please click here to contact The Bill Police.

Still protecting your wireless rights.

Oct 14 2015

Wireless Video Chat Mega-App Just Got An Upgrade!

While Microsoft’s Windows 10 release has gotten a majority of the attention this year, the upgrade to Skype has largely gone unnoticed. As one of the first and most-used video chatting apps, Skype still has a large hold on the market since Skype comes pre-installed on Windows computers and phones. (Give yourselves a pat on the back for that one, Microsoft.)

So, what does this update entail? Microsoft has ended the user interface differences between Windows devices and Android/iOS devices. This new version of Skype (Skype 6.0) for Android and iOS includes:

Skype for Tablet Mode users in Windows 10 including:
- All forms in Skype are now touch aware
- Input fields invoke on-screen keyboard
- Skype window re-sizes to accommodate on-screen keyboard.
- General fixes

(Skype)

If your employees use video-chatting to meet with prospects or customers, whether on mobile, tablet, or desktop, have them check out Skype. It is extremely useful because it is on multiple platforms and you won’t have to transfer contacts across devices. Also, it can be run from the web or Wi-Fi, saving you data usage, or watch for increased data usage if video chatting.

If you have questions about saving your company money through the auditing, optimizing, or managing of your wireless services, please click here to contact The Bill Police.

Still protecting your wireless rights…

Oct 12 2015

Apple iPhones Got HACKED

Whoop, there it is! As in, there’s the major hack that wireless experts have been predicting for some time now. Apple phones have been hacked and the results aren’t pretty, that’s for sure.

This may or may not affect the phones that are in your company, but this is certainly something that you should know in case any of your employees use Apple products!

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It was revealed by Palo Alto Networks and WeipTech that a malware theft occurred in more than 225,000 valid Apple accounts. The cause of this theft is attributed to people using “jailbroken” cell phones. Jailbroken cell phones are appealing to users because once jailbroken, they are then usable on any wireless network and they also allow the user to customize their phones, install third-party applications, and customize their ringtones.

The malware, appropriately named “KeyRaider,” taps into a jailbroken iPhone’s system processes through MobileSubstrate, and steals “Apple account usernames, passwords and device GUID by intercepting iTunes traffic on the device.” What’s even more alarming about this malware is that it can prevent users from accessing their devices once they’ve been hijacked.

The malware has impacted iOS users in 18 countries, and more users are affected each day. So what can we learn from this attack? DON’T jailbreak your phone! As tempting as it may be to “beat the system” it’s not worth compromising your personal data and financial information! Especially if it is a company phone that is connected to a company card — this can be especially harmful to an expense account.

If you have questions about saving your company money through the auditing, optimizing, or managing of your wireless services, please click here to contact The Bill Police.

Still protecting your wireless rights…

Oct 07 2015

5G…Seriously, It’s Going To Be A Thing

Did you hear? Verizon is going to be testing 5G in 2016 and hopefully rolling out the technology that year as well. Nokia Networks is also hopping on the train and promising to have commercial 5G-ready hotspot equipment in 2017.

According to Fierce Wireless, Verizon said it plans to work with partners such as Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Cisco, Nokia, Qualcomm, and Samsung to test 5G in the company’s innovation centers in Waltham, Mass., and San Francisco.

So, what are the capabilities of 5G? According to Verizon, the benefits of the next generation network will include “about 50 times the throughput of current 4G LTE, latency in the single milliseconds, and the ability to handle exponentially more Internet-connected devices to accommodate the expected explosion of the Internet of Everything.”

Roughly translated, it means if you thought 4G was fast, you better hold onto your hat because you’re in for a ride! This is an exciting time for technology (and to be a wireless customer); every year providers are pushing for faster service, better phones, and superior customer service.

But, also beware that faster speeds also mean more data traveling through your devices and with the end of Unlimited Data Plans, your bill may also reflect the increased cost of the faster data speeds!

What do you think the benefits of 5G capabilities will be? How do you think it will affect your bill? Let us know in the comments below:

If you have questions about saving your company money through the auditing, optimizing, or managing of your wireless services, please click here to contact The Bill Police.

Still protecting your wireless rights…

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