Over the 2011 summer holidays, we visited Glenelg in South Australia. A nice location which is very convenient for your families and those wanting a place with a good safe beach with little undertoe or rips.

So there we are, 40 degree day, sunscreen on and ready to enter the water when I broke into laughter. Entering the water I saw 2 people entering the water holding their smart phones. After having a really good laugh about it, it actually demonstrated to me how much people are addicted to their phones. I thought there was some new crazy app – iswim that records water temperature or conditions (who knows, there might be one) and that’s the reason for the phone in the water.
As it turns out, what the people were actually doing was sharing their beach experience live on social media. This is as live as it gets – take the photo, put it up on facebook or whatever site you use, and bang, share with friends in real time. Imagine what this will be like in a 4G world with people posting videos live.

This got me thinking between the boundaries of work time and personal time in a connected world, where the mobile device links not only your work life, but also your personal life. Importantly, it got me thinking about is this allowable in the scenario where this is a company provided mobile.

In a normal operating environment, most organisations as an example lock down their PC’s and Laptops to avoid too much personal content being place – that is, they are strict business tools and enforced as such. The mobile is a strict business tool also, otherwise, why would you pay for it for your teams. The difference with mobility is that staff use these devices (handset or tablet) inside and out of work hours. Question therefore – if a user is provided a desktop at the office, should they leave their mobile provided by the company at the office? If the answer is no, the next question is why? Logically if the work the staff member performs does not require a laptop, why are they being provided a mobile? There are many reasons - such as safety which are valid reasons, but looking at this situation, it raises an interesting point.

The questions that then arose were, as more and more people work off their mobile (phone or tablet), what security measures are companies putting in place to avoid loss and leaks of information? Are company policies up to date to take into account the usage outside of business hours for these company supplied devices? Who owns the content that is created is also going to be a growingly considered legal opinion in the future, especially when a user is utilising a company provided device?

Mobility is an excellent platform that provides so many business benefits. In order to ensure the business benefits, please ensure your policies and securities are up to date to cope for a shift that is continuing at rapid rates. For more information please vist us at www.telechoice.com.au/business/mobilitysolutions to help you navigate through this emerging grey area.
 

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