One of the questions we’re most frequently asked by clients is “Can we have unlimited mobile data?”. As we’ve come to depend on our smartphones for so much more than just voice calls, it seems we’ve developed an insatiable appetite for data, but do you know how much you actually use each month?
Most likely, so long as your bill comes in as per your contract, it’s probably not something you spend too much time thinking about, but maybe we’ll get your attention if we put the question another way: How much money did you waste last month paying for data you didn’t need?
According to a recent survey by Deloitte, you almost certainly overpaid. Research conducted by the consultancy, showed that on average, UK consumers are using less than half of their data allowance every month!
For most of us then, there’s clearly a disconnect between the amount of data we think we need, and what we actually consume.
So, how much data do you really need?
It’s important to have a data solution that gives you the capacity to do everything you need to when you’re working out and about, but you don’t want to be paying for more than is necessary.
We all consume data differently, and whether you’re a light, medium or heavy data user will depend on what you use your mobile for. If you’re regularly downloading big files, sending large email attachments, holding video calls while you’re on the move, or if your mobile is for personal as well as business use, and you use it to stream music or movies for example – your usage is likely to be at the higher end of the scale, but even so, you could well be overestimating how much data you really need.
While no provider will offer you totally unlimited data on a business tariff, it can be tempting to ‘play it safe’, signing up for more than you know you’re going to need so you have ‘spare’ data.
At DRC, we prefer to take a more scientific approach, working with clients to understand their usage in detail, so we can design a voice / data package that’s tailored specifically to their requirements and avoids any wastage.
Got a team? Share your data
If you’re providing mobiles to a team, the potential for overspending on data increases substantially.
Most teams tend to conform to a similar pattern, having a small minority of staff who consistently exceed their allowance, and a majority who will still be in credit at the end of each month. Both types of users cost the business money unnecessarily, either by incurring excess data charges, or by wasting part of their data allowance.
Sound familiar?
If this is a problem you recognise, there is a cost-effective way to optimise data usage right across your business. We’re helping many of our clients to introduce Group Data Sharing – a flexible solution which gives your business a data allowance to allocate as you need – rather than giving a fixed allowance to each member of your team.
Group data sharing lets you control how your data is allocated, allowing you to set data usage limits for individual users, see company-wide data usage at a glance, and receive alerts when an individual user or the organisation as a whole get close to their allowance.
We can work with you to determine the combined data usage across your mobile estate, and calculate a total allowance for your business.
Use data sensibly
It’s good practice to use data sensibly, and there are practical things you can do to make sure you – or your team – keep data usage under control, including:
- Trying to ensure you’re connected to Wi-Fi whenever you do anything you know is going to chomp into your data.
- Regularly monitor data usage in the settings on your mobile, so you can see where data is going, restrict apps if you need to, and set alerts to let you know when you’re getting close to limits.
- Deploying Vodafone Secure Device Manager (VSDM) to remotely monitor all mobile devices in your business and control how they’re used. Using VSDM, you can block data-heavy apps, restrict activities like ‘hot-spotting’, and choose whether or not to allow social media.
We Can Help You Use Data More Efficiently & Save Money!
If you’re not optimising the way you use mobile data in your organisation, you’re throwing money away. For help and advice on using data more efficiently, call us now on 01256 895895 and speak with one of our experts.
