Long popular among consumers, smartphones are finally starting to make headways into the business market – and we’re not just talking BlackBerry (News - Alert) Storms and Apple iPhones.
Falls Church, Va.-based consultancy Telecom Trends last week reported that by 2016, more than 60 percent of all mobile handset sales will be related to smartphones. And as early as 2013, In-Stat predicts that more than 60 percent of all the Internet-connected mobile devices sold will be through carrier channels.
“We are witnessing a paradigm shift in the way people use the mobile phone,” said Naqi Jaffrey, author of the newly released “Global Smartphone Market” report.
No longer confined to niche markets, smartphone sales will show growth of more than 28 percent through 2016, Jaffrey finds.
Meanwhile, In-Stat’s (News - Alert) study “Mobile Graphics & Multimedia Review” reveals that carriers are becoming a more significant channel for all Internet-connected devices, from netbooks to mobile PCs.
At enterprises, as smartphone users continue to grow, so the need for wireless management policies to keep expenses on track.
Recent research from Gartner (News - Alert) Inc. reveals that 80 percent of enterprises will overspend on their wireless service costs by an average of 15 percent through 2014. In addition to putting in place a procurement policy that includes checks and balances for who gets what type of wireless device and plan, companies need to take the next step and look at their usage policies to make sure they’re sufficient, said Pankaj “PJ” Gupta, founder and CEO of Amtel (News - Alert), a company that helps enterprises to rein in wireless management expenses and improve productivity.
“Unlike fixed line, wireless phones stay with users at all times,” Gupta told TMCnet. “How do you make sure that precious minutes in the pooled plan are not used by users for making personal calls?”
Gupta said usage policies can be based on a number of variables, such as use during actual business hours, where the telecom expense management system would automatically flag the minutes used outside the hours of operation. Or, IT managers can set usage policies in terms of total minutes used, data usage charges, international usage and so on – similar to a “per diem” rate for meals when employees go out of town for business.
“Numerous times we have found the system flagging users who are using premium messaging to vote for popular TV reality shows, adding up to hundreds of dollars in non-business usage” Gupta said.
Marisa Torrieri is a TMCnet Web editor, covering IP hardware and mobility, including IP phones, smartphones, fixed-mobile convergence and satellite technology. She also compiles and regularly contributes to TMCnet's gadgets and satellite e-Newsletters. To read more of Marisa's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Marisa Torrieri
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