From smartphones to laptops, tablets to mobile apps, everyone can now communicate at the touch of a button.

This deluge of devices initially raised concerns with the working population. After all, how can you achieve any work-life balance if your office can always reach you? Such concerns have died down as technology now plays an intrinsic part in our everyday lives and brings us a vast range of benefits both inside and outside of the office.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives have played a major part in this change of opinion. This phrase ‘BYOD’ was originally coined in 2004 but its significance has grown exponentially in recent times, with 7 out of 10 small UK businesses now implementing such schemes and the BYOD market predicted to be worth nearly $367 billion by 2022.

BYOD is a highly regarded policy by both employers and employees. A study from Cisco also revealed 69% of IT decision-makers favour BYOD as a positive addition to any workplace policy because of the resulting time savings. Further research by Frost & Sullivan revealed the use of personal devices at work saving employees an average of 58 minutes per day.

BYOD schemes also bring a wide range of additional benefits to businesses. They can reduce your hardware expenses, allow your staff to work remotely and your business is not responsible for your employees’ devices.

BYOD increases your employee satisfaction rates with more than 80% of employees regarding smartphones as an essential part of the digital workplace. What’s more, when your staff work on their personal devices, they are more comfortable with that device and such personalisation empowers your employees, giving them a safe space to communicate and innovate.

But BYOD schemes really come into their own when combined with mobile communication apps such as 3CX, allowing for seamless communication across your business.

Introducing the 3CX mobile app

The 3CX mobile app allows your staff to take your office anywhere. Available on Android and iOS, the 3CX app provides a full range of Unified Communications features including presence, chat and conferencing.

The 3CX mobile app also comes with a range of features to help your staff can maintain their productivity levels. For example, the app lets your staff set their status from available to out-of-office, saving time when you find yourself chasing contacts. Your staff can also answer calls on their BYOD and then directly transfer the call to their colleagues.

As a result, the productivity of your workforce improves and your business also realises extensive cost savings as you don’t need to provide your staff with any additional devices.

How can you manage all those devices?

BYOD schemes are not without their complications. Security issues and infrastructure adjustments must all be taken into consideration. As such, you need to protect your corporate network and information while providing your staff with the seamless user experience they expect from their devices. It’s a tough balancing act.

The Cisco Meraki cloud-based IT solutions package we use at Zen Systems comes with the Meraki Systems Manager tool. This unifies the management of every mobile device across your entire network using a centralised dashboard.

The Meraki Systems Manager also fully integrates with Meraki’s WiFi system, which means your services provider can push out apps (like 3CX) to your staff’s mobile devices. What’s more, the Meraki Systems Manager allows you to enforce device security policies and perform remote, live troubleshooting on your staff’s devices.

As a result, you can ensure your network security across every device and your staff can carry on using their devices to better your business.

In conclusion

BYOD initiatives highlight the demand for connectivity for businesses. With faster connections comes increased productivity and, now that everything is at our fingertips, businesses are under pressure to ensure that their technology delivers.

At Zen Systems, we provide seamless connectivity and robust security to our clients. As platinum partners of 3CX, we can work with your business to provide an experienced IT support service that’s tailored to your goals.

With complete visibility and clear monthly pricing as a managed 3CX host, Zen’s telecoms service is beautifully simple. For more information, you can contact a member of our expert and friendly team.