Smartphones for the whole team, without bringing your IT department to a standstill. That's the challenge for many small and mid-sized companies (SMEs), the businesses Germany calls the Mittelstand. This guide shows you which models are available and what matters when you choose.
What is a company phone solution?
A company phone solution equips your team with smartphones for work. It covers procurement, setup, support and, at some point, replacing the devices.
For small teams, a spreadsheet and the occasional trip to an electronics store are often enough. From 20 or 30 employees, that quickly gets confusing and error-prone. And don't underestimate the effort of buying from an electronics store or on eBay, either. Everything still has to be invoiced and depreciated correctly, which usually takes more work than the purchase itself.
Why SMEs need a clear company phone solution
Mid-sized companies grow, digitise their processes and hire more and more teams that work on the move.
Every new device means more work for IT and procurement. Without a system, device management quickly eats up time, and it's the time of specialists who should be doing other things.
On top of that, when something happens (a cracked display, a weak battery and so on), the replacement and incident management have to happen quickly, or mobile productivity is gone. That creates high expectations and puts IT support and procurement under growing pressure. Users, meanwhile, get frustrated when a repair takes too long.
The more devices, the more overhead, effort and stress. It's simple maths.
Typical challenges when buying devices the traditional way
Buying company phones brings further challenges:
- high upfront investment when buying devices
- unclear responsibilities for repairs and support
- security risks from outdated devices or missing mobile device management
- time spent by IT teams that's missing elsewhere
Sourcing models for company phones in SMEs
There are basically three ways to source company devices.
Buying
When you buy, your company acquires the devices directly and records them as fixed assets. That ties up capital you're missing elsewhere.
Repairs, replacements and disposal remain entirely your responsibility. With larger fleets, that's a noticeable amount of work.
Leasing
Leasing spreads the cost over the contract term and protects your liquidity. At the end of the term, the question of what happens to the old devices is often left open.
Service and support usually aren't included automatically with leasing either, so your company has to organise them separately. And depending on the provider, you can expect plenty of hidden costs. The upshot: little planning certainty, hardly any cost control and a lot of responsibility. Our article on the hidden costs of smartphone leasing goes into the details.
Device as a Service
With Device as a Service, you rent devices with the service included. Repairs, replacements and collection are a fixed part of the offer.
Your team no longer deals with broken displays or old batteries itself. The provider takes care of that, predictably and with no extra effort.
What to look for when choosing a company phone solution
Costs and flexibility
Plan with a fixed monthly fee instead of high one-off costs. That keeps your budget predictable, even when your team grows or shrinks.
IT security and mobile device management
Company devices need central management. Mobile device management makes sure updates, policies and access rights run automatically, without manual work for your IT team.
Support and repair service
A faulty device shouldn't hold anyone up for long. Look for fast replacement devices and support that's genuinely reachable, not just on paper.
Sustainability
Refurbished devices and an organised return process extend the life of the hardware. That saves resources and reduces e-waste.
Contract term and scalability
Mid-sized teams change faster than large corporations. Look for short terms and the option to add or hand back devices flexibly.
How a company phone solution works with Everphone
Everphone takes care of procurement, setup, support and collection of your company phones as an all-round service. You pay a fixed monthly fee per device, with no large upfront investment.
Your team gets devices that are ready to use, and your IT team has less to do. Everphone handles repairs and replacements directly, without fuss.
At the end of the term, the devices go back and are refurbished for further use. That keeps your company phone solution predictable and sustainable.
Buy and rent back
There's a simple way to bring the devices you already have into the company phone service: we buy your existing fleet from you, add it to our service and rent it back to you. After that you can replace, upgrade and change the devices as you like.
That makes for a smooth transition to DaaS and a fleet that keeps itself up to date, without a big-bang project plan. Find out more about buy and rent back (BARB).
Choose your own device
Choose your own device (CYOD) is an optional extra. With CYOD, employees can contribute to the device costs and get a premium device in return. As an employee benefit, it's hard to overstate: the company gives its teams access to high-end devices at an unbeatable CYOD price.
On the devices themselves, the MDM ensures clean separation of work and personal data.
Our verdict: company phones in SMEs practically call for Device as a Service
A structured company phone solution saves time, money and hassle. Buying, leasing or Device as a Service: what matters is what fits your company.
For many SMEs, Device as a Service is the simplest choice: predictable costs, less effort and more focus on the core business. Add benefits such as device choice for employees and the relief for IT, and DaaS becomes a no-brainer for mid-sized companies.