COSU (corporate-owned, single use)

Glossary

Business phone glossary

Our glossary explains basic terms and abbreviations relating to mobile working, the use of smartphones and tablets in the corporate environment (Enterprise Mobility) and security aspects in the use of mobile devices.

C

COSU (corporate-owned, single use)

Use of company-owned mobile devices for individual applications

COSU refers to a usage model for company-owned mobile devices in which the mobile device is only used for a single application or an extremely limited number of individual applications.

The abbreviation “COSU” stands for “corporate-owned, single use”. Of all the allocation or usage models, COSU is the one with the most restrictions (limitations).

Standard applications such as mobile web surfing or e-mails are usually deactivated due to strict IT compliance requirements. In addition, users are prevented from adding further apps.

Application examples for single-use devices

There are countless use cases for single-use smartphones and tablets. Often, proprietary enterprise or productivity apps are used. Typical applications include customer presentations at trade shows, where tablets are used in particular, or kiosk mode at the point of sale. Equipping logistics staff to scan item or package barcodes is also common. Car rental companies use single-use tablets for vehicle registration and photographic documentation of vehicle condition. In the public sector, single-use devices are used in traffic monitoring, and in the restaurant industry they are used to record and bill orders.