Category: do not disturb

What is BYOD and how small businesses can benefit

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What is a BYOD policy? 

BYOD stands for ‘bring your own device’ whereby employees are permitted to bring/use their own personal devices for work such as phones and laptops. Many businesses are adopting this option for employees due to its countless benefits. A BYOD policy is particularly relevant in the current professional climate as employers continue navigating flexible working. Such policies play a key role in supporting hybrid working due to benefits like cost savings and increased productivity. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the key benefits BYOD offers to small businesses and how you can implement them.

 

Cost savings

The biggest benefit of a BYOD policy is cost savings which is especially important for growing small businesses. It’s estimated UK SMEs spend upwards of £2000 per year to purchase business phones for employees [1]. This doesn’t include the additional costs to maintain, replace or upgrade devices for employees. For a growing business, it’s important to evaluate your spending and ensure your budgets are optimised to accommodate developing areas. Opting for a BYOD policy can save you a great deal in the long term as most employees have their own devices that can be used for work.

 

Increased productivity

Another perk of employees bringing their own devices is that they’re already familiar with the device. This can increase efficiency and productivity as it eliminates the need for training and time spent looking up how to do specific tasks using those devices.

 

Increased mobility

It can be a hassle to carry around two phones and remember to charge both so allowing employees to use their own helps to facilitate flexible/hybrid working policies. Since the devices are the employees’ own, they’re able to freely work from anywhere whether it be at home, remotely or even going into the office.

However, there are also concerns to implementing a BYOD policy that should be taken into account. Perhaps the biggest concern for businesses is privacy and security of company data. As employees are using their own phones which go with them everywhere, it can increase the risk of loss/sensitive company data being accessed by someone outside of the organisation. 

Additionally, employees are unlikely to have the same level of anti-malware software as that of business devices which increases the risk of data breaches. To overcome this, businesses should invest in cloud technologies which facilitate secure remote storage of data over a network of servers that operate using the internet. This means that if anything happens to the device, the data remains untouched as you’re able to ensure robust security on the cloud servers you use. Employers can also include training for employees on safe usage. As employees may be working from anywhere, it’s important to make sure they are educated on the risks of accessing work programs and data in public spaces where wifi connections aren’t secure. 

 

Employees may also struggle with work life balance if using their own devices for work as it opens them up to receiving/seeing work notifications after hours. It can be tempting for employees to give the email or message they received a ‘quick look’ when it pops up but this can lead to a cycle of letting work bleed through into personal lives and lead to an overall lower productivity level during work hours and possibly even a burnout.

 

The ideal solution is to invest in cloud business phone systems. A great one to check out is Devyce – designed for SMEs. Devyce brings simplicity and security to your business phone experience while also providing you a perfect balance between work and personal at the switch of a ‘Do Not Disturb’ button. This means you can set your business hours and ensure you don’t receive notifications outside of those hours, solving the problem of impaired work life balance resulting from BYOD policies. 

Get started building your BYOD policy with the Devyce virtual business phone system over on: https://devyce.com/teams-plan/

 

References: 

[1]

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/08/uk-sme-businesses-spend-2052-a-year-on-telecom-services.html

10 Reasons Why Customers Choose Devyce

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What are the reasons our customers choose Devyce you ask? 

Here are the top ten reasons why our happy customers chose us and what you could benefit from by switching to Devyce for your small business:

  • Improve efficiency

We know the feelings. Carrying around two phones can get frustrating. Then getting confused which phone to use for a call and accidentally using your personal phone to call a client. Also feeling irritated from having to switch between Apple and Android systems if your work phone is not a system you are particularly used to. So inefficient right?

Devyce solves this problem by providing you two numbers on your phone. 

Your Devyce phone number is stored in the cloud and phone calls/texts are sent over the internet instead of traditional phone lines which means you can have an additional operating number on your phone.

  • Save money with affordable pricing

We help our customers cut down on a costly business expense by removing the need for a work phone. With Devyce, you don’t need to sign up for expensive handsets and contracts for your employees as they can bring their own device. 

Our pricing plans (hyperlink to price page) are simple, affordable and transparent. No hidden fees, no lengthy contracts that are hard to get out of and an easy sign-up process. Within minutes you’d have an operating UK number ready. Save time and money for your business so you can focus on the more important things. 

  • Improve Sustainability

While saving money and time for your business, why not contribute to saving the planet as well? Deloitte global predicts that around 146 million tonnes of CO2 or equivalent emissions will be generated from smartphones in 2022 and 83% of these emissions comes from the manufacturing, shipping and first year usage [1]. 

It’s estimated that 910kg of CO2 is generated per employee working in offices each year [2] and the use of a work phone contributes to this figure. Using Devyce decreases your yearly in office carbon footprint, helping to promote more sustainable practices within SMEs.

  • Fast and reliable

Our customers are always able to receive those essential business calls wherever they are. 

Devyce works by facilitating calls and texts over the internet. This means all you need is a strong internet connection either over wifi or 4G/5G. 

Advancements in internet access technology means staying connected wherever you are, has become increasingly easy. You’ll rarely have to worry about downtime which can happen more often with traditional phone line services. Never miss business calls again with Devyce. 

  • Improve work life balance

It can be difficult to switch off from the workday when your work phone is still pinging or maybe even still getting calls. Many people find it hard to resist looking at their work phone out of work hours “just in case” there is something important that has popped up. From there it can be easy to fall into the rabbit hole of responding to work notifications well past business hours. 

Devyce have helped our customers improve their work life balance with a single button. We have a handy ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature where you can set the business hours after which you won’t receive notifications. 

  • Work from anywhere 

Take your Devyce anywhere… and we mean, anywhere in the world. Over 50% of our customers currently use Devyce abroad. Whether you are travelling for business or working remotely abroad, you can keep your UK phone number operating from there while also saving your business money on roaming costs. 

If you have a phone number attached to your business that you’d like to keep using while abroad, you can easily port your number to us (if you need help with this, contact us here: https://devyce.com/contact-us/). All of this means you can facilitate remote working for your business and even hire globally, further saving you money from lack of need for office space. 

  • Easily manage your teams

It can be tricky to stay on top of your team’s client call activity with a remote or hybrid based working model. For rapidly growing businesses, you might also struggle with managing a fast-growing team. Devyce makes this easier by providing team leaders with access to a Team’s Management Portal on our Teams Plan (hyperlink to pricing page). 

From the portal you can quickly allocate/de-allocate numbers and create call forwarding pathways or groups within your team. This means you can easily keep numbers operating while an employee is away and quickly route client calls to the right person, allowing you to create a seamless customer service experience for your business. 

  • Monitor the performance of your calls

Get access to a variety of key metrics like in/outbound call durations to monitor your performance as well as analysis tools. These can be easily navigated on the Team’s Management Portal and allows you to keep track of how well your business calls are performing, optimise your calls to drive KPIs and achieve those all-important business goals. 

  • Streamline your customer relationship management

Ensure that all your customers are taken care of by integrating a CRM platform like Hubspot with the Devyce Team’s Management Portal. This allows you to stay on top of individual customer queries and makes sure you never miss business calls. It also allows your team to have access to customer query logs so that any member of your team can quickly provide help. Streamlining your customer support flow is crucial to any growing business and Devyce helps you take that extra step for your customers. 

  • Flexible scalability

Whether you are growing or taking a step back before the next stage in your business, you can easily activate/deactivate numbers on your network to grow (or downsize) your Teams Plan. Our affordable price point also makes it easy for you to scale the usage to your businesses’ needs whether you are just starting out or already a medium sized enterprise, Devyce is flexible. 

To quote The Sound of Music: 🎵These are a few of (ours & our customers’) favourite things about Devyce. Our customers have thrived from using Devyce and we’re pretty sure your business will benefit too 😉 

If these 10 reasons aren’t quite enough to convince you yet and would prefer to see Devyce in action before you commit, that’s no problem! It’s super easy to book a demo with us here https://devyce.com/demo/ 

 

References:

[1] https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/insights/industry/technology/technology-media-and-telecom-predictions/2022/environmental-impact-smartphones.html

[2] https://observablehq.com/@mrchrisadams/how-do-i-work-out-the-carbon-footprint-of-providing-space-to-w

The strain placed on businesses that provide a work phone

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It’s time to stop carrying two separate phones and avoid using your personal number at work. 

Did you know that issuing a work phone and allowing personal numbers to be used can place strain on three focal areas of your business, its economic prosperity, the environment, and your employee’s well-being. Here’s how…

 

  • The economic prosperity of your business

Giving out a work phone is uneconomical. Especially when the majority already have a perfectly usable phone that they can just simply port a new number into.

An iPhone’s price can range from £300-900, that’s a large expense for any business. Considering also that this investment may only last a few years due to the constant upgrades and technology advancements.

 

As we are slowly transitioning back to normal life after COVID-19, business travel will inevitably continue to increase, and that alongside BREXIT means one thing… increased roaming charges when you send your employees abroad! 

Productivity. A new buzzword. Productivity is vital for a company’s profitability and ultimately its long-term success. But how are businesses tracking your productivity on a personal device? The answer is that they are struggling, as 40% of managers struggle to monitor performance, placing strain on businesses [1]. But by porting a second number onto an existing device, using Devyce, you can improve your business’s productivity and communication through the management portal. The portal allows transparent reporting of your employee’s data, so you can get the most out of every employee and know when to reward them or promote those that are excelling. 

Teams Plan – Devyce 

  • Your Employees

Using a personal number at work is accentuating the ‘always on’ mentality because you can still receive calls ‘after-hours’ to your main phone number, meaning you are always on the clock. This leaves your employee’s work-life balance far from balanced. This can lead to an array of negative effects, highlighted in a US Research study that found receiving messages after working hours increases negative emotions, stress and insomnia [2]. As well as excessive smartphone use affects your cognitive and learning skills. Ultimately leading to employee ‘burnout’; a recent study found that 77% of American workers have experienced [3].

A solution: It has been found that using your personal phone, with a second number, can rebalance your work-life and relieve the above effects as it is easy to clearly differentiate between work and personal calls.

Do Not Disturb Feature

Without this clear differentiation, all calls look the same, whether a personal or a work-related call. This means you don’t always know how to respond when answering the phone, which can leave employees feeling that they’re always on.

  • The Environment

Sustainability is a fundamental area to consider in your business today due to its importance for investors, employees and consumers. However, smartphones are a large contributor to the carbon footprint and are killing the planet. 

Did you know that…

  • By 2040 it is predicted that smartphones will have the biggest carbon footprint in the tech industry [4].
  • Just one iPhone X alone creates 79kg of CO2 in its lifetime [5].

By removing the need for second devices, you can lower your carbon footprint, lower your expenses, retain happy and healthy employees and in turn impress your stakeholders!

 

References:

[1]

https://hbr.org/2020/07/remote-managers-are-having-trust-issues 

[2]

https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/06/28/turning-off-your-work-phone-and-emails-could-help-reduce-after-hours-work-stress-study.html

[3]

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/burnout-survey.html

[4]

https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/science/2018/03/02/news/how-our-smartphones-are-hurting-the-environment-1268849/ 

[5]

https://reboxed.co/blogs/outsidethebox/the-carbon-footprint-of-your-phone-and-how-you-can-reduce-it

How To Keep Your Work and Personal Life Separate

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Maintaining a work life balance can prevent burnout and increase productivity, but learning to hit the do not disturb button, literally and figuratively, is harder than you think. Keep your work and personal life separate when remote working with these simple tips. 

Work life balance

Maintaining a work life balance is key in reducing stress and preventing burnout; a state of mental and physical tiredness.

It’d be great if separation between work and home was easy, but in reality mobile phones and social media blur the boundaries between professional and personal. It is hard to switch off from work to personal when your colleagues follow you on Instagram, you get calls from family during work hours or your work ‘bestie’ invites you out to drinks on a Friday night. How do you make this separation to allow you to switch off from work and avoid burnout? How do you press pause until your next working day? 

Why Press Pause?

The ability to press pause at work is essential in maintaining a healthy work life balance and avoiding stress and burnout. 

Pressing pause and taking time out for yourself can help you not only enjoy both parts of your life, work and personal, but also increase your productivity. The Sun reported that 8 out of 10 parents feel they are running on ‘autopilot’ and feel disconnected with their family because of their busy schedules. 

This can apply to working environments as well. Those who are running on autopilot risk burning out and becoming unable to do basic tasks because of stress. 

Setting up strict boundaries between your work and personal life can help decrease stress and make your work and personal life more fulfilling. 

Remote Working

Remote working, made the new normal by the pandemic, has made it harder to separate work and personal than ever. When your home becomes your work space, it seems almost impossible to draw a line between work and play. 

Remote working is new to many of us and so are the challenges that come with it. Adjusting to remote working has not only caused stress, loneliness and lack of productivity for some people, but also caused people to lose the healthy balance between their work and home lives. 

A study done by Buffer, revealed that 22% of remote workers have struggled with switching off after work. Maintaining a healthy work life balance during remote working can take a lot of extra energy; the best way to set up healthy boundaries is to commit to a routine, manage your time and learn to prioritise work or play, when needed. 

It can be hard to commit to work hours when you’re not leaving the office, if you are working remotely, it can be easy to let your job turn into a 24 hour job. In April 2020, Blue Jeans conducted a survey that revealed remote workers spent an extra 3.13 hours a day on the job. Social plans can force you to stop working and start the personal part of your day, in order to help cement the work/home boundary. 

Physical boundaries can also be a good way to highlight mental boundaries between work and home, when working remotely. Create an area or corner of your home that is strictly a ‘working zone’, so that when you are in it, you aren’t focusing on personal things, and when you leave the zone, you are officially clocked out of work. 

Most importantly, set a routine. When working in an office, a routine is effortlessly embedded into your mind; get up at a certain time, travel to work, get into the office, have a coffee and start your day. When working from home, however, it can be hard to wake up and transform into an employee when you don’t have a journey to get you into the mindset. For example, even though you are not leaving your house, still get up at the same time every morning, follow that by an activity you can do every morning, like showering or meditating. When you are ready to enter the work mindset, start your day; you do not need to immediately start working from the moment you wake up just because you are not commuting anymore. 

Using your Work Phone to Press Pause

Communication in these times is extremely important, for remote and hybrid workers connecting with colleagues, clients or customers. 

One major way to switch off and separate work and personal can be to actually physically press pause on work. 

Following routines, setting time boundaries and carving out time for socialising can help separate the line between work and personal but there will always remain some crossover. Finding a comfortable balance between the two may be the answer; separate what you have control over, such as your work and personal phones. 

Many businesses are beginning to rely on mobile phones instead of office phones. Not only is this cost effective for companies, it is also supportive of the remote or hybrid working models. This does not mean that you will have to give out your personal number to customers or clients, however. 

Devyce is a VoIP system which means your number lives in the cloud, so you can have a second number on one phone, without having a SIM or second contract. This is perfect for those who don’t want an office phone but want to keep their personal and work numbers separate. 

Having your work number on your personal phone may sound daunting but actually can help you separate your work and personal life. A work phone can be hard to put down and ignore, but with a work number on your personal phone, there is no physical reminder that the work number is there, or that people are trying to reach you. 

With Devyce, you can customise the Do Not Disturb feature to suit your business hours, for example, people will only be able to call or text your work number during office hours, leaving weeknights and weekends completely work free. 

Advantages of having a work number on your personal phone are endless. Not only is it the simplest and cheapest option, for both employer and employee, it gives personal control and familiarity to the user. Instead of using an unfamiliar work issued phone, you can use your phone as you wish, update it when you want, and have personal control over the settings and changes; unlike with a work phone where there may be limits and boundaries set up.

Communication is also improved when you use a work number on a personal phone, as you will always have it on you. You won’t need to worry about misplacing a second handset, or having to keep track of two phones; your customers will appreciate being able to get in touch with you quickly and easily. 

Discover more about how Devyce can help keep your personal and work lives separate here: https://devyce.com/product/what-is-devyce/

To download Devyce click here: https://devyce.com/pricing/

 

Sources 

https://timemanagementninja.com/2014/02/10-times-you-need-to-press-the-pause-button-in-life/

https://asparker.com/2020/02/do-you-take-the-time-to-push-the-pause-button/

https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/6206155/how-to-consciously-push-the-pause-button-and-be-more-present-at-work-and-home/

https://www.careercontessa.com/advice/privacy-work-life-balance/

https://www.inc.com/inc-masters/how-to-set-great-work-life-boundaries-as-a-remote-worker.html

https://medium.com/publishous/set-healthy-boundaries-to-get-work-life-balance-cd95abcc414f

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/using-personal-phone-for-work

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