Mobile Working & Roaming
So, holiday season is almost upon us and with that comes the inevitable round of considerations:
Will my phone work abroad?
What’s covered in my tariff?
Is my destination going to be need an extra bolt on to avoid costly roaming charges?
Should I take my work phone on holiday?
As a self-employed business owner I need to stay connected – what roaming options are available to me?
This is as much an issue for businesses as it is consumers, with many employees who have company mobiles now taking them on holiday to stay connected and keep that dreaded email deluge at bay. However, most business mobile contracts will be set predominantly to optimise use in the UK and just one trip to a country outside the Eurozone could land business owners with a hefty bill.
Inclusive EU Roaming Tariffs
Last summer we saw a fantastic result for mobile users when the new legislation came in forcing UK mobile networks to drop the inflated roaming charges in the EU zone. This now means that from June 15th 2017 the new “roam like at home” rules apply to calls (both to mobile and landlines), texts, and data. Basically, you’ll pay the exact same amount while abroad as if you were using your phone from your home country. Existing contracts will have been automatically updated to include the “roam like at home” rule – and it’s now the default option for any new mobile contracts bought after this date. However, you should keep in mind that calling an EU country from the UK isn’t included in the new regulations, and some charges will still apply. Be careful though, as old legacy tariffs may not have inclusive “free” roaming minutes or data if they were bespoke-built rather than from the standard “off the shelf” range. Always check with your provider before travelling to be sure.Watch out for data caps
Whilst the new tariffs allow use of minutes, text and data in the EU free from your bundle, most networks have a data cap, so for example if you have a 25GB data allowance you may only be able to use up to 15GB in the eurozone.
What about outside the Eurozone?
This is where business travellers need to be savvy. You can still get stung with costly roaming charges if you haven’t done your research and added a travel bolt on for your chosen destination.
Businesses who have employees that take their phones on holiday
We all know that in today’s ever-increasingly connected world it’s hard to switch off, with many workers choosing to stay in touch whilst on holiday. Whilst this is a discussion in itself, in reality it means that businesses will likely be hit with extra bills over the summer months where travel to non-EU destinations will result in high charges, so either look at adding a temporary travel bolt on for employees you know will need to use their phone outside the EU or have a company policy in place that prohibits use of company phones on holiday.
Businesses who have workers who regularly travel for business
This is a different kettle of fish. Businesses should be talking to their mobile provider at the point of contract negotiation to assess the volume and frequency of foreign travel for their employees. Depending on what the travel destination is, there are different “zones” and each network can vary, where you need special bolt ons to avoid being charged the standard out of bundle pence per minute/gigabyte charge. You can choose from a great selection of bolt ons that are valid for a day, month or longer depending on your requirements.
Below is a selection of some of the bolt ons available across the networks for travel outside the EU. These are subject to change, details below are as of June 2018. Contact us for more information on additional options.
O2 Rest of the World Pass Case Study
Matt Pope, Customer Support Manager at scientific instruments manufacturer Applied Photophysics, travels a lot. He needed a service that would help him balance his call and data expenses wherever he happened to be in the world.
The Rest Of World Pass from My O2 Business does just that, with a fixed price for calls, texts and data in 87 countries outside Europe for up to 24 hours or up to 30 days. And it works when you travel across any of the 87 countries.
On a recent trip to Japan, Matt told us how the Rest Of World Pass helps him to keep working, and keep an eye on his bottom line, wherever he is.“My responsibility is to offer support to our customers both from here in the UK and on site wherever they are in the world, so I always need to be available. Which means I’m on the road a lot, visiting our customers all over the globe.
The Rest of World Pass from O2 has already led to a massive saving in our roaming costs, which keeps our Financial Director happy. So I can stay in the loop, without worrying about the bill or the data limits. Sometimes I’m away visiting several customers at a time and I end up travelling all over the place so the Pass actually goes with me around the world.
It’s not just calls and texts either. I use FaceTime to show the technical support guys back in the UK the readings I’m getting from the instruments, which means we can resolve any issues there and then.”
Easy to use
“But the biggest benefit to me is that I don’t have to think about it. It’s already set up so it works from the moment I land – it’s just seamless communication whichever continent I find myself on. It works in more countries than anything else I’ve seen. And there are no charges until I actually start using my phone.
It doesn’t seem like a big thing but the Rest of World Pass is critical in allowing us to support our customers and consequently it’s actually a really important tool in helping us grow the business.”
Need some advice?
We hope this article has helped you understand the structure of today’s business mobile roaming options, however for further advice on a roaming solution to suit your business, simply get in touch today and we’ll look at what’s available on your current network deal, or if you’re ready to upgrade we can suggest a suitable plan by comparing all the networks.