TRUSTe is the leading online privacy solutions provider with a broad suite of privacy services to help businesses built trust and increase engagement across all of their online channels. More than 4,000 websites rely on TRUSTe to ensure compliance with the ever evolving privacy requirements on the web. MOBI joins top companies such as Apple, AT&T and Microsoft, all of which are TRUSTe certified.

Through our newly earned certification, MOBI plans to continue to offer its customers with responsible protection practices and top tier wireless management services.

For more information on the program requirements, check out this document. To learn more about MOBI, contact me directly at matt.east@mobiwm.com.

From our warehouse to our putting-green, this short video gives a ‘behind-the-scenes’ view of what and where things happen at MOBI.

While the experts and their clients have conflicting opinions, they agree on one thing: the traditional phone desk won’t last long in this world.

“Dollar for dollar, would you invest your money in an iPad with a phone service and a cash register software, or in a desk phone and in a cash register?” asked Andy Abramson, chief executive officer of San Diego marketing firm Comunicano Inc. and author of the blog VoiPWatch.

For Abramson, it is evident that investing in a tablet or in a smartphone is more efficient because such devices not only unify communication, they can run an infinite number of applications in addition to telephony.

“Today, you are going to see people buying desk phones, but tomorrow you will see people buying tablets,” Abramson said.

The desk phone fell to the fifth position among corporate communication devices in 2012 previews, behind the smartphone, laptop, computer and tablet, and down from the third spot in 2011, a survey by Infonetics Research Inc. found.

However, the president of Colorado’s Fountainhead Networks Inc., Stephen Crockett, said in an e-mail that “desk phones won’t be going away any time soon.”

“This makes perfect sense. If you’re over 50 and you’ve always used a desk phone, there’s really no attraction to switching,” he said.

Tom Hartman, who owns a small technology business in Palatine, says his desk phone has better voice-clarity than his smartphone. “It’s apples and oranges,” Harman said adding, “I don’t want to use my smartphone in my office.”

A paralegal at Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Chicago said she owns an iPhone, but prefers to use her desk phone at work. “It’s more convenient, I don’t have to worry about losing it,” she said.

Ken Rubin, a customer support specialist at CME Group Inc., said answering the phone is all he does at work. “But we have a handset so we can still answer the desktop phone and walk around,” Rubin said.

To put it simply, noted Jeff Valentine, senior vice-president of product marketing at New-York based M5 Networks Inc., “the mobile phone revolution of the consumer market is not yet happening in the business market.”

“It’s an and, not an or,” Valentine said, referring to how smartphones or tablets can be supplemental to desk phones without replacing them.

Indeed, “although the telecom market is definitely leaning toward the wireless, there is still demand for phones on your desk,” claimed the president and founder of ChicagoBusinessVoIP, a Near North company that provides VoIP phones to small business with seven or fewer lines.

VoIP technology, which is increasingly replacing traditional lines, permits applications such as instant messaging or file sharing to be added on top of the voice service. VoIPs’ worldwide share of companies’ private lines more than doubled in the last six years to 60 percent and is expected to reach 84 percent by 2015, according to Infonetics Research Inc. and William Blair & Co. LLC.

For $49.99 a month, ChicagoBusinessVoIP offers unlimited domestic and international calls with the sort of features that VoIP desk phones make possible. “Find me- follow me”, for example, automatically forwards work calls to personal phones.

A CBV client, Chicago law firm Brotschul Potts LLC, has saved $700 to $800 a month since it replaced its old landline with CBV’s VoIP desk phones.

The advent of softphones–a visual replication of a phone on a computer or tablet–gives businesses another reason to invest in tablets, said Todd Carothers, a senior vice president of marketing and products at Chicagobased CounterPath Corp., a provider of desktop software.

“With a softphone such as Bria from CounterPath,” Carothers said, “the iPad enables voice, messaging, presence and video plus e-mail, browsing and other business applications.

“Also the iPad is easy to take with you so in essence your desk phone travels with you.”

Furthermore, “desk phones are costly,” Carothers claimed. “For about the same price IT managers can purchase a smartphone, tablet or iPod.”

When considering the next generation of “the extremely-mobile employee”, Crockett claimed that such person may even be “a subcontracted ‘gun for hire’ ” who will need an extension on more than one company’s phone. “You won’t see a desk phone in this person’s carry-on bag,” Crockett concluded.

Brandon Hampton of Indianapolis MOBI Wireless Management LLC couldn’t agree more. He advises Fortune 100 clients such as IBM Corp. and Ford Motor Co. to transition from corporate-owned devices to individually-owned ones. This, he explained, both reduces telephony and improves employee productivity because it provides them with a mobile connectivity.

“Today many workers own two mobiles,” Hampton said, “the most profitable thing to do for companies is to install their communication software to the employee’s mobile.”

Such a company software, Hampton said, includes e-mail service, sales numbers, calendars, agenda and other secure data, all precious information that employees need to be able to transport.

Although the large majority of corporate employees still use a desktop computer for communication, they will soon supplement it or replace it with smartphones and tablets, an Infonetics Research survey revealed.

One billion smartphones and 300 million tablets are expected to ship in 2013, compared with only 400 million and 55 million in 2011, the survey showed.

Valentine, while still defending VoIP desk phones, admitted that clients’ younger employees don’t always want them. When Valentine’s M5 Network asked its client Foursquare? a smartphone applications maker why it didn’t add more VoIP desk phones when hiring new employees, Foursquare answered simply that the new employees preferred to use their cell phones’ unlimited contract.

BY BEN SCHAMISSO
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=199615

The only consistency about cell phone policies for campus employees is that there isn’t any. Likewise, the level of human resources office involvement is as different as the kinds of cell phones or data plans that are available today. In some cases, cell phone policies are developed and implemented by IT or the business office. Other times, HR helps create the policy, then stands on the sidelines. Some schools don’t even have a policy, or don’t request HR’s participation at all.

What should HR leaders do? Should their department even have a role?

There’s no right or wrong method, but there are various levels of HR’s involvement in cell phone policy development and enforcement that work. Even being involved at arm’s length helps ensure consistency and fairness among the campus workforce, possibly avoiding employee complaints or grievances down the road.

Consider a few approaches institutions have taken and compare them to how your own school might handle its cell phone policy.

Fresno Pacific University (Calif.)

The VPs of finance, business, and IT joined forces in 2009 to create the cell phone policy for Fresno Pacific’s 300 employees, shares Lori Kroeker, who serves as the university’s payroll manager, which falls under HR. In the past, the university purchased phones and issued them to employees— resulting in too much confusion and paperwork. Now supervisors decide which employees need a cell phone to carry out job tasks. Each employee buys a phone, fills out an allowance request form, and attaches a copy of the active cell phone contract for monthly reimbursement, which is then approved by the vice president of business and finance.

Since HR was not involved in the initial creation of the policy, Kroeker asked to review it. It’s a good thing she did. “The policy lacked language about text-based communication while driving,” explains Kroeker, who later approached the VPs, requesting to insert language to cover such issues. For example, the policy now states that employees are not allowed to text while driving or talk on the phone while driving without a hands-free device. She also added that monthly cell phone allowances are taxable and do not constitute an increase in their base pay. “HR has more insight into this stuff than other people do … and should also be involved in policy management to ensure consistency.”

So far, the university has not had any policy issues with cell phones. But problems can erupt if the policy is not consistently applied or enforced. Consider employees claiming inequity— even discrimination—because they were denied a monthly cell phone stipend when others in their department were approved.

“Anything can happen,” Kroeker says, suggesting that cell phone policies spell out which job titles or perhaps rankings (like all VP positions) receive cell phone allowances so that such decisions are not left up to a supervisor’s discretion. It’s also important, she adds, that supervisors consistently write up employees who violate the policy.

Salt Lake Community College

The IT, business, and purchasing departments develop and enforce this college’s policy, which applies to 200 of the estimated 1,100 full-time employees, says Douglas Hansen, controller and business manager. Approximately four years ago, the college purchased cell phones for employees, but IRS laws required administrators to have employees painstakingly track how much of the phone was used for personal use for tax purposes. To make matters worse, overages were growing out of control. “We felt there was abuse,” Hansen recalls. “Our [monthly] cell phone bills were sometimes $100,000. The overages got to be consistent enough that we had to do something about it.”

‘We felt there was abuse. Our [monthly] cell phone bills were sometimes $100,000.’ —Douglas Hansen, Salt Lake Community College

Now the school uses a three-step process developed by a team including IT and business office staff. First, supervisors determine which employees require a cell phone to perform their jobs and select one of three data plans to cover their business needs. (Each year, IT surveys local cell phone providers and establishes reimbursement amounts on a three-tier level.) Next, the department vice president approves the supervisor’s request. Employees receive up to $75 toward the cost of a cell phone every two years and a monthly stipend for the plan, but pay the difference if the plan’s minutes are exceeded.

Since employee responsibilities may change the following year, supervisors complete an annual form, asserting that the data plan for the employee is still appropriate. Also, employees complete an annual certification stating that, on average, they use that level of minutes each month for business calls and that no more than five percent are for personal use.

“I could only see HR being involved if this were considered an employee fringe benefit, but we haven’t structured it that way,” Hansen says. “The department wants to incur an expense to communicate with their employees and is willing to pay for it. We felt this was just a financial or business decision with employees.”

University of Denver

Supporting an estimated 4,600 employees, this university doesn’t have an overall employee cell phone policy, explains Ken Pinnock, associate director of employee relations, who also serves on the employee relations panel for the Society of HR Management. The school’s approval process for having a cell phone is decentralized and can vary between departments. He says each division head identifies employees who require a phone for business needs. Employees then purchase their own and receive a monthly stipend for whatever data plan is chosen, which is considered taxable income.

“To date, this has been working fine,” he says, believing that HR, IT, or the school’s business office really don’t need to be involved. “Since the organization isn’t providing the equipment, it’s really about employees using their own cell phones.”

University of Dayton (Ohio)

Although implemented and enforced by the IT department, the university’s cell phone policy was developed by administrative services, internal audit, and IT for its 2,200 employees, shares Thomas Burk-hardt, vice president for finance and administrative services, which oversees HR.

“When we were designing the policy, HR and payroll got a little involved in the conversation because we were concerned about withholding taxes on the use of a cell phone,” he says. “HR should be involved, thinking about things that other departments may not think about.” The school’s IT department acquires the cell phones and phone plans, then issues phones to employees, he says. Division heads approve the use of cell phones, while deans or VPs approve smartphones for depatment staff.

Smart phones offering access to sensitive information must be tightly managed to avoid security issues.

He believes there are two occasions when HR must get involved: when phones are being misused or when an employee leaves after several years of using the same phone and phone number and wants to keep both. It would be difficult to determine the phone’s worth and how the employee should reimburse the school.

So far, the school hasn’t experienced any problems. However, Burkhardt believes that HR should contribute to any policy that directly affects employees.

Why to Get HR Involved

Cell phone policies also have the potential to impact recruitment, says Brandon Hampton, director of MOBI Wireless Management, an Indianapolis-based firm that helps organizations better manage their cell phones. “When people go to find jobs, the cell phone is something they’re looking for now,” says Hampton, who has consulted with dozens of colleges and universities. “It’s a job perk, especially among younger people. … HR can make sure [new hires] have choices, the latest and greatest technology, and they’re not hampered by an overzealous, strict security policy within the university.”

However, offering cell phones as perks is becoming more of a challenge, since IT typically prefers phones that store or can access sensitive information to be tightly managed to avoid security issues.

Another reason is employer liability. Without HR’s input, Hampton says schools may be setting a dangerous precedent by legally exposing themselves. In 2007, a personal injury lawsuit was brought against the International Paper Co. An employee was talking on her company-issued cell phone when she rear-ended another driver, resulting in the driver losing her arm. The suit cost the company a $5.2 million settlement.

Ready to make sure your own institution has covered its bases on employee cell phone use? If you don’t have a policy, create one. If you do, take a closer look at it. Is the policy clear and comprehensive? Do employees sign off on it? How is it enforced? Is there consistency? You might be surprised by what you find.

By Carol Patton. Carol Patton is a Las Vegas-based freelance writer who specializes in covering HR topics. http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/missed-opportunity

Victor: Why did you create MOBI wireless management?

Scott: In 2007, we began to see a market for simple, costefficient, low-risk, wireless managed services within large enterprises. The MOBI solution was developed more automated, more configurable, and much more robust in capability than anything else in the industry. Within a week of sketching the broad strokes, we hired a small team of IT developers and began coding the software platform. After nearly a year’s work, we began to create an identity for MOBI. We built the foundations of a sales organization, and we utilized new forms of guerilla marketing and social media to help build the brand. Eight months after taking the solution to market, AOTMP – the telecom industry’s leading research and advisory organization, ranked MOBI #1 in customer satisfaction in its 2010 annual report. Since then, MOBI has forged ahead as one of the leaders in this fairly new marketplace. We like the view ahead of us – a virtually untapped market, with no real dominant players, all while wireless technology continues to become more and more of a mission-critical tool for enterprises.

Victor: What does the name mean?

Scott: MOBI is short for mobile.

Victor: What is it? Who created it?

Scott: MOBI is a Wireless Environment Management company created by the founders of Bluefish Wireless. It was determined that there was a need in the marketplace for a carrier-neutral, SaaSmodeled solution with a white-glove approach to end users. MOBI was developed to be the most flexible, configurable solution on the market today in an effort to ease the onboarding burden and enhance the customer experience.

Victor: What does it do? What are the benefits?

Scott: MOBI utilizes best in class technology and white glove help desktop support to create an environment that maximizes the level of service provided to administrators and end users while vastly improving efficiency to drive down costs. MOBI customers benefit by witnessing a reduction in their wireless bills and an increase in the level of service provided to their end users. Soft dollar savings are also realized through an 80 percent reduction in FTE’s required to support the organizations wireless production.

Victor: How is it unique from other similar products/ services? What companies do you see as in the same market?

Scott: MOBI’s uniqueness lies first in its technology. It was developed to be extremely configurable in order to maximize the ongoing flexibility and reduce the time required to onboard. Most competitors in this industry develop a base product, then configure and customize for each customer through coding changes. These changes can take weeks or months and often result in extra charges for the customer. MOBI’s average onboarding time is 37 days and almost every customer required a to high degree of customization. Secondly, MOBI has proven to be second to none regarding the support of end users. The MOBI helpdesk is comprised of college-educated MOBI employees located in Indianapolis. These team members are arranged in separate support pods assigned a limited number of accounts. The structure means end users will routinely reach the same small group of Account Specialists providing white glove feel for all customers, large and small. Thirdly, MOBI has developed patent pending re-billing solutions designed to provide the most accurate reflection of what each user costs the organization while maximizing savings. MOBI was created as the most configurable wireless management solution for the telecommunication industry.

Victor: When was it developed? What is something interesting or relevant about its development history?

Scott: MOBI development began in 2008. The MOBI solution is a living, breathing solution that continues to grow and improve guided by customer and market needs. With one-third of MOBI employees being IT focused, the executive team continues to demonstrate that product development will always be a central factor in the MOBI business and culture. Exciting developments regarding our expense management and re-billing solutions have resulted in patent pending technology that continues to be on the cutting edge of the wireless management industry. MOBI fits enterprises with over 1,000 devices in a number of program structures: Corporate Liable, Individual Liable, BYOD, etc.

Victor: Where did it originate? Where can you get it now?

Scott: MOBI started in Indianapolis which remains its headquarters. The complete MOBI solution is available in North America. MOBI continues to develop exciting solutions to aid organizations in solving the global puzzle. Victor: How much does it cost? What are the options? Scott: MOBI’s cost varies based on volume and the type of device being supported. It is charged in a per device per month model and does not require its customers to sign term agreements. It has been a philosophy since MOBI’s inception that the MOBI solution would provide value month after month. Should a customer determine that they are no longer seeing that value, they should not be forced to remain in that business relationship.

Victor: What are some examples of it in action?

Scott: The vast majority of MOBI customers are on month-to-month agreements and yet MOBI maintains a retention rate of over 99 percent.

Victor: Who is it particularly tailored for? Who is it not for?

Scott: MOBI is designed for organizations managing over 1000 mobile devices. It is more difficult to demonstrate ongoing value for organizations with less than 500 lines.

Victor: What are your thoughts on education these days?

Scott: Information is flooding into our lives faster than ever. Young people are wonderful adapters and have embraced the existing high tech world where social media has become so intertwined in our culture. In order to stay up with the incredible velocity of the society today’s young people grow up in, technology will have to be embraced by the education system. This can create an educational environment the maximizes the speed and access to information allowing for educators to focus on important skills such as problem solving and creative thinking rather than memorization and fact finding.

The mobility management industry is extremely confusing for organizations today. This is a very immature industry which requires continued education of our customers and prospective customers. The MOBI marketing department continually produces videos and other online materials designed to shed light on the confusing aspects of the wireless industry. This will continue to be an important aspect of the MOBI marketing plan.

Victor: What sort of formative experiences in your own education helped to inform your approach to creating MOBI wireless management?

Scott: I was taught early during my education in business school that many great businesses ideas were developed around the idea of helping people alleviate or avoid pain. Great businesses have been built by identifying areas of pain for people and developing products and solutions designed to alleviate that pain. MOBI was developed with this philosophy. The formative experiences are simple. They all involve the pain witnessed as organizations attempted to keep up with the demands of their mobility programs as its growth accelerated exponentially. MOBI was designed to alleviate much of that pain.

Victor: How does MOBI wireless management address some of your concerns about education?

Scott: While many educators recognize the need to introduce more technology into the student’s environment, there are concerns around paying for and managing that technology. Devices designed to enhance productivity such as tablets and smartphones, also can be fairly easy to break. They can be difficult and expensive to procure. They can be expensive to maintain. It can be expensive to continually refresh the technology. These are many of the reasons educators have shied away from introducing advanced technologies.

MOBI was designed to provide a framework to easily introduce new technologies into an environment and to provide the expertise and experience to ensure the technology is managed as efficiently as possible. This results in the lowest overall Cost of Ownership.

Victor: What is your outlook on the future of education?

Scott: The most successful people in our society are the most creative thinkers and the best problem solvers. They are not the best memorizers. There was a time when access to information was scarce. “Experts” were those among us who knew lots of facts and became invaluable sources of information. Access to information is not the challenge any more and the traditional “expert” is becoming obsolete. The individuals that can think the most creatively and solve problems will be the “experts” of the future and add the most value to society. Putting information at the fingertips of a student allows them to free up their area of focus to think more creatively.

I feel a shift in education is coming that will allow students to learn in a much more flexible environment that allows them to learn and grow at their own pace and in a direction led by their own curiosity. This will foster more creativity and create the next generation of contributors.

Victor: Anything else you’d like to say to educators and other leaders in and around education about the value of MOBI wireless management?

Scott: Many education systems are embracing technology. However, many are resisting for the reasons mentioned above. MOBI can provide the expertise and infrastructure required to begin to infuse your environment with technology while controlling the cost of that technology. MOBI has a track record of doing this for the some of the largest organizations in America.

By Victor Rivero. Victor Rivero tells the story of 21st-century education transformation. He is the editor-in-chief of EdTech Digest, a magazine about education transformed through technology.

Scott Kraege is a managing partner of two wireless mobility management companies, Bluefish Wireless Management and MOBI wireless management. He holds chair positions with the Center for Telecom Environment Management Standards (CTEMS) Committee, the 2012 Super Bowl Committee and the executive board of FIVE Career Advisors.

http://edtechdigest.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/interview-scott-kraege-alleviates-mobile-pain-for-education/