Comeback of Dual Phones?

Over the past few months, I have increasingly noticed people carrying two mobile phones. Many of us remember a decade ago when some people would carry a firm issued Blackberry phone for “business” and a second cellular phone to make “personal” calls.  With the adoption of smartphones, the two functions merged, where the majority of users today conduct both business and personal activities on a single mobile device (smartphone).  While this was convenient to employees as end users, it was also a “work/life balance” distraction, making it near impossible to separate family life from business life.  Most of us have unfortunately experienced getting pulled into a work email discussion over a weekend when all we were going to do was check the weather on our browser or call a personal friend.

From a business perspective, most firms have policies that give the firm the right to monitor and protect any firm data if accessed on their mobile device.  These policies usually point out that it is the employee’s responsibility to notify the IT team if the phone is no longer in their control so that it can be completely erased. These policies usually acknowledge that it is the sole responsibility of the employee to backup their “personal” data and the firm does not have any responsibility/liability if the employee fails to do so. This is great in theory until you have a disgruntled employee that has irreplaceable personal pictures or digital currency such as Bitcoins erased and wants to hold the firm accountable!

While most Mobile Device Policy discussions are centered around completely wiping the device if it is lost or stolen, other IT policies come into play allowing the firm to monitor the employees “work related” communications, which are more often than not comingled with personal email, texts, and even photos when everything is on a single device, and that the general computer policies often state that individuals should not have any expectation of privacy.  Again, this policy is usually easy for firm personnel to agree to when they are on-boarded, but take on a new life when an employee discovers their personal information on that device could be accessed by an IT person doing their job.

What is the solution? Firm’s first need to review and update their policies to determine their stance on firm data being accessed on mobile devices (and don’t forget to include tablets and home computers) so staff can be properly informed.  Second, firm’s need to evaluate whether they want to invest in Mobile Device Management (MDM) applications that will allow the firm to effectively wipe firm data without impacting the employee’s personal information.  Third, consider protecting the firm by issuing a firm-owned mobile device that is only to be used for business so that policies can be adhered to.

With MDM software not being inexpensive, the most cost-effective overall solution to implement may be going back to firm-issued smart phones!  Are dual phones really the trend for the future? The Association for Accounting Administration will be asking that specific question in the upcoming AAA Paperless Benchmark Survey being sent out this month.  We strongly encourage you to complete the survey so our members can determine the latest “paperless” trends including whether it’s time for you to start looking at dual phones.

Roman H. Kepczyk, AAAPM, CPA.CITP and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt is Director of Consulting for Xcentric, LLC and works exclusively with accounting firms as an outsourced, independent IT partner to optimize internal production workflows within their tax, audit, client services and administrative areas. His Quantum of Paperless Guide (Amazon.com) outlines 32 digital best practices all accounting firm partners need to understand today as well as the latest AAA paperless benchmarks.