Businesses can’t afford to have their travelling employees go off the grid. When travelling abroad though, accessing the Internet can be a challenge, from slower connections and pricey roaming charges to a greater security risk, especially when connecting to public networks.
Asking employees to go cold turkey and turn off the data for the duration of a business trip clearly isn’t an option. People are just too addicted to being connected these days. And besides, when travelling on business, being connected is a job requirement.
So how can your business travellers stay connected while ensuring corporate data is kept secure, and without running up a big roaming bill for the company?
Here are four tips you should arm your employees with before you send them out on the road.
- Tether your laptop to your smartphone
When it comes to your users working remotely while abroad, security should be a top-of-mind concern. If they’re going to be sending sensitive business data, it should only happen through a reasonably secure connection, which can be obtained by tethering your smartphone to your laptop. Also, you will want to ensure their endpoint security software is fully up to date before they hit the road.
- Find an office away from the office
When it comes to finding a workspace on the road, should they tire of hotel room there’s always Starbucks or the hotel lobby. But if they need a little more professional atmosphere for an important Skype call, or even just a more peaceful and quiet place to work, there are other options available. The Desks Near Me app can point your business traveller to office spaces that rent by the hour, equipped with all the comforts of their home cubicle, from a phone to high speed Internet.
- Send them with a hotspot
Are your business travellers complaining they’re tired of chasing down Wi-Fi hotspots, enduring spotty service and squatting in coffee shops? Send them on the road with their own hot spot. One option is XCom Global which rents mobile hot spots that provide unlimited mobile broadband access for multiple devices for a fixed daily fee, which means you know how much the bill will be. Carriers such as Rogers also offer secure mobile hotspots, and with the right carrier data plan a traveller can use their smartphone as a hotspot as well.
- Stick to the basics
Even if your travellers are grabbing all the Wi-Fi they can, it will be hard to get away without even a little data roaming. To keep the usage in check, before they go, help them take a careful look at which apps on their phone are eating up the most data and discuss those they could do without until they’re back home. Maybe they don’t need Twitter to look for new posts every 60 seconds while they’re on the road, or post that picture of their lunch on Facebook.
With just a little planning, business travellers can stay connected and continue their mobile addictions outside of Canada’s borders without breaking the bank.
