In short
Company mobile phones are phones and lines your business provides to employees for work. Running them well means one multi-line business account, spend caps and bill reporting, mobile device management (MDM) for security, a joiner and leaver process, and a plan for repairs, replacement and recycling. Forever Communications can help set it all up.
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What running company mobile phones involves
A company mobile phone is more than a handset in a drawer. Each one is a line on a contract, a device holding company email and customer data, a monthly cost and, at the end of its life, an asset that has to be wiped and recycled. With a handful of phones you can manage that informally. Beyond ten or so, informal stops working: a leaver keeps a phone with live email on it, a roaming bill arrives that nobody expected, or nobody can say which handset belongs to whom.
A well-run mobile fleet has five parts:
- One business account. Every line sits on a business account in the company's name, so you can add, move and remove lines without starting from scratch each time.
- Spend control. Spend caps, usage alerts and bill reporting stop surprises and show you which lines are actually used.
- Device management. Mobile device management (MDM) software keeps company data on the phones secure and lets you lock or wipe a lost handset.
- A joiner and leaver process. New starters get a working phone on day one; leavers hand back a phone that can be wiped and reused.
- A lifecycle plan. You know how phones are bought, repaired, replaced and recycled, and roughly when.
The rest of this page takes each part in turn. If you are starting from scratch, our guide to business mobile phone contracts explains how the contracts themselves work, and business mobile phone plans explains the types of plan you can put on each line.
Who should get a company phone
Not every employee needs a company phone, and giving one to everyone is the quickest way to pay for lines nobody uses. Roles that usually justify one:
- Field staff, engineers and drivers who work away from a desk
- People on call or on a rota who must be reachable out of hours
- Managers and sales staff whose customers expect a direct mobile number
- Anyone handling customer or financial data on the move, where you need control of the device
- Shared roles such as a duty phone, a site manager's handset or devices in a warehouse or on reception
Other staff may be better served differently. Office-based people who mostly need a work number can use a softphone app on a laptop or mobile from a cloud phone system. Staff who need data on a tablet rather than calls may only need a business data SIM. And some businesses give staff a work line on their own phone using dual SIM or eSIM (see business eSIM and getting a business mobile number).
Whatever you decide, write it down. Eligibility is the first section of any company mobile phone policy.
Company-owned phones, BYOD or something in between
There are three common ways to give staff a work mobile. Many businesses mix them by role.
| Approach | How it works | What to think about |
|---|---|---|
| Company phone and SIM | The business buys the phone, provides the line and gives both to the employee | Simplest to secure and to recover from leavers. HMRC exempts one phone per employee when the contract is between the business and the supplier |
| Company line on the employee's own phone | The business provides a SIM or eSIM line; the employee uses it in their own dual SIM handset | The work number stays with the business, but the handset is personal, so device management is lighter and needs the employee's agreement |
| Bring your own device (BYOD) | The employee uses their own phone and their own contract for work apps | Lowest hardware cost, but harder to secure. Paying towards an employee's own contract has tax and National Insurance consequences |
Company-owned phones give you the most control and usually the simplest tax position (see are company mobile phones a benefit in kind?). BYOD can work well for staff who only need email and a few apps, provided the phone is enrolled so work data can be separated and removed. If you hold or are working towards Cyber Essentials, personal devices that access work data are in scope, which our sister site explains in Cyber Essentials, BYOD and home working.
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Multi-line accounts, spend caps and bill reporting
On a business account, every line sits under one account and usually one bill, with tools for managing them online. Each network describes its own tools, and they differ:
- EE Business offers business spend caps, which put a limit on charges beyond the plan, send alerts and can be adjusted or removed at any time, plus Bill Protector for larger teams. Accounts are managed online in Mobile Manager. See our guide to EE Business mobile phones and plans.
- Three Business offers Three Analyst, online bill analytics with exportable reports, and spend caps on its business lines. See our Three Business guide.
- O2 Business and Vodafone Business, which we can also supply, have their own account and billing tools. We set out what each includes when we quote.
Whichever network you use, a few controls are worth setting up from the first day:
- Spend caps on every line, so out-of-plan charges stop at a level you choose
- Roaming switched off, or capped, on lines that do not travel abroad (see business roaming)
- Bars on premium-rate numbers unless a role needs them
- Usage alerts sent to the line manager or whoever approves the bill
- A quarterly look at lines with little or no use, which can be moved to a cheaper plan, reassigned or ended in line with the contract terms
If your data use is uneven across the team, ask about shared or pooled data, which some networks offer on business accounts; our guide to business mobile phone plans explains how it works.
Securing company phones with device management
A company phone carries email, files, contacts, banking or finance apps and the authenticator app staff use to sign in to everything else. Losing one should be an inconvenience, not a data breach. Mobile device management (MDM) software is how businesses make sure of that. It lets you:
- Enrol phones so they are configured before or as staff first switch them on
- Enforce a screen lock, encryption and a minimum operating system version
- Install and update work apps, and keep work data apart from personal apps
- Locate, lock or wipe a lost or stolen phone, and remove company data when someone leaves
Our guide to mobile device management software covers the main tools, including Microsoft Intune, Sophos Mobile, IBM MaaS360 and Apple Business's built-in management. To have phones arrive ready to use, set up zero-touch enrolment: for iPhones that runs through Apple Business Manager, now called Apple Business.
The networks offer services here too. EE Business can enrol devices into Apple Business Manager, Android zero-touch enrolment or Samsung Knox Mobile Enrollment so that they appear in your MDM, and offers Jamf and Ivanti services with EE Business connections. Three Business offers Three Device Management, a cloud device management service for businesses with more than 25 devices, powered by Ivanti, and Three Mobile Protect for up to 25 devices. See mobile device management and mobile security for every option we supply.
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Joiners, movers and leavers
Most mobile fleet problems happen when people arrive, change role or leave. A short written process avoids them.
When someone joins
- Confirm they are eligible for a phone under your policy and which type of handset and plan they need
- Order the handset so that it is registered to your account for zero-touch enrolment, or assign one from your spare stock
- Add a line to the business account, or reassign an unused one, and note the number against the employee
- Let the phone enrol into your MDM when it is first switched on, then have the employee sign in with their work account
- Ask them to read and accept the phone policy
When someone leaves
- Collect the handset, charger and any accessories on or before their last day
- Remove company data: retire or wipe the device in your MDM, and make sure it is no longer locked to the employee's personal account
- Decide what happens to the number. A company number belongs to the business, so it can be reassigned, diverted or kept on a low-cost plan, in line with the contract terms
- Reset or redeploy the handset to the next person, or send it for recycling
When someone changes role, check whether their plan, roaming settings and app access still fit. For iPhones, Apple Business lets users with the Device Enrolment Manager role release devices and remove Activation Lock from organisation-owned devices, which saves a lot of chasing when a leaver forgets to sign out.
Buying, repairing and recycling phones
We focus on getting your airtime costs down, so you can buy company phones separately, outright or through your usual procurement. That can save a lot of money and lets you choose when to refresh devices, rather than tying replacements to a contract end date; our guide to mobile phones for business explains more.
Plan for the end of a phone's life before you buy it. EE Business lists a Device Lifecycle Management service that covers set-up, deployment, retrieval, data wipe, redeployment and recycling. Three Business offers Three Business Repairs. Whichever route you take, make sure every handset is wiped and released from your MDM before it leaves the business, and keep a record of what went where.
A small pool of spare, enrolled handsets is worth considering once you have more than a couple of dozen phones, so a broken screen does not leave someone without a phone while it is repaired.
How Forever Communications helps with company phones
We supply EE Business and Three Business, and can also supply O2 Business and Vodafone Business, so we can help you choose the network that suits where your people work. For a company phone fleet, we can:
- Talk through who needs a phone, what they use it for and how you want to manage the devices
- Help you check coverage and choose a network, or more than one, for your lines (see business mobile phone providers)
- Quote for the lines and plans, with the network's contract terms set out clearly
- Help move your existing numbers across with a PAC, including numbers currently on personal contracts
- Help set up spend caps, zero-touch enrolment and your MDM so new phones arrive ready to use
Prices depend on the number of lines, the plans and the contract term, so ask us for a quote. Our sister site also covers business SIM only plans.
Contact us to talk through your company phones.
Company phone guides
How Forever Communications helps with business mobile
We help UK organisations choose, set up and run business mobile: plans, SIMs and eSIMs, phones, mobile broadband, 5G and the device management that keeps a fleet under control.
- Start with what you have: we look at your current contracts, end dates, users and devices before suggesting anything new
- Four networks, one conversation: we supply EE Business and Three Business, and can also supply O2 Business and Vodafone Business, so you can choose the network that works where your people work
- Airtime first, devices your way: we focus on getting your airtime costs down, so you can buy iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and other devices separately and set them up to enrol in your mobile device management
- Moving without losing numbers: we help you plan the switch and keep your existing business mobile numbers
- Beyond the phone: 5G for business, mobile broadband and data SIMs for sites, vehicles and backup connections
- Device management and mobile security: MDM and mobile threat defence from vendors such as IBM, Sophos, Check Point, CrowdStrike and Lookout, plus Jamf, Ivanti, Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile and Mobile Voice Recording with EE Business; see mobile device management and security
Forever Communications is part of Forever Group. Ask us for a quote and we will set out the plans and services that fit your team.
Frequently asked questions
Should my business give employees company mobile phones?
It depends on the role. Staff who work away from a desk, are on call or handle customer data on the move usually benefit from a company phone, because the business controls the number, the device and the data on it. Office-based staff who only need a work number may be better served by a softphone app or a work line on their own phone.
Are company mobile phones taxable for employees?
Usually not. HMRC says there is nothing to report and no tax or National Insurance to pay if you give an employee only one mobile phone or SIM card and the contract is between your business and the supplier. Other set-ups are treated differently; see are company mobile phones a benefit in kind?. This is not tax advice.
Can employees use a company phone for personal calls?
That is a policy decision for your business. HMRC's guidance says the exemption for one phone covers private calls paid for by the employer on that phone, so personal use of a single company phone does not in itself create a tax charge. Many businesses allow reasonable personal use and say so in their company mobile phone policy.
What should happen to a company phone when someone leaves?
Collect the handset, remove company data through your MDM, make sure it is no longer locked to the employee's personal account, and decide what to do with the number, which belongs to the business. The handset can then be reset and given to someone else or recycled.
Can a small business have company mobile phones?
Yes. The networks sell business accounts to sole traders and small firms as well as large organisations; EE Business, for example, has a small business route for organisations with up to 100 employees. See our guide to small business mobile contracts.
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