Cell Phone

The cell phone is absolutely required for anyone in an operations role. Operations is a 24×7 job, and in many cases a cell phone is the difference between an outage that is a minor annoyance to you and your family, and a major login-and-fix-it event.

• Let each employee get her own phone – mandating a make or model is a waste for some people and insufficient of others.
• Let each employee use the network of her choice – Cell networks do have outages of their own, and this spreads out your risk.
• Let each employee get a Text/SMS feature in the plan – Use Text/SMS instead of a pager, and as mobile Instant Messaging.
• Consider allowing the Web feature in the plan – Being able to check the company website while mobile is a huge win, if that is part of the job.
• Get a hands free kit – That makes it so much easier to type without hurting your neck.

SMS / Pager

The pager is old technology, so if you have SMS on your cell phone, I don’t see a need for it. The one case where a pager wins is it’s coverage. While I can get an SMS in places where I can’t get a call, I can get a page in places that my cell phone is totally useless.

Use a pager if cell phone coverage is an issue in your area.

Desk Phone

Do we need another phone at our desk? Unless you need some feature that a desk phone has and your cell phone does not, ditch it.

If you do need one, consider VoIP alternatives. You become your own telephone provider, and may save in the process.

Conference Calls

A good conference call system is a valuable tool for collaboration while solving problems. You can run your own (Cisco’s Meeting Place is a popular one) or you can pick between many third party providers (just search for “conference call providers”)