We’ve seen plenty of evidence that suggests businesses everywhere are negatively impacted by global roaming charges. In fact, it’s estimated that this summer, businesses paid £170 million (over $223 million USD) in global roaming charges.
According to new research by global carrier Truphone, which surveyed 300 Australian businesses with more than 40 employees that travel and do business abroad, 21.5% of Australian businesses restrict communications between employees, clients and business partners, and 21.2% experience issues with lack of access to internal network resources whilst abroad. 53.3% of these respondents were employed by large enterprise (200+ employees) and 46.7% worked for small-to-medium sized businesses (40-199 employees).
47.7% of businesses experienced employees unable to work through lack of connectivity abroad, while 49.6% of employees are unlikely to call or text colleagues who are travelling internationally due to the high costs and complexity of roaming.
Some business concerns pointed out in the research include loss of efficiency, the impact of restricted communication on employees, and complaints from customers and suppliers who could not get in contact, resulting in lost business opportunities. Restricting communications for employees abroad resulted in “lost business”, “lost clients”, “wasting time”, and “reduced effectiveness of personnel”, according to the survey.
“one business [reported] the loss of a $500,000 account due to restricted access to communications while travelling”
“The impact of restricted international communications on Australian business productivity is staggering – for both the productivity of employees, and to the business itself,” said Dr Alex Ip, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, Truphone. “With one business reporting the loss of a $500,000 account due to restricted access to communications while travelling, it’s evident that businesses are suffering.”
“In a world of increasing exports and international trade, Australian businesses need a solution to reduce roaming and international call costs, while increasing productivity and teamwork between employees, contacts and suppliers in global environments.”
The report is just the latest from Truphone, which also found that managing employee usage behavior could control roaming costs and also that even Fortune 1000 firms are feeling the strain of global roaming costs. Luckily, there are a growing number of options for businesses to utilize to solve their roaming dilemmas, including Truphone.