Sustainable Mobile Management

The name’s different and the objective is slightly different to the majority of Telecom Consultancies in the marketplace. One meaning of the word Humbug stems from Victorian times when a bad situation was referred to as a “humbug” The bad situation in this instance being the environmental issues facing the world today and the overuse of increasingly rare resources.

The main thrust of Humbug’s business is the provision of mobile phone contracts from the main four mobile networks in the UK.  This is a fast paced environment with new technology being released on an almost daily basis.  The approach Humbug Telecom advocates is to embrace this technology where appropriate, but keep an open mind on the role it plays within a business.  Many companies replace mobile handsets when their contracts become eligible for renewal. These new handsets sometimes offer no real business benefit or technological advancement to the models they replace.  This represents not only an environmental waste, but also a waste of money, as these funds could be used to reduce the cost of the tariff.

To provide this service Humbug Telecom will carry out an analysis of a company’s mobile contract, suggest a cost effective tariff and look at the role each mobile handset plays within the business.  Where new technology would be cost effective and/or improve efficiency, a new handset would be suggested.  If the current handset fulfils its role adequately, we would suggest this handset is retained. 

When a Business engages Humbug Telecom to manage their mobile account, an ongoing service is offered for the duration of the contract to manage all issues with the chosen network and also manage the mobile handsets provided or retained.  Any initial set up can be carried out or advised upon and an ongoing service is provided to maintain the handsets should problems arise, whether under warranty or outside of the warranty periods.  We have links with a number of repair centres in the UK to carry out repairs in a timely fashion (the fastest turnaround to date is two hours for a cracked screen on an iPhone)

Many organisations now conform to ISO 14001 and have in place an EMS (Environmental Management System).  The statements within the EMS are regularly reviewed, so the approach Humbug Telecom is advocating could be included in existing EMS statements to show a continuing strategy.  Indeed many companies are now applying for ISO 14000 standards as they not only recognise the need for all business to perform in a more environmentally friendly manner; they also see the cost savings that can be made from implementing this strategy.