Simplifying roaming costs for business travel

Business communications have evolved significantly over the last few years. The pandemic required people to become acquainted with remote working tools like Teams and Zoom, and the advances have meant organising meetings with teams across the globe is now easier than ever.

With that backing, there are still reasons for people to travel abroad for work and other reasons, so staying connected with the office at home or accessing your mail and productivity tools without fear of racking up a significant bill from roaming becomes paramount.

Whether it’s the first time in a new country or a regular visit, it’s difficult to rely on WiFi alone as there may be few places to connect, the speeds might be poor, or there may be security and privacy concerns around it.

Whatever the reason, having a quick and affordable way to stay connected during those periods is important.

“You need to be connected to everything around you in your new location and everything that’s going on in the office,” explained Ciara O’Reilly, head of business products, propositions and customer value management. “There’s a greater emphasis on essential travel so if we’re going take this trip, we need to make sure we’re getting the benefit of it.”

While business trips have become more specific and focused, how Three Ireland supports them has evolved to meet those needs. For roaming clients, it created daily roaming passes, a straightforward and easy-to-follow plan for businesses to allow their employees to stay in touch without the shock of a significant bill.

The setup is quite simple. The first plan allows 1GB of data usage per day in more than 50 popular global destinations for business travel outside the EU, such as the US, Canada, and Australia.

The second plan allows unlimited voice calls, making and receiving them in the same territories.

Best of all, it costs only €3 per day for 1GB of data and €2 for unlimited voice calls, which O’Reilly says is due to businesses ’focus on cost optimisation.

“The feedback we got from customers is to make it simple and good value,” she said. “We wanted to build something that simplifies business travel, makes it hassle-free and affordable so people can effortlessly stay connected.”

“It allows that fluidity which is so important now for businesses”.

For organisations themselves, it’s easy to add people to their plans to avail of the same benefits and work in the background, ensuring costs are managed. It only activates when someone arrives in one of the 50 global destinations covered, meaning you’re only charged when it’s used.

Business travellers need to have something that’s hassle-free, and that means wherever their journey is going to take them, they don’t need to worry about their communications

“As soon as you land in [one of the 50] countries, it kicks in once you do a data or voice event, and you’re on that pass for the day. The next day, if you use it again, it will just automatically activate, so there’s nothing to think about.”

People are creatures of habit, and it can be disorienting to have to massively modify or change your original working habits. The beneficial part is that 1GB can go a long way, enabling you to work as normal.

Likewise, some people might not want to use available WiFi because of poor connection or security concerns. Having that 1GB of data can give the end user a lot of flexibility and leeway.

“We’ve all been in that situation where you arrive somewhere, and you go to look up maps, and you might be blocked or have data roaming turned off; that’s just not feasible,” mentioned O’Reilly. “Business travellers need to have something that’s hassle-free, and that means wherever their journey is going to take them, they don’t need to worry about their communications.”

We want people to operate and work using their phones the same way they would at home.

Other add-ons to support business customers while travelling include Three Ireland’s security service, 3Mobile Protect. This easy-to-use business mobile security solution protects mobile devices from phishing and malware and prevents data loss.

Designed with user privacy in mind, ensuring that user data and usage are always protected, it allows businesses to apply data usage controls quickly and easily. They can set daily and/or monthly data cap limits for staff usage either domestically or when roaming and alert the end user if they’re approaching their cap.

These factors combined have resonated with Three Ireland’s client base, with many praising the ease of setting it up and operating it. Businesses and employees have a lot to think about in their day-to-day operations, so a feature that only activates when it’s needed takes a lot off their minds.

“That’s what customers are responding to us with,” she said. “They’re really loving the simplicity — they just have to put it on once, and it’s done, and there are no shocks.”

“They know what they’re spending, don’t have to worry about big bills coming their way, and they have the peace of mind to go abroad knowing these controls are in place to help manage their device as efficiently as possible . It’s been a very popular proposition, and customers are very positive about it.”

Visit three.ie/business for more information.