Yankee Group Saves with UMA

It was like music to my ears to hear consulting firm Yankee Group raving to BMighty.com about the cost benefits and other advantages of its recent switch to T-Mobile for all its corporate mobile phone usage. It’s nice to hear about the benefits of UMA from a third-party, completely objective source.

Yankee Group decided to take control of its disparate wireless plans and selected T-Mobile's service, with one of the key advantages being the potential for cost savings with using Wi-Fi, particularly during international travel (the other being coverage on the 27th floor of the Prudential Tower in Boston).

The company chose T-Mobile 8320 BlackBerry Curves that “support unlicensed mobile access (UMA) calling over Wi-Fi, so employees traveling abroad can avoid outrageous international roaming rates."

They decided to standardize on Blackberries for all employees, while benefitting from the UMA capabilities on that device. The money saved on international calling far outweighs the device expenditures.

Beware of international calling and international roaming charges, Yankee Group recommends. “These charges can be enormous. Use Wi-Fi whenever possible.”

It’s just like I’ve been saying.

It’s true, Yankee switched to T-Mobile for a variety of reasons, and the company experienced tremendous savings in many areas. If you’re still not sure how UMA can work in the enterprise, read this article for some good ideas.