Administration
Working from a phone sensibly
What is worth doing from a phone, what is not, and the three precautions that suffice.
A good part of the work happens away from a desk: on site, in a warehouse, at a client's, in an airport. Working from a phone is not a concession: for some things it beats a computer, and for others it is clearly worse.
What is worth doing from a phone
| Better on a phone | Better on a computer |
|---|---|
| Uploading a photo of a document | Reviewing a long document |
| Signing something brief on the spot | Building or changing a process |
| Checking the status of something | Comparing several things at once |
| Approving what you already knew | Approving something that must be read in full |
Important
The fourth row is the only one worth genuinely respecting. Approving from a phone something you had not read is exactly the failure that is hard to explain afterwards; the rest of the right-hand column is comfort, not risk.
The three precautions that suffice
- 1
Device lock, with fingerprint or passcode
It prevents 90% of lost-phone problems.
- 2
The second factor on something other than the phone
If it lives on the device you lose, it does not protect what it should.
- 3
And not handing over an unlocked phone
The commonest improper access is not an attack: it is someone looking over a shoulder.
Watch out
Beware saving the password on a shared company phone — the van's, the warehouse's. A device five people use should not hold anyone's open session.
If you use personal phones
With that, a personal phone is no riskier than a company laptop. Without it, it is a company archive that leaves with the person.
Worth knowing
Everything done from a phone is logged exactly as from a computer. And signatures made on a phone are worth exactly the same: the device does not change the value of what is signed.
›Do I need to install an app?
No: it works in the phone's browser.
›Do photo uploads use much data?
Some. With poor coverage, prepare and upload on the way out.
›Can I work offline?
Consulting and acting need a connection; the photo can be taken and uploaded later.
A real case
The situation
A field team uses personal phones and shares one account on the warehouse handset.
What you do
- Gives each person their own account and removes the shared session
- Moves the second factor off the phone itself
What you get
The log says who did what again and a lost phone stops being an incident.
The situation
Work happens from a phone on a public network.
What you do
- Avoids uploading sensitive documentation from there
What you get
Risk drops without stopping work.
The situation
The phone is left unlocked on a table.
What you do
- Uses screen lock and session timeout
What you get
A lapse stops being an access.
The situation
Documents are downloaded to the phone and forgotten there.
What you do
- Consults rather than downloads
What you get
Information is not duplicated outside.
The situation
The phone is lent to somebody else.
What you do
- Closes the session before handing it over
What you get
Access does not travel with the device.
The situation
The phone is lost and nobody knows what was on it.
What you do
- Checks that session's log
What you get
The scope becomes known.
This article answers
- using the platform from a phone
- is it safe to work from a phone
- access from personal phones
- working from a phone on site