Full disclosure – I don’t personally own an MP3 player (my kids do), but I do use one from time to time. This past week I have come across several articles about the use of them at work, the pro’s & con’s of allowing them and whether companies have policies regulating their use. Here are some of the articles and the interesting points I found in them:
iPod @ Work – StarTribune.com
Some problems that occur related to the wearing of iPods/MP3s include the users not being able to hear others when they address them, inaccuracies and mistakes on the job due to being more mentally engaged in the music, and touching a co-worker on the shoulder to get the person’s attention could scare the employee (possibly resulting in spilled coffee all over the keyboard) or be misconstrued as sexual harassment.
Wow, those last couple points seem to be pushing it.
Employee gadgets pose security risk to companies – news.com
iPods, MP3 players and other smart devices can all connect to computers. That’s fine when used at home, but when connected to a work PC, the devices can pose a serious risk including – malicious code that crept onto the device at home could enter the corporate network unseen by the firewall or intrusion detection software. Also, a disgruntled employee could copy confidential information to the device and walk out with it. Classified information on a mobile device could be a business risk even when used by loyal workers, when their gadget is lost or stolen, for example.
With all the news the last few months of laptops and desktops that seem to get stolen and confidential records exposed (i.e. bank info, veteran’s personal information, etc.) how much easier is it to loose or steal a MP3 player.
Companies put the iPod to work – azcentral.com
ACG Texas LP, franchisee of the pancake-house chain IHOP Corp. – started testing Apple Computer Inc.’s digital media player on a few employees to save money on Spanish-language classes. National Semiconductor Corp., spent $2.5 million on video iPods for all of it’s 8,500 employees to use for training and company announcements. Capital One Financial Corp., more than 3,000 employees have received iPods since the company began using them in supplementary training classes.
In terms of sales, I can see a huge benefit in using video iPods for providing product training to your entire sales team without pulling them out of the field for a meeting to provide it. The iPod approach allows them to receive the training during non-selling times throughout the day. If needed, they can review the training too. But I would recommend conducting a little research and installing the needed security applications to limit any unwanted exposure you may create through this tool.