Small businesses are failing to plan for the increase in communications costs following new legislation on flexible working, says Kate O'Brien, Marketing Director for Daisy Group.
The new legislation, which gives workers employed by a company for 26 weeks or more the ability to request flexible working, is likely to see some businesses' phone bills rocket over the next six months as employees increasingly need to call colleagues' mobile phones.
"Internal business calls to staff mobiles can mount up if people don't think ahead," warned O'Brien. "Unfortunately there will be many businesses offering family-friendly working arrangements that get a nasty surprise when they open their next phone bill.
"We have been bracing ourselves for a flurry of calls from businesses eager to manage their call costs as they receive requests from staff to spend more time off site during the working week. But, although we've had a few enquiries, we've been genuinely surprised that the volume of enquiries we've had over the last few months hasn't been much higher.
"There are a number of products on the market that can help SMEs reduce their internal call costs. However, as yet, many businesses still haven't realised the financial implications that staff working off site will have on their call costs."