The Defy Satellite link gives any Android or iPhone an instant upgrade with the ability to send and receive text messages via satellite, solving the problem of mobile dead zones for emergencies and wilderness adventures.

Announced ahead of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and produced by the British phone manufacturer Bullitt under the Motorola brand, the Satellite link connects to a normal smartphone via Bluetooth and uses an app to send not only SOS messages but general two-way chat via texts.

The lightweight, credit card-sized puck will ship from about April, costing £99 on its own or £149 when bundled with 30 messages a month and an SOS assistance service from FocusPoint for the first year. It connects to geostationary satellites via a new MediaTek chip to send SMS to regular phones with replies sent using the cross-platform Bullitt Satellite Messenger app. A button on the side can also send an SOS alert with location without needing to connect to a smartphone.

​Alongside the puck, Bullitt also announced the Cat S75 rugged smartphone, which has the same satellite communications system built into it, costing £549. The Android is the continuation of Bullitt’s long-running rugged phone business aimed at first responders, rural workers and off-grid hobbyists.

Workplace rules and expectations have made a huge shift in the last few years. As your team ventures back into the workplace, now is a good time to review if BYOD is the best way to do it.

As we explore BYOD policies, keep in mind that Bring Your Own Device refers to laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Any wifi or cellular enabled device used for work will fall into this discussion. 

Studies indicate that your team will see an increase in productivity when using their own devices on the job. There's something about having all the settings and preferences right at your fingertips, and even that friendly wallpaper of your cat, to speed up tedious tasks. 

Employees also share that their job satisfaction increases, and that means they stick around at their favorite job for longer. Unifying communications into one phone (instead of a work phone, cell phone, home phone) reduces stress and increases productivity! 

For Employers, enjoy a decrease in costs for providing hardware: computers, phones, etc. We recommend using apps like RingCentral, Teams or any other VOIP provider for employee work phone calls and communication. 

Be prepared for the disadvantages of BYOD:

• personal devices being lost or stolen, and losing company data or exposing company information in the process: use cloud-based platforms to retain and protect data
• insufficient anti-virus software
• decreased control
• potential increase in IT costs, should you provide support and repairs​: be clear on what repairs and solutions your company will provide, reduce complex software and switch to cloud-based platforms where possible