Get Smart About Smartphones

Elaina Buzzell, Senior Program CoordinatorDave McDougal, Data Network Consultant

NPower Northwest

• Vision – A thriving community with high performing

nonprofits.

• Mission– To strengthen the nonprofit sector by catalyzing

innovation and driving adoption of technology solutions.

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Get Smart About Smartphones

• Key smartphone features & considerations– Email, Calendar, and Contacts– Phone Operating System Comparison– Apps– Service Providers

• Smartphone Security– Who needs full mobile access?– Policies for personally-owned phones– Basic and Advanced Security Settings– Educate Your Staff

Smartphone Choices

• There are many smartphone choices available to us today, but not all will connect well with your nonprofit.

Email, Calendar, and Contacts

• Most nonprofits heavily prioritize email, calendar, and contacts as vital smartphone needs.

• You need to know what kind of email your nonprofit uses to find the right phone.

• Most common nonprofit email tools:

Email, Calendar, and Contacts

• Exchange users need to look for ActiveSync– ActiveSync phones will provide the best

experience for reaching your email– Email/calendar/contact syncing very difficult

without ActiveSync– Included with Windows Mobile

and iPhone– Only some Android models– Not available with Blackberry

• Gmail works well with Android and iPhone

Email, Calendar, and Contacts

Windows Phone iPhone Android Blackberry

ActiveSync(Exchange Support) Gmail* support

* Gmail support refers to support for organizations hosing their email through Gmail on their own domain, e.g. your.name@yournonprofit.org. Support is different for personal gmail accounts such as your.name@gmail.com

Choosing a phone that doesn’t work with your organization’s email will result in higher support costs.

Smartphone Apps

• Look into the software that you use on a regular basis – there may be apps to use that program on a mobile phone.

• Check which phoneplatforms havethe apps that you need.

Service Providers

• Make sure to check all areas of your home and office (and other frequent locations) to make sure you can get a good signal.

• Check into whether your network has other handy features/policies:– Shared minutes/data between staff– Tethering (using your phone connection for

computer internet access)– Good customer service

Security and Smartphones

• Best to think of smartphones as small computers.– Nonprofits need security policies for smartphones

that are similar to policies for full-sized computers.

• A stolen or lost phone can release sensitive data or give unauthorized access to your network.

What kind of data are we talking about?

• Emails, Calendars and Contacts– Sometimes contains sensitive data

• Apps and programs– Some databases have apps that provide continual

access. Can provide access to sensitive data.

• Files copied to the phone

• Social Media apps– Thieves could tweet or update on your accounts

Who needs full mobile access?

• The more staff have access to email and files on their phones, the more open you are to problems.

• Do all staff members need the same access?

• Key people to give full access:– Individuals/groups who regularly receive urgent

messages and calls– Individuals/groups who regularly work off-site

Personally Owned Phones

Staff may want to add org info, email, or other data to their personal phones.

• They must agree to other security policies.• You need to decide whether/how to

reimburse these staff for minutes/data used.• Need to budget for support• Best to create a policy that they ask first

before adding any data.

Basic Security Rules

• Use a good password on your phone and apps– Don’t use the default codes provided

• Use the screen lock– Require password after a few minutes of inactivity

• Require that staff report if phone missing for over 24 hours– Organization-owned or personally owned with

organization data

Additional Security Considerations

• Be careful of non-professional apps– Only install apps from trusted providers– 3rd party and “silly” apps can cause security

breaches

• Remote Wipe– ActiveSync provides easy way to remotely wipe

phones– All staff with org data should agree to remote wipe

– Organization-owned and personally-owned

Educate staff about your policies

• Include policies in onboarding information for new staff

• Provide info on importance of mobile security to ALL staff, and provide occasional refreshers

Additional Resources

• NPower Northwest’s Blog– We regularly post on smartphone along with other

nonprofit tech topics• NPower Consulting Services– Staff can help you choose phones and create

policies customized to your security needs

Thank You

Elaina – elainab@npowernw.orgDave – davem@npowernw.org

NPower NorthwestWebsite: npowernw.org

Facebook: facebook.com/npowernwTwitter: @npowernw