October 19, 2007
Guru is delighted to hear that employees can no longer use flights as an excuse for being out of contact with their bosses.
For too long Yours Truly listened to answerphone messages while employees were larging it up in business class, drinking champagne and watching Meet The Parents with their shoes off.
But now phone regulators have come to the rescue of employers everywhere. Ofcom last week announced it would consult on whether to allow mobile phone signal in British-owned planes.
Apparently, aircraft would be fitted with an on-board ‘base station’ that would beam passengers’ phone signals to Earth via a satellite in space. Well, it sounds very complicated, but at least the pilots that banged wings on the runway at Heathrow last week could have phoned each other to swap details.
Guru can’t wait to see those smug business travellers receiving calls at 3am asking them whether they have the number for so and so, and could they just file a report on their Blackberry?
Productivity will soar – not least because it will stop at least a few middle managers from organising foreign meetings as an excuse to go missing in action for a few days and come back with a suntan and £400 of expenses for ‘massage services’.
HR will be able to track them here, abroad and even in the air between.
