A company smartphone is really two assets wearing one case: a handset worth several hundred euros, and a number on a contract that costs money every month whether anyone uses it or not. Lose track of one and you usually lose track of the other - the leaver who keeps the phone keeps the SIM, the upgrade that goes unrecorded leaves last year’s handset paying for nothing in a drawer. Phones also ride in pockets, which makes them the most personal and most portable thing on the asset list. This guide covers how to keep both halves accounted for.
What you will learn
- Why phones slip through the cracks
- The phone record: IMEI, serial, SIM
- Labelling something pocket-sized
- Issuing and returning handsets
- Upgrades and the drawer of old phones
- Beyond the spreadsheet
- FAQ
Why phones slip through the cracks
Phones combine every property that defeats casual tracking:
- They feel personal. A device someone carries daily, customises and answers at dinner stops feeling like company property - to them and, eventually, to the company.
- Upgrades orphan handsets. A refresh issues new phones; the old ones come back informally or not at all, and either way no record marks their return.
- The SIM detaches the identity. The number everyone associates with “Maria’s phone” can move to any handset in minutes. Track the number and you have tracked nothing physical.
- Breakage forces fast swaps. A cracked screen on a road day means a loaner issued in a hurry - the exact transaction that never gets written down.
- Leavers keep them by default. Without a checkout record, asking for the phone back at offboarding is a guess rather than a checklist line.
The phone record: IMEI, serial, SIM
A phone record has to capture both the device and the contract riding on it:
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Asset ID | The label-friendly identity; what the register sorts by |
| Make, model, storage | The difference between a resale-worthy handset and a doorstop |
| IMEI | What the carrier and police identify the handset by - essential after theft |
| Serial number | What the manufacturer and warranty claim identify it by |
| Phone number + SIM / contract ref | The monthly-cost half of the asset; ties device to the bill |
| Current assignee | The name that makes offboarding a lookup, not a negotiation |
| Status | In use, in storage, in repair, retired - makes the loaner pool visible |
| Purchase date + price | Drives the refresh budget and resale timing |
| Accessories issued | The charger and case that otherwise get repurchased forever |
| Condition notes | Screen and housing grade, set at issue and checked at return |
Tip: capture IMEI and serial from the barcode label on the retail box at unboxing, before the phone is set up. Both are far harder to collect once the device is in someone’s pocket two postcodes away.
The IMEI is the number a carrier can block and a police report will ask for - a register that holds IMEIs turns a stolen phone into an actionable report.
Labelling something pocket-sized
Phones are the hardest hardware to label well, because nobody tolerates a sticker on the thing they hold all day:
- Label the handset, under the case. A small QR label on the back of the device sits invisibly beneath the protective case and survives daily handling. Scanning it with a phone camera opens the asset record - useful when a returned or found handset needs identifying.
- Never label only the case. Cases swap, break and get replaced from a drawer of spares. A label on the case tracks the case.
- Let the IMEI be the fallback. When a label is missing, the IMEI on the SIM tray or in the settings re-identifies the handset against the register.
- Tag chargers and loaner kit simply. A basic “return to IT” label on loaner accessories is enough; full history belongs to the handset.
Issuing and returning handsets
The working rule: a phone is in storage, in repair, or checked out to exactly one named person. In practice:
- Issue as an event. Who, when, which handset, which number, which accessories. For new starters, bundle the phone into the onboarding kit checkout alongside the laptop and docking station.
- Loaners get due dates. The screen-repair loaner issued “for a few days” is the handset most likely to vanish; a due date and an overdue list make it come back.
- Swaps are return + issue. A replacement handset is a check-in of the old and a checkout of the new, so the register never shows one person silently holding two.
- Returns capture condition. Grade the screen and housing at hand-back, while the holder is still standing there - it is the only moment condition disputes are cheap.
- Offboarding reads the checkout list. Whatever is still out under a leaver’s name is the recovery checklist, phone included.
One distinction keeps expectations straight: this register tracks the phone as property. Controlling what is on it - policies, remote lock and wipe - is MDM’s job, and the two work best side by side.
Upgrades and the drawer of old phones
Every hardware refresh cycle produces a wave of returned handsets, and the default destination is a drawer where their resale value quietly evaporates. Give each returned phone an explicit fate instead: wiped and redeployed to the loaner pool, sold or traded in while the model still commands a price, or retired and recycled with the disposal noted. The same end-of-life discipline applies across the whole device lifecycle - the asset record should say not just what a phone was, but how it left.
Beyond the spreadsheet
A phone spreadsheet fails at the speed phones move. Issues, swaps and loaners happen in corridors and repair shops, not at the desk where the sheet lives, so the “assigned to” column lags reality by weeks - and an IMEI column typed by hand is one transposed digit away from useless, a familiar Excel failure mode.
AMPthilly treats each handset as a full asset profile - IMEI and serial in the fields, contract reference in a custom field, receipts and photos attached - with checkouts, returns, transfers and due dates recorded as events that build a permanent history. A QR label under the case opens the record from any phone browser, no app install, and the overdue list keeps loaners honest. The free plan covers 3 users and 25 assets with no card required, which comfortably fits a small company’s handset fleet.
FAQ
How do companies keep track of phones issued to employees? A register holding IMEI, serial and number per handset, plus a checkout tying each issued phone to a named person with a date.
Should I record the IMEI or the serial number? Both - serial for the manufacturer and warranty, IMEI for the carrier and police. Capture them from the box label at unboxing.
How do I track which employee has which phone? Issue and return as recorded events; upgrades are a return plus a new checkout, never a quiet swap.
What should happen to old phones after an upgrade? Check in, wipe, grade, then redeploy, sell while value remains, or recycle with the disposal recorded. The drawer is the worst outcome.
Is an asset register the same as MDM? No - MDM controls what is on the device; the register tracks it as property, with cost, contract, holder and history. Most companies need both.
The takeaway
Phone tracking works when the handset, the number and the holder are three linked facts in one record. Capture IMEI and serial at unboxing, label the device under its case, issue and return every handset as an event with a name on it, and give upgrade returns an explicit fate before the drawer claims them. The result is an offboarding checklist that writes itself and a phone bill with no ghosts on it.