My office issued us all a work cellphone two years ago. Next year, they’re removing all our land-line phones at the office.
Many of my co-workers always carry two phones. Their work phones and their private phones. They try not to answer their work phone durign provate hours, and they tell their loved ones not to call during work hours.
I don’t see myself carrying two phones. It just seems like more stress: two phones to carry with me, to keep track of, and to keep juiced. Also, I don’t want the hassle of a personal cellphone that I have to repair myself if it breaks down. I don’t care about the costs all that much, but the hassle, oy.
So how do you do it, if you’ve got an work-issued cellphone? Do you also keep a private phone? Do you have one of those dual-sim-card phones I keep hearing about but that don’t seem to be available in an actual shop ? How do you deal with work calls in your off hours and private calls during work hours?
When I had a work-issued one, I took work and personal calls on it, though I limited my personal calls to after hours. Since I use very few minutes in a month (I doubt I’ve ever gone over 50, and certainly never went over 100), it wasn’t an issue.
I used to have a work cell phone that I occasionally used for personal use. This was 2005. Around 2009, when smartphone really started becoming popular, I bought one and turned in my work phone.
Now, my job is considering getting rid of cell phones all together and instead, providing a stipend for those that use their phones a lot for work.
I work for the US government, whose security restrictions prevent me from receiving work email on my personal smartphone, so I must carry my work phone to get work email.
However, the government’s contract with the service provider is basically for data only; we can use that phone to make calls, but only in urgent situations, because they are charged at a high rate. Also, government security restrictions prevent me from installing apps on my work phone. Thus, I cannot give up my personal smartphone.
I’m a lawyer, so there is little supervision of phone use. Work calls outside of business hours and personal calls during the work day, within reason, are ordinary occurrences.
Don’t worry about it. All you have to do is set up your own private email server and have everything go to your private phone… It’s too much of a hassle to have two phones.
My company greatly subsidizes my personal phone and monthly plan in return for me using it as a work phone. I install a secure app (Good for Enterprise) on my phone and through it can get work emails. My plan is unlimited everything, so data or airtime usage is not an issue. It’s a win/win - they don’t have to keep up with an inventory of phones and plans, I keep my phone and number should we ever part ways.
The two times I had a work-issued cellphone were both before I had a private cellphone of my own. But I’d behave the same way now if I were once again issued a work cellphone.
• They have off buttons. I turned mine completely off except during working hours.
• I made a point of informing everyone that if they need to reach me during off hours, that’s what email is for. And if I’m not at my computer and therefore able to receive email, I’m therefore utterly useless to them if they’re having an emergency. Not being a cardiac surgeon, I am to be understood as not being the kind of person you need to be able to reach when I’m at the theatre, dining out with my companion, or out for a long walk. My off-hours time is my own. If you don’t like it, get another employee.
• My voice mail message specifically said “If I’m not picking up, do NOT leave me a voice mail, email me at myemailaddress@isp.com. I will see that a lot sooner.”
ETA: Oh, and I now have only a personal cell. My primary client knows my number and does text or call me sometimes if he can’t reach me via email. But I’ve gotten him used to the idea that it may be a week before I notice a voicemail from him. And if I feel like replying during off hours I will but if I don’t, I don’t, and won’t.
I just used Call Forwarding to send all calls to my personal cell phone into my company cell phone. That way, no matter which number someone dials, it is my company cell that rings. Because of that arrangement, I’ve never upgraded my personal cell to a smart phone; it’s just an old-style flip phone. My company provides me with an iPhone, so why incur the extra personal expense?
I did juggle 2 phones for a bit then I forwarded my personal calls to my work number and used my work number for txting. Since I owned the company I didn’t have to worry about them recalling their phone and work number from me.
Other: I have a private cell phone and my work phone is a land line. I don’t give out my cell phone number for work purposes, but I do answer email on it occasionally (we use Gmail).
In the past, my employer paid a percentage of my cell phone bill, so I’ve never had to carry two phones.
My employer pays me a stipend to use my smartphone on which they install their security package.
We have an always on work culture. I take work calls at all hours and personal calls during work hours. Within reason.
Funny that you end with that question, because I was wondering the same about your setup. Are you aware you could just port your personal number into Google Voice for a one-time fee of $20 and achieve the same thing for free while gaining more control over your calls?
At my last job, we had the dreaded on-call phone and the on-call rotation. The one time it rang when I had it, I was at the hairdresser and she was drying my hair. That was fun. “No, I can’t check that this second…”
Prefer two phones. I can switch the work one off when I am in private mode and visa versa. I lose one or one goes flat I have another in an emergency - ditto if network coverage is for some reason better for one than the other (they are on different networks). Work phone is no aps (for security) and pretty much locked down so only good for reading and writing simple email, text and calls. I too prevent anyone leaving voicemail messages. Limited private calls are allowed on a trust basis - for family calls when overseas among other things I guess.
If I move on job wise then work calls from my old shop die. Folk can find where I am now via LinkedIn.
I have a work landline at home too - all paid for by them - as I work from home 60/40 (the office is over 400 miles away). That is also a good thing - not least that I can ignore that phone too after hours if I wish. It is in my home office beyond the utility so can only be heard dimly beyond two doors.
Finally if my private cable line goes down I have an alternative (and visa versa again).
When I go to the actual office there is talk of doing away with the desk phones - as we have an portable ear piece thing that uses VOIP via bluetooth from my laptop.
I technically have four phones, landlines for work and home, a work cell and a personal cell.
The work cell is because I have to be available off hours for day of air program changes.
The personal cell is because I want to keep the work cell for work only. The company doesn’t need to see my personal texts or get info on my personal calls.
The one thing I would *never *do is give up a personal phone. If you can the personal one and try to operate just on the work phone you’ll be utterly screwed when the job ends or the company changes policy and pulls your phone.
I have always had the Ghostbusters attitude: never, but never cross the streams. All work stuff stays only on work machines and all personal stuff stays only on personal machines. They have no right to ever touch even a smidgen of my stuff. And I can sever relations with the company at any time with no consequences for my stuff.
In life, as in network design, firewalls are more than just a good idea; they’re mandatory.
Nope, never heard of such a thing. But it sounds as if I would still have to maintain my personal cell phone for that to work, otherwise the number would become ineffective, wouldn’t it? Call forwarding doesn’t cost me anything beyond what I pay for cell service anyway. I started it once a couple of years ago, and it’s been forwarding ever since. I can end it any time with a single phone call.
I have always thought it important to maintain my own personal cell phone in case of a change in my employment (which has happened a few times since I’ve had the phone). Additionally, not all my employers have actually provided a cell phone; some have paid me an allowance to use my own.
