Company cellphone vs Personal

[tvguy]

What "typical" cell phone (and service) are you getting for <$40/month?

I have a 3 year old Samsung Galaxy 4 that was free from Verizon. Got it as the Galaxy 5 was coming out.
Unlimited text and talk $30
2GB Data $10

$40 a month.

If I want to buy a smart phone, a decent one is about $5 a month

$45. A lot less than $70

https://www.verizonwireless.com/sma...c=cse.google.SMJ737VZKA&cvo_crid=255723424686

 

[firefly_ris]

It's interesting to see folks who are willing to use personal cells for work purposes - my first concern would be that work-related people (clients, other employees, vendors, etc) would have my personal cell number rather than a work-specific number. That to me seems problematic for work/life separation as well as if I ever changed companies?

I'm an independent contractor, so there is no employer, so my cell phone is both my personal and work phone. It's easy enough to just not answer the phone or text if I'm "off" (though I'm never really off, so to speak). At first I always would answer because I wanted to please my clients and look good, but I eventually realized if I set some work/home boundaries and enforced them, my clients would just follow suit. I hardly ever get calls at weird times... almost all interaction is through email these days.

Now if I were in a different type of business it might be different.

 

[GreatLakes]

It's interesting to see folks who are willing to use personal cells for work purposes - my first concern would be that work-related people (clients, other employees, vendors, etc) would have my personal cell number rather than a work-specific number. That to me seems problematic for work/life separation as well as if I ever changed companies?

Some people have my cell phone number while others just have my desk number which dual-rings my cell phone number. I've had the same number for 15 years at this point and have been giving it out professionally about as long here and there and it has never been an issue.

 

[andy117]

I have a company phone that I only use as a hotspot and for Waze. I must have unlimited data on it because my kids once used over 50 gigs in a month during a roadtrip to georgia and no one said a word to me about it.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I've had a company cell phone for years. I used to use it as my personal cell phone, but one year I was texting a lot and after getting dinged a couple of times for going over my limit, and with an upcoming trip out of the country I decided to get an iPhone (4). The company went from flip phones to smart phones, also, but they are so encrypted that I kept my personal phone. So, I have an iPhone 6s (personal) and a Samsung Galaxy something (work). I rarely use my work cell phone, but management wants me to keep it. Having a purse is helpful in carrying my two phones, and I don't tote my work phone around with me usually.

They are tossing around having us use personal phones for work, but we'd have to have them encrypted, I think, so I am not interested in that.

 

[Disney Doll]

I’d prefer not to use my personal phone for work so if work gave me a cell phone I’d be carrying 2 phones during work hours.

 

[_19disnA]

Practices probably vary by company. A few years ago we were supposed to reimburse the company for any personal calls made using our company provided cell phone. More recently they stopped collecting from us I assume due to the new contract they made with the cell phone provider as you no longer pay for long distance calls as in the past. We also are doing away with desk phones in the office, but personally I think the sound quality on most cell phones is inferior and annoying for company use. If you can't hear someone or only hear 1/2 of what they are saying, it is very difficult to have an effective conversation.

 

[YachtClubWoman]

I carry 2 cell phones - however on weekends and vacations the work cell is in my briefcase and does not go with me - it is the only way I could separate work and home

 

[Keeblerelf928]

I've only ever carried a work phone since I started working and I move my personal number between jobs. Never been an issue but I've always worked in education where the policies are pretty much "don't break the law". I'm also in IT so directly involved in the policy making and enforcement. I'm on call 24/7/365 but in edu people are really good about only calling when there are literal fires as in the fire company is there and the switch room might have burned down. If I worked in a field/company that didn't have the kind of respect it would probably be a different story. I also haven't owned a personal computer in over 10 years for the same reason.