Using Employee-Owned Technology in the Workplace?

digitalvengeance asks: "As of Monday, my company is initiating a 'no cell phone' policy at all of our offices, including the IT department, where I work. I consider my cellular phone a necessity both in my personal and work lives. I have a number of servers and custom applications configured to notify me by text message, in the event of a problem. I am considering refusing to take work calls or text messages on my personal cell phone, and even quitting in protest of the new policy. How have other Slashdot readers dealt with policies regarding use of employee-owned technology at work? Any suggestions as to how I can get this policy overturned without looking like someone who wants to spend my working time on my cell rather than coding?"

Comments

First step

[American AC in Paris]

Any suggestions as to how I can get this policy overturned without looking like someone who wants to spend my working time on my cell rather than coding?

...have you explained the importance of your cell phone to your boss or HR person? Have you asked for an exception, as yours is pretty clearly an exceptional case?

If they stonewall and ignore your concerns, then by all means, raise a stink. In the interests of civility, job security, and conservation of energy, though, you may want to try the easy way first. Don't break out the elephant gun before you've tried the flyswatter...

Re:First step

[Saeed al-Sahaf]

Throw it back at 'em. Server's down? Who knew!

Re:First step

[Frailty]

I have to back Amaerican AC in Paris on this one. I use my own PDA at work, and the onsite techs were matter of fact in that they would install the software, but the company was not responsible for supporting the hardware, etc. No Problem. Example 2: Had a personal Cell phone and a company pager (pagers are lame outdated, and totally cost inefficient. Got rid of the Cellphone (very liberating really) everyone should try it for a short time. Probelm: No one liked paging me, and used my cell phone all the time. So I told the boss hey, you pay for the cell phone, and then you, the team, business partners, etc. can contact me whenever you want. He thought about 2 seconds and said; make it happen. Sometimes if you have a good business justification, it is smooth sailing, if you are just whining because you think they are interfering with your "personal freedom" you might want to look at your definition of "viable employment".

Re:First step

[garcia]

...have you explained the importance of your cell phone to your boss or HR person? Have you asked for an exception, as yours is pretty clearly an exceptional case?

He is somehow special because his cell phone notifies him of COMPUTER problems at home? I could see an exception for a pregnant wife, a hospiced family member, etc, but personal server issues?

If anything that would just cause workplace tension and drama (as if there isn't enough of that as it is).

Re:First step

[KingOfBLASH]

...have you explained the importance of your cell phone to your boss or HR person? Have you asked for an exception, as yours is pretty clearly an exceptional case?...

With all due respect to the original poster, I am not sure this is clearly an exceptional case. The servers, presumably, e-mail their notifications to a personal cell phone number @ some cellular company. Correct?

Well, whereas if he requests a cell phone or pager or something else he can receive messages on from his boss, if he is ever run over by a bus or fired they can just pass the pager / phone / whatever onto another employee to take his place. If, on the other hand, they don't use a company owned device, someone who should not be getting access to information could presumably be getting access to information. (And assuming he's angry about being outsourced, he might do something the employer regrets).

Now this does not mean the OP is a bad person who would do said things, it's that the bosses want to keep a tight hold of their stuff for various reasons. My advice for the OP is to explain politely to your boss why you need something to replace your cell phone, and how it benefits the company if you're ever run over by a bus. And, if they say no, and you really don't like it, quietly polish your resume and look for work elsewhere. If you don't find it, you won't have quit in the heat of the moment, and if you find a better position, no harm in covering your bases.

Re:First step

[katorga]

Hurrah. Be happy. Be firm. Do not take calls or make work-related calls on your personal phone. Let your employer worry about how to contact you in the event of a system emergency.

Once your employer feels the pain, they will pony up for an alpha pager or cell phone.

Re:First step

[HarveyBirdman]

Throw it back at 'em. Server's down? Who knew!

It's your job to know, and a billion other ITheads out there survive without cell phone alerts. One of them will be taking your job.

Re:First step

[Otter]

...have you explained the importance of your cell phone to your boss or HR person? Have you asked for an exception, as yours is pretty clearly an exceptional case?

If I understand the story -- you're responsible for the servers and have configured them to alert you on your personal phone. That's great, but I guarantee your HR department barely knows you have computers, let alone about your cell phone alerts.

As the AC from Paris says, don't take this personally -- just ask whether you can keep your phone. Or better yet, whether the company will get you a pager or something so you don't generate resentment from coworkers who think you're above the rules. Certainly, don't just let the servers crash and stay down out of spite.

(Actually, it was smart of you to ask before doing anything. It's almost smart to stop, think, ask, and think some more before heading off to demand a showdown -- I've learned always to ask my wife first, and listen when she tells me to make a request instead of reaching for the flamethrower.)

Re:First step

[Anonymous Coward]

Do it in writing.

Write a short, concise and friendly memo stating the the impact of the policy on your work.

Have the memo explicitely state the consequences of conforming to the new policy and that you will conform to the new policy unless you hear from them in writing (since you don't want to break policy based on verbal assurances). Phrase the consequences in terms of loss of revenues, increased costs, or litigation.

Basically, you're putting them on notice that if the shit hits the fan, you have something in writing where they were made fully aware of the potential problems before it actually happened.

Just make sure you don't sound like an asshole in the memo.

Re:First step

[jon3k]

It's your job to know, and a billion other ITheads out there survive without cell phone alerts. One of them will be taking your job. So how do these IT heads know when a server goes down at 2:30 in the morning? They use The Force(tm)?

Re:First step

[FatherOfONe]

Ok, without a cell phone or pager how is he/she suppose to get notified? I have had companies try this stuff before and all it takes is some downtime and you will have a cell phone/pager.

Re:First step

[stewby18]

Well, if they are in the office at 2:30 AM, then they should have some way of being notified in the office (email, look at a screen, etc.). If they are at home, then the "no cell phones in the office" rule doesn't apply.

Re:First step

[dasmegabyte]

Which is exactly what he should do -- ask for a pager. If it's really required that this guy get 24 hour notification (as opposed to something he did as a gee-whiz application or to feel empowered), they'll cough up the money no problem.

I'm certain his company doesn't want him using his personal devices to monitor company processes. If he left the company or the department, the monitoring infrastructure would go with him. And what's he gonna do, leave his cell phone behind with the intern who takes his place while he's on vacation?

I think it's quite nice to have my cell phone at work, but i wouldn't miss it for a second if I was asked not to have it. My old cell phone didn't even WORK inside the glorified Faraday cage I used to work in, and it didn't diminish my quality of life or the quality of my work. I even developed a WAP version of our site on that job -- did all the dev work on an OpenWave emulator, then checked out my handiwork from the patio on smoke breaks. Boss thought it was so cool, he offered to cover the airtime I spent on the project.

Re:First step

[The Dobber]

Ask em for a company provided cell phone. Problem solved.

Or am I missing something obvious?

Re:First step

[jon3k]

Well, if they are in the office at 2:30 AM, then they should have some way of being notified in the office (email, look at a screen, etc.). If they are at home, then the "no cell phones in the office" rule doesn't apply.

I work at the corporate office most of the time. We have 46 branch offices. How *exactly* should I look at my PC monitors while I'm 600 miles away?

Re:First step

[jon3k]

We send alerts to our IM accounts instead. Heck, you're probably sitting at your PC now...

Thats fantastic. So, do you chat on Instant Messenger while you sleep? On the way home from work? While your in a meeting?

I know if something goes down, my blackberry will vibrate, and I will immediatly make my way to a computer. Its all about minimizing downtime.

Re:First step

[epiphani]

Thats all fine and good, then you develop batbelt syndrome -- carrying a personal cell phone, a work cell phone, a work pager, and a PDA out to the bar is unforuntately NOT cool.

Re:First step

[autocracy]

Yeah, and if they're in some really obscure place like, say, a meeting, or at lunch... the server will walk up and poke them on the shoulder?

Besides which, I'd just swap the cell phone for a pager. Yes, I definitely would prefer the cell phone, but life goes on, and honestly my preference is mostly for the convenience of personal calls.

Re:First step

[Jo3sh]

Personally, I use a company-issued pager. When it goes off, I use a company-issued cell phone to call in and advise I'm on my way. If the original poster's company doesn't want him using his personal cell, that's fine and even understandable, but they should be made aware of the scope of the potential issue this creates, after which they should be amenable to either making an exception to the rule or providing equivalent hardware.

And with company-owned hardware and a company-provided service, they can have documentation of calls made on the cell, so they can immediately see if time and resources are being wasted.

Re:First step

[gcaseye6677]

Let me guess, the company will next start bitching about the increased number of personal calls on company phones. Some people will just never be pleased. For those of you who say that nobody should have a personal life at work, any employees you have who have kids will be out the door (hey, maybe that was the idea in the first place).

Re:First step

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, insightful. Listen to the otter.

First, employee owned technology is NEVER appropriate at the workplace.

Sure, your ill trained first, second, even third level managers may like the idea. Geek seem to love the idea (mostly, it seems, in some vain attempt at earning "love")

But I can assure you your CFO does not approve. And, it clearly indicates your inability to grok the very concept of business. You may think your upper management are boobs, but they still call the shots and have total control over your advancement/survival. Don't play yourself stupid to them.

Why is personal tech "bad"?

Well. First, you leave and all of these notifications keep going to, who? You? Sure, that's exactly what they want to hear.

Or, they sell the division, or the company. Or they out source. Or they have disaster recovery plans, and your ever so important covert communications are left unaccounted for. Or, you die, or get sick. Whatever. There are a million business reasons you have to be able to walk out the door forever, any moment of any day, with no mess to clean up behind you.

There is a reason for incorporation - and your personal, um, contribution, runs counter to the corporate excercise, entirely.

In some more enlightened corporations, you'd already be in trouble, for "creating a business risk". You should have proposed the use of notifications, included a justification for a cell phone/pager/blackberry/whatever, and submitted it to your boss.

Not too late, tho. Write a letter to whomever authored the "no cell phone" memo you got. Copy your boss. Come clean, tell them what you did, suggest you are uncomfortable with the business logic (see above) in continuing to use your personal phone. Basically, agree with their policy - it is not YOUR company.

If you want, suggest alternatives. Cell phones are fine, but a e-mail (blackberry type things) has the advantage of multiple notification, etc. Whatever you suggest, or not, close with a request seeking advice on how you should proceed.

Re:First step

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Sometimes if you have a good business justification, it is smooth sailing, if you are just whining because you think they are interfering with your "personal freedom" you might want to look at your definition of "viable employment".

That depends. Some of us value the personal freedom to be able to receive occasional time-sensitive calls, at work or otherwise. I don't log it as work time on my timesheet, and I don't expect my employer to question the odd five- or ten-minute break if something comes up. If an employer is whining just because my personal freedom is interfering with their owning my soul all day, they might want to look at their definition of "viable employees". I am not a machine, and I wouldn't work for someone who wanted to treat me like one.

Re:First step

[ScrewMaster]

Well. If bosses really wanted to "keep a tight hold of their stuff" they wouldn't outsource in the first place. Best way to lose your grip on your company and its products is to outsource your personnel. I think we'll be seeing more and more of that happen, with very bad results for the corporations involved. So sad.

But other than that, you're pretty much dead on. It's rarely a good idea to let anger run its' course when dealing with management. A cool head and plenty of facts are generally better. Even if you don't get what you want, you haven't alienated anyone, and long-term that's a good thing. More to the point, you may earn some more respect, which is even better.

The company I work for has no problem with employees using personal equipment at work. We all have cell phones, and there's never been a problem because we're generally kept too busy to make many personal calls. That's just being professional anyway ... if you're at work ... WORK. It sounds like the company the original poster works for has other issues besides cell phone usage. Management that issues such edicts is generally just band-aiding deeper problems, problems they may not know how to solve.

Re:First step

[rw2]

I think we all ought to seriously consider the costs and benifits of cell phones. I went without for a while and found it liberating.

Once I realized that, just like when I'm at home, I can use caller id to screen my calls I realized that *having* a cell phone was what I found liberating. I can go to my farm in the country and not have to worry about whether the servers have gone to hell because my contact point is one number, always. If I don't answer the voicemail takes a message and I can review that for urgency.

First rule of owning a cell phone. If it rings, you don't have to answer...

Re:First step

[ralatalo]

No....

Ask them to either get you a company cell phone ( if you call into work on off hours when things go boom ) or a pager ( if you just need to know when things go boom ).

Ask them to provide you with the tools you need. You shouldn't be spending your money for those things, besides what are you or they going to do when you leave and you're personal phone is the only thing getting notifications.

Re:First step

[jon3k]

I work in healthcare, we have 24 hour shifts at all of our facilities. They pay us (being the CIS staff) to get as close to 100% uptime as humanly possibly, and I feel I'm compensated very well for that. We're also 90% VoIP. If certain pieces of equipment drop, they don't have phone service either.

Personally, I think its one of three things:
1. You're lazy
2. You're underpaid
3. You don't enjoy your work

I can definatly say that none of the above apply to me.

Re:First step

[fitten]

He said they don't want to allow PERSONAL cell phones. He said nothing about company issued cell phones or beepers. For example, when I was on pager duty, they handed me a pager to carry around with me. The company owned the pager and the number. It's also common for companies to issue cell phones for work related communications.

Re:First step

[Anonymous Coward]

Look at it another way. Why should you have to pay for a cellphone the company is using?

That said, there's a fellow named Abrashoff who wrote a book about how he improved the performance of his organization, a Navy destroyer. One key point was stop blaming things you can't control. Sounds stupid, but how often does progress come to a stop because one part can't be fixed.

In this case, there is a no cell phones policy. Raise the issue of company cell phones. If they don't see the value, then ask about pagers. If they don't want pagers, configure E-mail or IM, and set up a system to cover you when you are gone -- perhaps refer them to your boss when you are out or busy. after all, he's supposed to be responsible -- but only after asking him who to forward the messages to. By all means keep him informed of the problems(CYA), then move on.

Re:First step

[Avihson]

If it is that important, then they will supply the Cellphone or pager.
It's not that hard to live without your personal comms gear.
If immediate notification is a job requirement, then it is incumbent on the employer to provide the equipment to notify you.

You do not have to provide the servers that can't exist without your immediate TLC, why should you provide the monitoring equipment?

Re:First step

[matfud]

>First rule of owning a cell phone. If it rings, you don't have to answer...

I really wish that more people would learn this very simple rule.

However it is an ingraned habbit that was formed using landlines. I know of so many people who will get up to answer a phone even if they are busy (eating dinner for example) rather then let it ring for the 20 or 30 seconds most callers will wait. If its important people will call again or leave a message.

matfud

Re:First step

[Anonymous Coward]

The original poster should also be aware of the scope of potential problems raised by relying on personal property for a critical corporate function (both for him and the company).

Re:First step

[eam]

Where I work, there is a particular class of employee ("Techs" - ie, Radiology Technicians), who are not generally permitted to have email accounts because the supervisors believe this will lead to abuse (emailing their friends instead of working).

It's a silly policy. The benefits of having email would outweigh any drawbacks, and anyone who would (or could) goof off using email can (and probably does) goof off some other way now.

FYI: They have phones, which they can (and do) use to call friends. They have PCs with web browsers which they use to browse the web and even set up mail accounts on yahoo or hotmail. However, they are not permitted to have corporate accounts.

Ultimately, the issue of employees goofing off is a management issue, not a technology issue. Employees have been goofing off since long before the first computer or cell phone. Restricting useful technology because management can't or won't do their job is just stupid.

A little touchy, aren't we?

[Matey-O]

Have them pay for an alpha pager and move your alerts there. Really, quitting over the use of a device you've become addicted to is not the smartest reason to terminate employment.

Re:A little touchy, aren't we?

[Shakrai]

Have them pay for an alpha pager and move your alerts there.

That would be my suggestion as well. Why should you pay for SMS on your personal cell phone (oh I know, you probably have a package plan, but technically you are still paying for it) for work? Do you own any stock in this company? If not, then why use your personal funds to help them?

Everytime I ever mixed personal stuff (be it e-mail addresses, cell phone addresses, etc etc) with work it blew up in my face. You might think it's a good idea to bring your personal laptop in or use your cell phone but I'd ask for them to buy you one instead. It's just common sense -- as well as not paying for/putting wear and tear on your own gear for a company that you don't own and only work for.

As far as the banning cell phones in the workplace that is a little fascist. I would personally have a problem with that. My company allows cell phones on vibrate (office environment) as long as they aren't abused for an excessive amount of personal calls. I guess I'm spoiled working for a smaller company without any PHB lording over me. Personally I don't answer mine in the office -- but I will check my voice mail and return important and/or emergency calls.

Unfortunately as everybody else pointed out unless you can get the policy changed your only real option is to quit and find another job. Personally I'd swallow it and wait until you have another one lined up before quitting in this day and age.

Re:A little touchy, aren't we?

[Shakrai]

I'm curious as to what type of issues you have had because I would hate to fall prey to the same problems.

The big one was I started working for an ISP that I had previously been a customer of. I used my existing e-mail address (tim@ a three letter domain name -- my whole e-mail address was 11 letters -- I loved it) for company related business instead of making a new one. I later quit working for them on fairly bad terms -- 18 months after being hired they wanted me to sign a non-compete/NDA agreement (I didn't have a problem with the NDA but I took serious exception to the "Can't work within 100 miles of us" clause) -- I refused -- they told me to sign it or go work elsewhere -- so I went to work for a customer of theirs for more money. After this happened they took over my old e-mail address (which predated my employment by years) and refused to release it to me. They forwarded me copies of personal e-mails (girlfriend, parents, bank statements, blah blah blah) after opening and reading them. I needed to get a restraining order to put a stop to this activity. It was not a fun situation. I very nearly sued them over it but decided it wasn't worthwhile because it would have alienated the relationship I had with my new employer (who still does business with them).

I suppose that was a unique scenario because it was something controlled by my employer. But I still think that it's best to keep things as separate as possible. If you need a cell phone so badly for work get them to pay for it. My current employer pays for my cell phone -- why should you pay for something required for work?

Just my $0.02.

Re:A little touchy, aren't we?

[SnappleMaster]

How does someone who let an employer "take over" their personal email get +5 Insightful? No offence but is sounds like you were a bit clueless!

I trust my employer I get bank and personal emails at work. But I do it through a forwarder and I never give out my work email unless it is work-related. Be smart.

Is it "we don't provide a cell phone"...

[tcopeland]

...or is it "you can't bring a cell phone to work"?

You might be able to get a waiver for the former... the latter seems like a misguided attempt at a security policy, perhaps?

either put up with it or find a new job...

[garcia]

First of all, when in Rome...

Second, while I don't technically agree w/the policy I don't really see why you are complaining. You do as they say w/o too many questions. If you don't like the working conditions you find another place that is more towards your liking.

I would normally go on to rant about how I personally dislike cell phones in public (nevermind the workplace) but it's irrelevant for this discussion. You do what the employer wants or you start sending out the resumes. A cell phone isn't exactly something required to sustain life.

Just my .02,

Re:either put up with it or find a new job...

[Some Dumbass...]

You do as they say w/o too many questions. If you don't like the working conditions you find another place that is more towards your liking.

India? :)

Seriously, though, the whole "like it or lump it" attitude always bugs me. How in the world do employers manage to brainwash people into thinking that they're gods? Who says that I have to do what my employer says? If their policy is really that bad and the situation is really that serious, go over their heads, make some sort of formal complaint and encourage others to do the same, talk to your union (if you have one), illustrate the consequences of that bad decision (as an earlier poster suggested, "The server's down, who knew?"), and/or threaten to quit (as a next-to-last resort). There are alternatives to quitting if you're clever enough to use them and if the situation justifies using them.

If all that doesn't work, _then_ you quit, but even then only if it's worth it. Remember the perks of your job, the friends you've made at work who you won't see as much anymore, the extra effort which you'll have to put into finding a new job and making a new routine for yourself, and so on.

Re:either put up with it or find a new job...

[dustmite]

Some people like you might view a job as some authoritarian school-like structure where you sit and shuddup and just do what the boss tells you to "'cuz he's the boss". But just be aware NOT everyone sees it that way, some people prefer to work at organizations where their input is valued and they are an active part of a team that works together to achieve something. Just two different approaches.

Get them to buy you one

[ebsf1]

If they won't let you use your own phone get them to provide you with a company phone. After all if you are using it for business then they should be paying for it.

Best you can do: Follow the rules

[grasshoppa]

If you use your cell for work as much as you say you do, and you are not alone, then the impact of this new policy will be felt.

Do what they tell you to do, don't use your cell at work.

On the flip side of it: If you truly do use your cell for work, then get them to spring for it ( monthly costs and all ). It's only fair.

If work wants to use your personal cell phone,

[Mike the Mac Geek]

then they should pay for it. Plain and simple. My office has no idea I have a cell phone number. They know I have a phone, but they are not gonna get the number unless I see part of the bill being paid by them.

Best Policy: Ignore the Man's Silly Rules

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems pretty obvious to me: ignore their silly rules, set your phone on vibrate and go about your business.

Quit over this? What, are they going to fire you if you check an occasional text message on your (silent) cell phone?

Some rules are made to be broken, not fought.

Mr. Anderson, what good is a phone call...

[the MaD HuNGaRIaN]

I am going through a similar thing where I am. For 5 years, I have used my personal laptop for over 12 hours a day for coding, etc.

Now, all of a sudden, it's not ok anymore. It's not like I use some infected Windows-ass piece of Dell shit either. (Ironically, that's what they are trying to force me to use!)

No cell phones is a retarded rule. I have 3 kids all under age 5. Plenty of emergencies arise--as you can imagine. Without cell phones, how would we be able to deal with them?

Work to rule

[Dasein]

It's unclear whether you are saying that the company won't allow cell phones to be used or won't be supplying them. An outright banning cell phone from the workplace is extreme and should be met with a quick move to another company. To be potentially unreachable by family in the case of emergency is not a condition I would tolerate.

Let's assume that's not the case and they just won't be providing you a cell phone. Your job is to keep systems running. If you fail to keep them running you will be seen as not doing your job. Any excuses about the company not providing a cell phone will be seen as petty.

So, I would ask if the company is going to reimburse business calls on your cell phones. If they aren't, you should ask them where notification should be sent and that your cell phone is unacceptable. They may tell you to have notifications sent to your supervisor. If so, do it and get on with life. Don't feel obligated to leave your cell phone on all the time - besides I think it sucks the life force out of you to be reachable all the time. This makes your supervisor responsible for responding to notifications. A few weeks of your supervisor getting the notifications and not being able to reach you during movies, etc. and the policy will probably change.

If they are going to reimburse expenses, leave it as is and make sure you get the expense reports in every month. Do the expense reports on company time and make sure that the time spent that way is clearly noted on any status reports. Once they realize that they're spending $10/month on cell service for you and $50/month for you to itemize the statement and another 10/month to process the expense reports, the may get smart and change the policy.

In short, follow the rules but make them follow the rules as well (i.e. That you won't accept un-reimbursed business expenses.) See this.

Re:Work to rule

[LostCluster]

To be potentially unreachable by family in the case of emergency is not a condition I would tolerate.

So long as somebody's answering the main switchboard at the company front desk, you're not out of contact. Just leave your personal phone in your car, and make sure your family knows your office's number to try during business hours.

Re:Work to rule

[Anonymous Coward]

"To be potentially unreachable by family in the case of emergency is not a condition I would tolerate."

I don't understand this logic. How are you unreachable just because you don't have your cell phone? Do your family members not know where you work? Do you not have a work phone? Does your company not have a phone number? Does the switchboard operator at your company not have a way to contact you?

Yes, direct and instant contact may not be possible, but that has only very recently become an option. I think your expectation that cell phones are essential is the view that is extreme.

Simply remind them...

[httpdotcom]

that after-hours service calls, should be placed to an employer-owned device (ie. pager/phone) so that it is unnecessary for you to use your personal electronics for work related practices.

if they are unwilling to supply such a device, tell them they can call your desk phone and leave a message and you will attend to their call first thing the next business day.

many employers are technologically "retarded", and do not understand the signifigance between their admins using PDA's and cellphones for work related monitoring, and their receptionist gabbing to their S.O. about why they hate their job.

attempt to educate...failing that, update your resume.

Get back to work

[stratjakt]

The powers that be don't want you wasting company time on personal business, and I don't blame them.

The policy no doubt didn't come from nowhere. There are obviously people in your organization that took advantage of the fact that they had cellphones.

I've seen those people, chattering away all day. It's ok to talk as long as they want, right, because it's not like they're using the company phones.

The waddling ass in the office next to me spends AT LEAST 4 hours a day playing tetris on his cell phone. When you walk past his office he gives it a really serious look like he's contemplating his hectic schedule and contact list. I'm not fucking stupid, I know what tetris sounds like. Of course, I say nothing of it because the guy is dangerous when he's working, he's completely fucked up every project he's touched. Worst coder, ever.

Anyways..

There's no constitutional right to having a cellphone at work.

Be a man about it. Suck it up, and get back to work. You expect these nerds to throw you a pity parade because you can't play text messaging all day.

It Happens Every Time

[LittleGuy]

Know when the policy will be reversed?

When your boss' boss needs someone ASAP from the IT department and can't reach them via the corporate phone system.

And your boss will be flippin' burgers.

Reasons?

[Macfox]

Have they detailed why?

Often it helps to know the exact reason before blowing up and making a stink over it. It also means you can approach them for a exemption and know what not to say when trying to justify it.

Busness cases make the world go around...

[blurred.vision]

I have found that in this situation, outlining a business case with real world cost benefit analysis of several options helps the management types with an agenda see the light of day without losing face.

Outline in a business case that you are keen to meet company pollicies, but as you are no longer able to utilise your mobile phone for the work purposes you outlined, you require :

a) a pager and company cell phone or equavalent to maintain the current levels of service;
b) a company provided other doo-hickey remote support solution (fill in the blanks here);or

c) special expemption to utilise your personal cell phone, with an allowance to reimburse you for the relevant quiantity of your monthly bill.

For each of the options, outline the costs versus the benefits to the company, and make a reccomendation on the preferred options for the company, and outline why.

I have found this approach works wonders with managers.

You don't need it

[jyoull]

You don't need a personal cell phone at work. IF these server notices are important to work, then the employer can provide you with either a telephone or text pager or blackberry... and if they don't want to do that, then you are no longer on the hook for notices you couldn't receive

if you family needs to reach you at work, they can call in through the usual office lines, like everyone always did in the time before we all had cell phones in our pockets.

i really don't see the problem here.

Why the ban?

[tverbeek]

What you didn't say is what their reason for the ban is. Many an executive decree turns out to be the wrong (or overly broad) solution to a genuine problem, and it's possible that your intended use of your phone falls outside of that problem area and can be exempted (e.g. they're freaking about camera phones and your phone is demonstrably camera-free). Or perhaps that information will suggest solutions to your own problem that get around this decree (e.g. they don't want people yakking with their friends, so you could use a pager instead of a phone). Heck, if you know what they're trying to accomplish, maybe you could even suggest a different solution that makes more sense.

Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[Schwartzboy]

No joke. I could post for pages and pages with antecdotal evidence, from my own experience and that of fellow geeks, that the quickest way to eliminate a policy or new set of particularly stupid regulations is to follow them to the letter. For instance:

POINTY-HAIRED BOSS: Why didn't you know that Server X, Application Y, and Cubicle Drone Z were all hosed and not responding to requests?
YOU: Well, sir, I get these notifications, see, and when I'm working in another part of the office or not sitting right at my desk, I know instantly if something goes wrong with anything that I'm responsible for and then I can fix it.
PHB: But...that doesn't explain why you didn't know about XYZ!!
YOU: Well, these alerts all come on my cell phone, you see, and since it's company policy that Cells Are Not Allowed...

The dumber it is, the more religiously you should follow it, and make darned sure that all of your buddies fall in line with the company's new direction as well. I'm assuming, of course, that you've already presented your case to a supervisor or HR person or something, and that you're not a Super Executive VP of Something. If you're at that level in the organization, just say "no" and have your department behave differently from everyone else...apparently this works in the real world if you're high enough on the food chain.

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[CmdrGravy]

I couldn't agree more, if you weren't +5 already I would have modded you up.

If policies don't make sense and those in charge won't listen to you telling them they don't make sense the best plan is to illustrate your point as graphically as possible so they get flack and hopefully learn there lesson.

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[dasmegabyte]

PHB: But...that doesn't explain why you didn't know about XYZ!!
YOU: Well, these alerts all come on my cell phone, you see, and since it's company policy that Cells Are Not Allowed...

Continued:

PHB: But you knew about the cell phone regulation. You've known about it for a week. And yet, you couldn't come up with some other way to notify yourself? Like maybe to your company email address, or to your company IM account?
YOU: Yes, but I wanted to prove that the policy was foolish. So I let the server break and stay broken.
PHB: Brilliant! In unrelated news, can I see your security pass? We are going to relaminate for you.

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[tomhudson]

Right, but how is he to know that he's got an urgent email waiting?

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[iminplaya]

To hell with the catheter. Pee into a cup, and leave it on top of the water cooler, or "accidently" spill it by the booses door. All seriousness aside, I believe that there are federal work rules mandating some kind of rest period. If you aren't under one of those evil "willful employment" contracts, it should be pretty safe to call the feds if the company were to break those rules.

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[4of12]

I'm assuming, of course, that you've already presented your case to a supervisor or HR person or something

And here is where many enraged geeks make a big mistake.

They become so upset at the Stupid Fscking Policy and explain in no uncertain terms just how stupid it is to

• people everywhere
• people in authority over them
• people in authority that made the policy

and this is compounding one mistake in policy by another mistake in proper feedback to human beings. Guess what, people are Unsympathetic if you refer to their decisions as shit.

If you want a better chance for the policy to change, you'll get more chance of success if you don't go apoplectic. Instead, take about 100 deep breaths, sleep 2 two nights, count to 10000 and think about a much larger problem such as nuclear annihilation and how small your problem really is.

Then, and only then, go into the office of someone who matters and explain calmly and respectfully how perhaps the new policy didn't fully take into account all of the benefits the company was getting as a result of the old policy and wasn't there someway an accomodation could be reached?

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[KingOfBLASH]

The dumber it is, the more religiously you should follow it, and make darned sure that all of your buddies fall in line with the company's new direction as well. I'm assuming, of course, that you've already presented your case to a supervisor or HR person or something, and that you're not a Super Executive VP of Something. If you're at that level in the organization, just say "no" and have your department behave differently from everyone else...apparently this works in the real world if you're high enough on the food chain.

I tried that once and ended up getting fired. It seems that although the evil pointy haired boss was saying "Act like you don't do this, but whenever I'm not around scramble to do it very quickly or I'll have your job."

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[dominion]

The majority of those guys wouldn't have a clue how to use a computer, even if you sat them down and trained them.

And the majority of computer users wouldn't have a clue how to unload the docks, either.

What was your point again?

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[stephanruby]

Considering those guys get paid $100,000 and can't get fire, I'm with management on this one.

Easy Fix

[sPaKr]

The easy fix here is if they want it bad, they get it bad. Remove all the monitoring, turn off off or leave you cell phone in the car. Then you might try a 'delicate' server reconfiguration. Now return to your cube and allow the mayhem to unfold. Soon someone will come running 'Email is DOWN' your response 'I didnt know, new policy foribbids me from monitoring the servers' their response 'What new Policy?' now you point to HR. Then 'fix' the problem get email flowing again, of course without monitering, allow it to crash.. by the end of the day they will be begging you to reinstall the monitoring.

why do you need one?

[jd142]

Seriously. Why do you need a cell phone? Do you have a phone on your desk at work so that people at work can get a hold of you that way? Do you have email?

I'm trying to think of why you might need to use your cell phone at work, and these are what I could come up with:

1) Communicate with other people in the organization or company. If this is the case, then the company should provide a phone for that purpose. Obviously the company you work for does not think a cell phone is necessary to do the work they hired you to do. They could be wrong, but that's what they think. If so, either convince them they're wrong, if they really are, or use the tools and processes they want you to use for communication.

2) To communicate with vendors or other 3rd parties. If so, then the company should provide you with a phone, but it doesn't have to be a cell phone.

3) Personal calls. It's actually better for the company to make a phone available for personal calls. Many little errands can be done over the phone that you would otherwise have to take time off for work to handle and it is invariably more efficient to use the phone. It may be in an inconvenient location, but they aren't obligated to make it convenient for you. And if they don't provide a phone for personal calls to take care of personal items, then you either take a couple of hours off from work to run errands, figure out another way to handle the errand, or quit over it. Quitting seems excessive.

4) You mention server alerts. Are you attempting to manager either personal servers or servers you've set up for a side business on company time? If so, why should they permit that? Many companies even have specific rules against moonlighting because they know the drain two jobs can have on a person. Switch to email alerts and have the mail sent to an account you can check at work. Then if they see that you're doing a second job on their time, they can deal with that as appropriate.

Do they provide you with a phone at your desk or nearby? Seriously, a cell phone is not a necessity.

Re:why do you need one?

[digitalvengeance]

1) Communicate with other people in the organization or company. If this is the case, then the company should provide a phone for that purpose. Obviously the company you work for does not think a cell phone is necessary to do the work they hired you to do. They could be wrong, but that's what they think. If so, either convince them they're wrong, if they really are, or use the tools and processes they want you to use for communication.

I have an office phone, but I don't always sit in my office. I am frequently in meetings, visiting other locations, performing system tests in other locations, etc. It is frequently 3 or 4 hours between stops at my desk to check my messages, my email, etc. The company would not be happy if a critical service was down for 3 or 4 hours because I was busy elsewhere.

2) To communicate with vendors or other 3rd parties. If so, then the company should provide you with a phone, but it doesn't have to be a cell phone.

I don't use it for this very much, though our T1 provider does notify me via cell phone if there is a problem after hours.

3) Personal calls. It's actually better for the company to make a phone available for personal calls. Many little errands can be done over the phone that you would otherwise have to take time off for work to handle and it is invariably more efficient to use the phone. It may be in an inconvenient location, but they aren't obligated to make it convenient for you. And if they don't provide a phone for personal calls to take care of personal items, then you either take a couple of hours off from work to run errands, figure out another way to handle the errand, or quit over it. Quitting seems excessive.

I don't make/take personal calls at work with only few rare exceptions. I am far too busy to!

4) You mention server alerts. Are you attempting to manager either personal servers or servers you've set up for a side business on company time? If so, why should they permit that? Many companies even have specific rules against moonlighting because they know the drain two jobs can have on a person. Switch to email alerts and have the mail sent to an account you can check at work. Then if they see that you're doing a second job on their time, they can deal with that as appropriate.

All alerts are for work-owned and work-dedicated servers. Though I do contract with other companies and do have alerts sent to my phone, they are ignored until after business hours. My primary responsibility is to my primary employer.

Interestingly, even in this tight IT market, my company values IT employees otherwise. I am moving soon and the company is bending over backwards to let me keep my position despite the fact that I'll be living 2 hours from our closest office.

Re:why do you need one?

[Joe the Lesser]

It makes life easier. What if you had kids that need to call. You're not always at your cubicle, so your office phone isn't enough. Taking cell phones away complicates the lives of employees, which may backfire and cost the company more than it may or may not save by trying to goad it's employee's into working more.

Whatever you do.... don't quit!

[boethius]

You DO know what the U.S. job market is like for IT personnel in particular and everyone else in general, right?

To say it's bad is too polite.

To say it's horrible is dancing around the reality.

To say you'd be a screaming lunatic to quit your job because they won't let you use your cell phone is more appropriate.

Unless you're a terribly abused employee, to even consider such a thing is ridiculous, moreso for the reason you're giving. Surely they will reconsider their Draconian cell phone banning policy for you since you obviously need it. If they are insistent on banning all PERSONAL cell phones, then have them buy you a company-provided cell phone where you can send your alerts.

In any case, take a step back and put any thought of quitting out of your mind.

Well my policy is

[TheCarp]

You say your cell phone is needed for work?

Well my policy is "If my employer didn't pay for it, then it doesn't get used for work.". I drive in to work. My car gets used in no other way that is work related. I have cell phone... the closest it EVER gets used for work is to reply
to a message on my pager (which work DOES pay for).

Its simply that simple. I need a laptop to do my job, I make them buy me one, I need a pager for work, I make them buy me one and pay for service.

You should go to them and tell them you have been usin gyour cell phone for work and let them know that their policy is hurting them, and furthermore that they should be paying for the potion of the cell phone bill that you have incurred doing work for them.

If they say no, then simple... just stop using it for work and be sure they know that its the problem.

If they fire you, then sue for wrongful termination.

Seriously people...this is why workers should be unionizing. Why should we put up with this shit? Peopl ehave to work together, the workers should have some say in the culture of the workforce.

-Steve

Pointing Out the Obvious

[CrankyFool]

It's amazing how many people are pointing out that the company has a right to do this and in the end the employee can only put up or leave.

Yes, we know. Move on, nothing to see here.

Taken to its basic components, any relationship is one where any entity can do whatever it is they want to do and the other entity can decide whether or not they want to put up with it based on some sort of cost/benefit analysis. This works in *both* directions -- Some of my users (salespeople with eight-digit sales per year) pretty much have a 'get out of jail for free' card at work.

But relationships are not just "put up with it or leave." The company presumably has an interest in you working for them because otherwise, well, they wouldn't employ you (ignoring the possibility they're doing this as a way to persuade people to quit so they can outsource them to India without severance pay or unemployment benefit hit). In the end, relationships where each party does the very minimal required of them sort of suck both on the personal and professional levels.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that you want your relationship with your company to have some flexibility in it, and in order for it to have flexibility in one side, it needs to have flexibility in the other side also. So if you're getting work phone calls on your personal cell, it's perfectly reasonable to say "look, I'm bending here and using my cell phone for work purposes and that's OK -- would you bend a little and let me keep it?" If, on the other hand, they absolutely refuse to be flexible, then absolutely you're under no obligation to be flexible yourself -- if they don't allow you a personal cellphone, then don't allow them to use that cellphone to contact you.

Companies that don't want your personal life intruding into their business shouldn't intrude with business into your personal life. Now, mind you, that's a perfectly reasonable and rational approach to which the company may respond with "tough, we can replace you with an Indian for $5/hr. Want to see who blinks first?" That's something you have to deal with and figure out how far you're willing to go.

Re:Pointing Out the Obvious

[enjo13]

I scanned through all of the comments, because I was about to post the exact same thing. Well said.

The company I work for has a number of policies, and in return I have the "treat me like a fricking adult" policy. I've often butted head with management over time and leave issues.

Through a number of compromises I'm now open to working the occasional 10 hour day, while in exchange they're willing to deal with the occasional 2 hour lunch and slightly odd hours (to avoid rush hour). It's a comrpomise that works for both of us, and in the end it's created the groundwork for a work environment that respects me as a person, rather than a resource. It sounds like the company this guy works for sees it's employees as something other than adults, and it's upt to him to either a) try to fix it or b) move on to somewhere that already has.

After all, he's just a commodity

[composer777]

and commodities don't have a right to complain. Commodities are supposed to happily participate in the market and flow to wherever there is demand. If I buy a car, it doesn't complain that I didn't pay enough for it, or that I'm relocating it to a different state. The same goes for workers, if one loses their job, no problem, just move to India, where there is apparently greater demand. My car wouldn't complain about having to go to India, so why should I? Why should it be any different when dealing with workers? They're just commodities, they have no rights.

This is of course what market fundamentalism is about. It's about relegating worker's rights to the scrap heap, not even recognizing them, and putting the rights of property owners first. And, as commodities, we aren't supposed to complain, we're supposed to simply go somewhere else if we don't like the conditions, and let the invisible hand work it's magic. And, when there is nowhere else to go, we're supposed to shut up, like any other commodity would. The one crucial fact that you are overlooking is that people are not commodities.

Re:After all, he's just a commodity

[Dravik]

Every one is looked at as a little commodity and a little individual. The balace of how much eaither way is determined by your skill set and how you set yourself apart from others in the workplace. If you do something that anybody and their brother can do and you don't have some execptional level of skill, dedication, (add some other positive things), etc.. then you are a commodity. If your the only guy who can do it, or you are extremely impressive as an employee then you are an individual. The more individual you are the more leverage you have to negotiate for what you want. You have a "workers right" to whatever you can convince them you give you as compensation for your work. If you don't like what your getting, what are you doing to improve your self? Or are you just sitting there watching the clock and whinning about how they should value you more?

Just tell them when you're off you're off

[TrekCycling]

I mean, they want to have their cake and they want to eat it too. They want someone to be available 24/7 in case of a server problem, but to not be available 24/7 by loved ones, friends, etc. That's absurdity. I would say those issues are intertwined. If they don't want you to have a personal cell or to make personal calls on a work cell, then I guess that means when you leave work whatever happens happens. It's bad enough these companies expect us to work off hours so much anyway, so that seems like the answer. I punch out at 5, and it doesn't matter if the server goes down. In exchange, I'll leave my cell phone in my car. Deal.

Re:Just tell them when you're off you're off

[flibuste]

I sincerly agree to this and you are right - this is absurd.

I am always amazed how companies expect us to serve them 24/7 but seem annoyed to hell when you point them out that you also have a family (or a dog) during the same 24 hours.

I remember the day when a manager from our customer company (a big USA banking firm full of arrogant people) started getting angry at me because I told him (after a full week working 12h-14h a day) that my 8h day was finished a long time ago, that I was ill and was heading back home, and that the bug he himself introduced in the system would be fixed the next day.

He started threatening me to report this to my manager and get me out of this assignement, which would have meant being fired by the consulting scrows firm that was paying me at that time

The thing is that people there is so afraid to lose their jobs (why? this is beyond me) that they assume it is the same for everyone.

In Soviet Russia - companies OWN you.- no difference from the USA.

This is really simple

[MerlynEmrys67]

Quit accepting work calls on your personal cell phone. When pages/text messages/important calls aren't followed up on until the next day (because you get the calls at home, and will dutifully handle them when you get back to work) they might see that it is a useful thing for you to have - and provide you an employer sponsored cell phone.

Yeah - it is a stupid policy, the other thing is depending on company culture can you just sit down with your (hopefully) sane manager and say what it is used for and ask to get a waiver from the policy (I worked at a company that had really weird rules, that first line managers could ignore if they didn't apply to their workers).

SEC requirement.

[bmongar]

Did you ever ask why the policy was instituted. Companies that are governed by the SEC and engage in stock or fund trading are required to have all employee communications monitorable. This way if they suspect someone of giving insider information they have records of the phone calls and emails. Use of personal cell phones make it hard for them to comply with the SEC.

Take it to your Manager

[Derkec]

Go straight to your manager and let him know that your ability to do your job is being impacted by the current policies. Be prepared to talk over the options you have for doing your job now that the policy is in place. One of those is to push for an exception. Others might include the company buying you a cell phone that is clearly just for company purposes - a pager could be appropriate as well. You know the situation better than me, think of them.

Be prepared to answer the question from your manager that asks if your current set-up makes sense. What happens if you get a better offer, and leave the company? Is there a good way for somebody else who doesn't have a cell phone to be notified? Should there be a central clearinghouse for these alerts other than your cell phone?

If you and your manager agree that sending messages to your cell phone is the way to go, gettnig an exception is more likely to happen with your direct manager's help. Should you get that exception, document it. You wouldn't want the next round of layoffs to be easy for them.

Forgive me, but I don't think this is a huge deal. Someone made a policy whose intent was to keep people from using their cell phones at work for personal reason, so that meetings would go smoother and folks would be more productive. They didn't know or think that cell phones were being used for work activities. It's not in the interest of anyone at the company to make your life more difficult.

On the broader question of employee owned tech, I think that the main reason companies are and should be cautious is that when you leave, you're going to take your tech with you. Anything they've paid you to set up and that uses your tech suddenly breaks. That sucks. Which comes back to the problem of what happens when you leave and the notices are going to your phone. I really think the answer is that they back off the no cell phones and move it to no personal cell phones. Those of you who need cell phones are then given corporate cell phones. That way, when you leave they give the phone to your fill-in / replacement and the system still works.

Then again, if the phone the message is being sent to can be universally changed by filling out one web form, it becomes dispensible and they just need to hire somebody with a cell phone.

Steps 3-5

[Libertarian_Geek]

I agree. I see so many posts saying something to the effect of: "Stop bringing it, they'll see how important it is when servers go down because nobody got the pages". Wow, what's happened to our work force? Here are a few ideas that might actually look like you give a shit. It sounds like we're stuck in a "Clerks" version of IT!
1.> Have a little frigging back-bone, people. state the issue to your boss in an e-mail. Document it. Be sure to be detailed on the risks.
2.> Contact HR explain the above.
3.> If the above doesn't work (as American AC in Paris has also suggested the 1st two). Contact internal customers who have jobs running on the impacted systems. Explain the situation and the risks.
4.> Be willing to help develop either a more defined policy (i.e. no private calls, no digital cameras) or accept an alternative (alpha-pager).
5.> At the first issue of an outage because no-one got notified, bring this up. Don't wait for all hell to break loose.
Following these steps with the right tone, enthusiasm, and tact, you'll at worst look like you actually care about your job and the company you work for. Unless maybe, you prefer to live on welfare, unemployment, and bitch about how the internet stock bubble saturated the job market with IT guys. Be a "stand-up geek" and do the right thing.

QE Hospital in Selly Oak, Birmingham...

[Phil John]

...a teaching hospital (fairly large one at that) actually has a few masts on its roof. It's bullshit that modern phones muck up hospital equipment. This was not the case 10-15 years ago when phones transmitted at a higher power and hospital equipment was less advanced than it is now.

Re:QE Hospital in Selly Oak, Birmingham...

[arbitrary nickname]

Just hold you're phone next to a CRT or an amplifier whilst making/receiving a call, if you don't believe they can interfere with electronic equipment! They do have seem to have to be within a metre or two for a significant effect, though....

One issue with availability

[Dark Paladin]

I ran into this myself at one job. They wanted employees to be available 24 hours a day in case of an emergency, such as a senior exec having a problem over in Europe. Their plan was to give cell phones to the employees so they could be reached at any time, and to have a someone designated as "on call".

I remember there was a bit of resistance to this concept, mainly because they didn't want to increase the staff to support a 24 hour center. With 2 network admins, that meant that if one was on vacation, the other would be on call 24 hours a day for an entire week! We tried to express that we understood emergencies happened, and tried to remain in contact for server crashes, WAN outages, and so on - but the idea of being a 24 hour help desk without additional staff was too much.

In the end, I quit. Since then, I've tried to be very clear with any other job: my life is not my job. Most places are pretty understanding once you lay out the clear idea that "even geeks need sleep". And that if they need to reach me at any time, they, not I, have to supply and pay for the cell phone.

Usually that works pretty well, and again, most employers are understanding once you lay it out for them. Just be careful of the ones that don't.

Re:Government and Hospitals

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I suppose i can offer this correction; its the interference w/ monitoring equipment on patients that must operate in an environment w/o radio or electrical interference. It is not all equipment in the hospital, but having a blanket ban is far better than an accident occuring where a critically ill patient has their monitoring equipment thrown for a loop. This ban exists in hospitals around the world including the Caribbean where I did some rotations.

Which brings me to my next point, why is it that we must pay for incoming calls (i.e. air time minutes) in the US when in most of the world there is no penalty for this? Drives me crazy! Its the only reason I have not gotten one of these gadgets since I returned to the states

Policy should be user specific..

[xot]

I work in a call center and in my previous organisation cell phones werent allowed due to people taking calls and they did not want the cell phone static or ringing to disturb the calls.Even though i was a sys admin i wasnt allowed to carry a cell phone.But after a lot of protesting they finally realised that there was no point in not allowing me to carry my cell phone.
THe point is that theres no reason to ban cellphones for everyone in any company.Besides if i had to leak insider info i could do it anyway.

Re:Government and Hospitals

[Stomple]

Actually, the concern on the interference isn't on the pacemaker that is implanted. The reason why ICU and cardiac telemetry floors in hospitals have cell phone bans is that external EKG cardiac monitors placed on the patients have small transmitters that broadcast the information to monitoring stations in a central part of the ward. Patient's would never be in danger of dying if someone used a cell phone in the units but they might interfere with the wireless monitoring causing faulty transmission of these signals.

I think the real risk of the interference is low, but it would actually be funny if it looked like everyone on the floor flatlined at once, as someone walks by talking on their cell phone.

Which century did you come from, 19th or 20th?

[lysium]

I've seen those people, chattering away all day. It's ok to talk as long as they want, right, because it's not like they're using the company phones. The waddling ass in the office next to me spends AT LEAST 4 hours a day playing tetris on his cell phone.

Sounds like a Management problem. As in the employees are not being managed. Treating employees like children only works on the immature and the stupid. Everyone else gets annoyed, and (eventually) leaves.

There's no constitutional right to having a cellphone at work.

There is no Constitutional right to sick time off, either. Would you want a "pity parade" if your job suddenly cut sick time because a few people were abusing the system?

====--====

From the other side

[araven]

I had an incident where one employee left a cell phone at their desk, it rang (one of those really annoying music rings) on and off for nearly an hour. Another employee (next cube over) turned it off. The first employee went ballistic about that. That was fun. Once in a while I'll have an employee who just spends wayyy too much time talking on their cell phone. Lovely to deal with that as well.

The reason companies never wanted people making personal calls at work was not the cost of the (mostly local) calls, but the cost of their NONPRODUCTIVE EMPLOYEES. When employees have cell phones (as most do now), they feel much more justified in sitting around on the phone since the "cost" is theirs. People who know not to spend hours on personal calls on their desk phones seem to have no compunction about doing the same thing on their cell phones.

So what's the solution? In my experience, the RATIONAL answer is to speak to each person when you feel that they've crossed a line, and make a decision suited to the problem. In my experience, the rational answer will get you reamed. Employees who care so little about their responsibilities to their work and to their co-workers tend also to have no compunction about arguing "disparate treatment" (as though cell-phone users are a protected minority). We are forced to make inane blanket policies that hurt the decent employees who probably ARE contributing their personal cell minutes to the company, in order to stop the bad behavior of a few. I've been told by HR that I cannot tell ONE employee to "leave the cell phone in your car" I must make the rule for EVERY employee in the department (not that I have, I'd rather lose the productivity of the lamer employees than disgruntle the better ones).

Anyway, there are two sides to every story.

~

Good companies allow personal work on company time

[maiden_taiwan]

A good company realizes that employees have various non-work-related obligations they need to do during the day. A smart company realizes that if it lets people do those non-work things during the work day, they'll stay at work longer. (If it doesn't permit these non-work tasks, employees will leave early -- even sneak out -- to get them done.)

I used to work for a great company that bought dinner every night for every employee who worked past 7:00pm. This not only boosted moral (and impressed job candidates), but also it kept people in the office several hours longer for a mere $10 dinner. Smart company. Win-win situation.

Bottom line: keep your employees happy, and don't interfere with their personal lives, and they work harder. Impose stupid restrictions and watch morale disintegrate.

This argument assumes that the employees are responsible people. (If they aren't, the company has worse problems than a few cell phone calls.)

There's a bigger issue here

[Warlok]

I think the issue of using a cell phone at work is a symptom of a larger issue, and that's exactly how much of your life does your employer own. It speaks to a larger theory called work-life balance. Do you have life to supply work for your employer, or do you work to support your life? Look at what potions of your life you already give up for your employer and find the balance point. Taken in a larger context, your employer banning the use of your cell phone at work, no matter how well justified or logically supported, can be viewed as just another way for them to assert control over your life.

For the record, I do own and use my own cell phone for personal and work related purposes. But then again, I work someplace where they treat us like adults - people who voluntarily give of ourselves to the company for profit (both our own and the company, which is our own as well thanks to stock options), and how will reimburse me for work-related phone calls on my cell and wired phones.

In the end, you get to ask yourself what you want on your tombstone:

He worked hard and made a lot of money in a job he didn't like for an employer he hated.

-- or --

He loved his life.

Re:The ball is in their court

[Stone316]

Wish that was the same at our place.. They gave us laptops, cellphones and digital cables so we can dial in from anywhere!

Add to that our manager likes to get his hands dirty and he calls you all the time off hours asking how to do stuff.

this is a very straightforward problem ...

[sir_cello]

1. You have no specific right to be able to use your personal phone in the work place, period. Arguing about personal rights sounds good, but you're on company time, company money and company resources. Sorry. Your employer has the liberty to restrict anything that comes into the work place. If you need to receive emergency or other sorts of calls, that's what your manager can do. If you need to make personal calls: that's called on your lunch break. In practice, most work places allow use of business phones / communication services for "reasonable" personal use: just don't abuse it is the usual rule.

2. If you need the cell phone for your duties: then you should have it funded by the company. If it's not absolutely necessary for your work, there's not much you can do about claiming that denying it to you undermines your employment contract (this argument can work in some countries). In the case of your sort of work, I don't think you could argue that it's absolutely necessary to do your job, but in reality, it's probably making you a more effective employee. If they are short sighted about this: try to change their attitude, or find a new and smarter work place. That's life.

3. Because of your job function, there's probably a good argument that a cell phone adds enough value so that your role should be an exception to the general rule. Either the exception is that they allow you to use your own phone for work purposes, or they fund it for use in business purposes only. If you want to make your argument for this: you need to present a bottom line oriented business case: just _exactly_ how does the cell phone actually concretely contribute to making you a more effective employee and how does it contribute to the bottom line: some examples and so on would help. Again, if they aren't convinced by this (and they're not obliged to), then tough for you: find a new workplace. When you go to the interview for the new workplace, check out these details to see whether it's the kind of place you want to work.

I once saw a helpdesk ticket from someone asking for "MSN Messenger" installation for "communication with people in israel" ... "necessary for my job function": it smelled very badly that she just wanted to chat at work, and the helpdesk ticket was rejected. You don't want to look like this girl: you need to put forward a professional case.

pcs...

[matticus]

I'm a sysadmin at a mostly-mac scientific institute. Some of the labs allow scientists to bring in personal laptops, and we have many windows laptops that are personally owned. I understand the problem, and how these scientists need their own computers, but it is nothing but a pain for us because their computers aren't patched, aren't virus-scanned, etc, and when they bring them home to work on their dsl lines, these scientists end up bringing an infected computer in which spreads to all the windows-only instrument computers. Thus, I will be the last person to condone personally-owned equipment-it provides nothing but headaches to our department.

Re:Good question

[m.h.2]

OK. You're problem is completely different. Unless you are a consultant and/or have a contract that states that you must provide and pay for a means through which you can be contacted at all times, it
s not your responsibility. And if your employer is indeed threatening to fire you because you refuse to bear their business expenses, you shouldn't be talking to Slashdotters, you should be talking to a lawyer.

Re:Turn off the phone...

[black mariah]

Take a reality break here. Imagine something like this.

PHB: "Why is my email down, Itnerd?"
Itnerd: "Is it? I didn't know. Since you banned cellphones I don't get any warnings that the system is down (insert Homestar reference)."
PHB: "So you haven't changed it so it emails you, and you apparently never bother looking at the server you're supposed to be administrating?"
Itnerd: "Well, when you put it that way...."
PHB: "When I put it that way, you're an incompetent dipshit and are now fired. Fuck off."

Go on. Tell your boss that the server crashed because you couldn't be messaged on a cellphone. You'll be fired before you finish the sentence.

HELLO! IT'S THE 21st CENTURY!

[swb]

I'm really amazed at the number of "why do you need one?" posts. Sorry, but yours is one of the more pedantic and supportive of totalitarian work rules.

We also don't "need" computers, the internet, cars, air conditioning or any of the other components of the 21st century, except for that they all make us way more productive and in touch.

Employers who embrace this and make it work for them will reap huge rewards, those with control agendas or luddite tendencies will pay the penalty.

Cell Phones @ Work...

[Deltashield]

...my cell phone is my life line to both my personal and professional worlds. I keep it on in case the unthinkable were to happen to my child and loved ones and my best customers have it on speed dial if they can't reach me at the office. In truth, companies can ban them all they wish but as long as you have a serious need for it (like children) they cannot say a word or risk litigation.

blah poor me syndrome

[natx808]

This has to be the stupidest thing I've ever seen posted on slashdot. Can't believe it is receiving front page attention. I would agree that the company policy is stupid... but - what a little whining baby! I would never want to have an employee like this guy. Yeah - go quit your job cause you can't use a stupid cell phone....quitter. Sounds to me you've used your cell phone a little too much and your suffering from dementia. If you setup your personal phone to recieve alerts its your own fault. You should have approached your boss from the beginning and asked for a company cell phone to do it. It shouldn't be a pain in the butt to change your alerts. Don't make a stink out of it. If you have job issues like this take it to your boss not the slashdot community.

Re:pagers aren't outdated

[ckaminski]

I used arch paging up in the northeast U.S. for years, and let me tell you, that signal would penetrate a BUNKER. Places I couldn't see the sun would still get pager reception. good luck getting a cellphone to find a cell, even when the tower was 200 yards away.

Nobody knows

[fm6]

This is obviously from the same source as the ban on web surfing you see in some companies. They don't trust the employees not to use company time and resources for personal purposes. So they ban things that can be used for personal purposes. And of course, in the process they stymie employees attempts to make themselves more productive.

I don't see what you can possibly do in this situation, short of quitting. If they don't trust their own employees, then they're not going to be receptive to employee feedback. If you dissent politely, they'll smile and ignore you. If you dissent rudely, you'll just reinforce their patronizing attitude.

And playing work-to-rule games ("I didn't know the server was down because my cell was switched off, as per policy") isn't going to help either. It's just another way of communicating something the bosses don't want to hear, except that it also makes them look stupid. Which is not likely to make them receptive.

Sometimes management falls into the mode of treating employees like spoiled children -- people who can't be communicated with, only bullied into a semblance of correct behavior. If you can figure out a way to change that attitude, you've really got something (like a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize!). If you can't, there's not a lot you can do.

Conversely

[Chuck Chunder]

I'm certain his company doesn't want him using his personal devices to monitor company processes. If he left the company or the department, the monitoring infrastructure would go with him. And what's he gonna do, leave his cell phone behind with the intern who takes his place while he's on vacation?

I don't see why he should have to carry around an additional device on his personal time if he already has one that will do the job just fine. I know that between my phone, house keys, office keys and wallet I don't want anything else in my pockets, nor do I particularly want a bat belt.

If he needs to be paged at all hours and they won't allow him to use a personal phone they should make his phone a business. Chances are if he's being paged at all hours he might need to be calling people too.

That's the deal here. My phone is a company phone and the company has will take over the payments for anyone who already has their own mobiles and needs to be contactable for work purposes (it's still their phone and number if they leave). Getting to make personal calls on company money is just an upside to the downside of being woken up at 4am when a router farts and your server isn't contactable for a minute.

It shouldn't be a major issue to point the paging system at a different number if the guy leaves or is on holiday.

Re:No alcohol X hours before shift starts

[Shakrai]

If you're in charge of the network and the servers, remember, you are GOD.

Hehe gotta be careful with that attitude. I've consulted for companies that had sysadmins with that attitude. Pretty easy to slap them down to reality and guess what? I got paid $80/hr to do it ;)

Point being that they always have the option of bringing someone in from the outside. You can stand your ground but I wouldn't go walking around calling yourself god and pissing everyone off. Nobody is irreplaceable.

Re:The Policy, and the Reaility

[WCMI92]

" As has been hinted at in previous posts, many times in life there's the "Official Policy" and the "Unofficial Policy". Check to see what the unofficial policy is before complaining about the offical one. It's what seperates the elites from the nobbs..."

Where I work, I'm so freaking overworked I pretty much decided some time ago to ignore any stupid company policy that gets in the way. Dress code, for one.

I'm technically violating it because the only "polo" shirt I'm allowed to wear is a company one. But try doing the job of a sysadmin who also has to function as a jack-of-all-trades tech (it's West Virginia) with a tie on.

Last time the owner tried to start on me on this one, I cut him off with "I will not wear a tie, that is not open to discussion". Indeed, in some areas (I was told this was true in NC) wearing a tie is an OSHA violation for a computer tech...

My pay, hours, etc suck, and I can't stand the boss because he is a congenital (poor) liar. But at least I'm working, and the upside is, I'm so irreplaceable because of proprietary knowledge (and skill) that I could show up to work buck naked and the boss really couldn't say or do much.

And, I do get to do some cool stuff every now and then (such as WAN design) from time to time.

Ah well, soon as the economy improves I'm out of this hell hole...

Look at it from the Company's view ......

[darewreck]

If the need to get text messaging is so importantant get the company to spring for a "company" owned phone that can do the same function. And this phone will be on the person in charge of taking care of such problems if they arrive. Do you see where I'm heading with this, if you *die* or happen to quit on the spot the company will not be left high and dry having failing equipment sending text messages to a phone that is no longer in the service of the company. Of course this means you have just lost a little bit of job security but from the Company's view they will at least not have to unburden themselves in the unlikely event of your departure from employment.

It's all fine and dandy to have all your little scripts and devices installed to make you look and feel more important, but you *DO NOT* have the best interests of the company in mind. You are only thinking of yourself and what little job security you can create for yourself. You would have an easier time all around and the company would look more highly to you if you concerned yourself more making an IT infrastruture that works in the worse case senario as opposed to one that only works when you are around.

Just spend a lot of time away from your desk

[Kris_J]

If your job requires you to regularly be away from your desk phone in order to, say, fix a computer, spend more time away from your desk doing work. Don't return to it between jobs -- go direct from one if the other. If that fails, schedule meetings -- lots of them. Ideally you should be able to spend a few 2-hour or more blocks away from your standard lines of communication each day. After a few weeks of your boss being unable to contact you when he's forgotten how scroll bars work he'll soon beg you to get a mobile. Just make sure the work you do away from the desk is real work and you do it well.

Or if the company is just being nasty because they think that not having a mobile will mean that you do more work for them try to impress upon them how much extra stuff you do outside your job description. If they don't get it, work to rule while you look for another job. If they wise-up before you take another position, great, if not it's much easier to find a job while you have a job -- you might even manage to find something that pays better. For those people that think moving to another job is over-reacting, petty rules like this are a huge moral killer which will only result in a less pleasant working environment: Competent, hard working people will leave because they know they can find a better place, leaving only the incompetent to become bitter.

That said, if you work at a military contractor, goverment security division or a place with sensitive equipment (such that there's a real reason for this ban), suck it up and get on with life.

Re:it's called the internet

[sirsnork]

So get a pager, they are not cell phones and will do all you need

Re:No alcohol X hours before shift starts

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, I did it. It's the truth. It was VERY funny. And it made my point, which was, If you're going to waste my time, I can find better ways to waste it.

So, let me understand this, are you a janitor or something? As a system admin, if a user came to me with a question, no matter how stupid, they will get an answer... it's your job. What kind of company do you work for that you can DRINK on the job for god's sake?? If I even brought a closed alcoholic beverage to work I'd be fired on the spot.

Re:it's called the internet

[RazzleDazzle]

Its easy. If you are at the office where you are not allowed your portables, you should have a computer that can produce a visible and an audible tone via some monitoring system like nagios, whatsup, etc.

If you are not at the office, the office policy doesn't apply and thus you can use your portable.

If your office doesn't have computers, well then I guess you'll just have to have your phone on vibrate and hide it in your crotch or something.

Re:it's called the internet

[perlchild]

You made your point, here's mine.
If it's that important to your company, they should pay for it, period.

You shouldn't need to subsidize their uptime. They should pay your cellphone, they should pay you "extra" to have a cellphone that improves their uptime. Those things have business value, and should be recognized by even the most pointy-haired boss out there(hint: if not, he's just using a negotiating tactic, and playing dumb about it too)

Your PERSONAL cell phone you should leave at home... And only carry when off-duty... And yes, that might mean you need 2 cell phones, and that precious few(if any) people ever have both numbers without a gold-plated marble writ from God.

Some of us make a business of uptime, and I would highly resent your giving in on this without a fight... You should thank me for giving you back your life, when you're not on-duty, you can finally turn the cell phone off..

--
My cell phone is never off, but that's because thats the service I sell to my clents. Me, 7 days a week, 24 hous a day.

This is to your advantage.

[Anonymous Coward]

Frankly it appears that you've been a been a bit of a fool so far. Your employer has "allowed" you to donate your personal time and property to the company. This ultimately harms both you and the company. Consider what happens if you go on vacations, quit suddenly or get hit by the proverbial bus. In addition, since you are obviously not cleared to do what you have done (I'm not saying the principal is not a good idea) you may be legally liable if something goes wrong or if you are the victim of a "bums rush" lay off preventing you from disabling your unauthorized access.

Here's what you do.

1) Show your superiors what you have done and are about to do and explain how this will impact your workplace. Don't get upset or defensive or anything like that. If there is no policy in place to handle outage notification they need to know that and to made aware that they've got their pants around their ankles. I would suggest documenting the issue in an email or memo.

2) Disable all work-related paging to your cell phone IMMEDIATELY.

3) Suggest that your company purchase several pagers or two ways which can be set up to do the job your cell is doing now.

4) Set up those pagers however you see fit and ensure that all pages are logged.

5) Ensure that you are paid an on-call rate whenever that pager is turned on.

6) Ensure that you are paid a call-in every time it goes off.

This protects the company since they are not dependant on some undocumented procedure implemented on some hardware that'll leave the moment you do.

It also ensures that you are properly compensated for the burden of being available 24/7.

The company may turn around and offer to pay you for the use of your cell phone. You have to make the call on whether you want to go there but I would suggest that you encourage them to have the pager as a backup for the reasons listed above.

After your cellphone has been disabled and before the pagers are set up, your company may experience signficant outages. It is not your fault and should only be taken as proof of need. If someone feels the need to unload on you, either smile and take it (preferably to your next performance/wage review) or solicit constructive input on how you could have handled that incident differently (maybe your job becomes "surf the web in the NOC" for a few weeks).

Re:Well...

[radja]

in essence, I do this anyway. I have no cellphone, and I'm seldom at home. anything work-related will have to wait for work-time, where it belongs. need me in earlier? tell me in person. I have no obligation to stay reachable for work outside work-hours.