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Ask Slashdot: Best Tools To Aid When "On Call"?
An anonymous reader writes "Since most readers of slashdot are IT'ers, I assume this is a familiar story: when working in IT, it often happens you need to be standby or 'on call' during a certain period. That may mean you can receive phone calls or text messages from a monitoring system in the middle of the night. I've been looking for a way to have those alerts wake me in the middle of the night but not my partner, who is sleeping right next to me. Are there hardware aids out there that can alert a person without troubling their close environment? I'm thinking armwrists, vibrating head pillows, ..."
I learn to sleep through it. My wife is on call very nearly 24-7 and gets called multiple times every night.
Her phone vibrates, then does a loud alarm, sorta like a Hollywood submarine dive alarm. The vibrating phone on the nightstand usually wakes her, but not always. She reacts to her phone immediately, but not to other noises. If I need to wake her up for some reason it is easier to call her phone, then get her attention.
The key is you need to pick an alarm that you will respond to immediately, but your partner will tend to ignore. Then have the alarm become something that will wake the dead so your partner can kick you out of bed.
Phil
Laugh, it's good for you!
It's actually pretty common. A person might be on call 24/7, but if that means more than a few calls a year at night then something isn't right. Being on call shouldn't mean that you're being regularly woken up at night.
There's nothing wrong with doing on-call as long as you accept that the job comes with it or get paid extra if you're asked to do it in a current role.
I agree with you about not realising how much of an effect it has until you stop doing it though. When I stopped about 4 years ago it took some time to get used to being able to go out in the evenings without having to worry about getting called.
THIS. I used to work in an on-call capacity (not IT, mind you, but the idea is the same). Being on call ruined 5 years of my life. It destroys relationships and makes it so you can never truly relax. I took a huge pay cut to get off of on-call duty and I couldn't have been happier about it.
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
Well, to be clear, it means you shouldn't get drunk when you're on call. Sure is entertaining though...