Work phone

kerryjack

Not really a problem but how do people deal with carrying 2 phones around, my personal phone contract is up soon and was thinking of just going pay as you go but is there away of diverting your personal number to your work phone, not very tech savvy so any ideas much appreciated.

Jessica.Fletcher

get a phone that takes 2 sims .

Kimbot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058211085/work-phone

It all depends on your work phone policy, i.e. if they are paying for an unlimited plan and your are allowed some personal use on your work phone then just go pay as you go with your normal number and kind of integrate the two numbers together over a couple of months.

Joe Exotic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958331#Comment_117958331

Samsung A51 is what i use Dual sim works a charm,

kerryjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958351#Comment_117958351

I would need the 2 Sims on the same network right, how long can you receive calls with out topping ip

Seth Brundle

I moved company four years ago and in the process, my old company almost lost my number (it was originally a personal number that they brought onto the company account). Whn I joined the new company, I said to myself that I won't let that happen again so now I've my Samsung and the company's iPhone. You get used to carrying two phones and it isn't an issue - I felt it was at the start but quickly overcame it.

My work phone is also locked down because I have email and work apps installed. I can install some apps but not others so it really does suit me to have my own phone.

When I get home, the work phone is put to one side as I'm finished work so any emails or calls can wait until the following day (nobody is going to die if I don't respond!). In the office, both sit on my desk.

To be honest, it's not a big issue having the two phones.

kerryjack

Thanks guys I think the dual SIM phone is the answer for me. now my next problem is try get my employer to cough up for it,

Jessica.Fletcher

sims can be any network

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958363#Comment_117958363

No, they don't have to be on the same network.

I have a Samsung S9 with dual SIM. Last job, they gave me the only other Samsung they had and I managed to break it after a few months. Rather than move to an iPhone for work, I just put the work phone's SIM into the 2nd slot on my own phone. The phone then lets you select which SIM to use as default for calls, SMS and data, and they can be different, but you can switch between them easily if needed. It's really seamless. My work's data allowance was really shite and they were with 3, so had crap coverage anyway, so I left data on my own PAYG Vodafone SIM and defaulted calls/texts to the work phone (seeing as 90% of my personal "calls" are actually WhatsApp).

Strumms

Did it for years, no problems, what is the issue one phone in each pocket...? if you can use one phone with two sims youd need to when you clock off take out the work sim, or deactivate it if there is a way of activating and deactivating one of the sims from the phone menu... ? I’m not sure

surely just easier to have a separate work phone.... ON when you get to work, OFF as you walk out... I’d just keep mine in my jacket...or the car, out of sight out of mind.

shesty

Had two phones for ages.Prefer it, it means you can separate work and home/privare life easier.

Strumms

Totally, carrying around two phones isn’t difficult or inconvenient...

ibarelycare

Completely agree with the last few posts. Unless there's something urgent happening, my work phone is turned off at the end of the working day, and at weekends. I don't want to be thinking about work and looking at emails etc in my free time.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958474#Comment_117958474

Why would you take out the work SIM after hours - who'd be phoning you then, except in emergency? Guess it depends on the job, but it's never been an issue for me. But yes, if you wanted to, you can just go into Settings - SIM Management and disable one of them.

Advantages: More room in your pockets. You only have to remember one phone. You only have to charge one phone. Possibility of SIMs on different networks, so you should never have a coverage problem in an emergency.

Disadvantages: Takes you 10 seconds in the morning/evening to activate/deactivate one of the SIMs. If you really need to deactivate work calls out of hours.

KildareP

Stick with the two phones.

I dual SIM'd for a while, only to find the work-personal balance getting completely out of whack.

Even when you turn off notifications for work stuff, you'll inevitably still end up seeing work related missed calls or texts and then either calling/texting back or spending the evening wondering what they wanted (or annoyed that they actually called you on your time off).

Probably doesn't help that I'm in IT so there's no chance of a 9-to-5 but for me, I like being able to switch off and not end up seeing that one e-mail or text that puts you in a bad mood for the rest of your evening.

irelandrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958474#Comment_117958474

Pressing a button on a dual sim phone to turn on /off the work sim is definitely less hassle than carrying /charging two phones.

Before WFH my sim turned off automatically as I walked in my front door. Now it turns off at 6pm.

Strumms

when the recession hit our work phones were taken as a cost saver... even though we in the meeting specifically told the employer that we wouldn’t be answering work queries on personal phones, either during working hours or outside working hours, the expected started happening ... “ sorry, just a quick one... “. So get a separate phone from your company :)

DoctorEdgeWild

One phone for work, one for personal.

Not much of a problem I've found, would leave my personal one in the car during the working day. Then both in my pocket for my free time etc.

Hadn't considered the Dual Sim thing though, so that's a useful suggestion for me, thanks!

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958545#Comment_117958545

It was a multinational with people from all over, the US and Germany mainly who’d just be thinking,, ahhh call Ireland there is an issue with xyz, they don’t worry about calculating what time zones, who is on call who isn’t... emergency? Did not get compensated to deal with those... it was my finger on the red button for three seconds at 6pm and good luck...

easier having both separate.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117959533#Comment_117959533

I've thankfully never had to deal with that, except when we were paying money to devs in India who knew not to ring us too early. And easily dealt with, either switching the SIM off in Settings, or switching the work phone off, whatever works for you. Personally, only having to worry about remembering one, charging one, etc., just works for me, it's just a personal preference.

witchgirl26

Honestly having had a work phone now for the past 9 years, I'd say keep them separate. There's always a weird temptation to check in on work things on your off time if it's all on the same phone.

When I go away, I can literally leave work at home by just leaving my phone there. There's no chance of me checking it. My boss does have my personal one in case of actual emergencies but has never used it. It's not that complicated to carry both but trying to separate them out if you do leave that job is complicated.

ongarite

Would always recommend having your own phone & number.

If you are a new hire and assigned work phone, you will probably start to use that number for personal use too.

If you leave the company, they will take that number back for your replacement as it was never "your " number.

rpurfield

When I started my current job I was given a work phone and kept my own for a while. A couple of years back I decided to get rid of my and just use the work one (it was allowed). Went back to a personal phone about two years ago, the only thing I regret is not keeping it that was as some people that are less tech savvy seem incapable of saving the personal number and keep ringing me on the work one for non work issues! Like other posters have said its handy to throw the phone to one side and take a break totally.

dennyk

Separate work phone is definitely the way to go. Mine is scheduled to go into do-not-disturb from 5PM till 8AM weekdays and all weekend, except the odd weekend where I have an on-call rota. Having to carry an extra phone around occasionally is definitely less annoying than being bothered by calls or messages from work 24x7 on your personal phone (or worrying about them demanding access to wipe your personal phone when they insist on installing work apps on it...).

TaurenDruid

Again, all of the "problems" being "overcome" by having two phones listed above can be solved by a dual-SIM phone. Seriously.

Ok, the very last point, admittedly, I don't get. I have never, ever had to wipe a phone or have someone wipe it for me, so they could install an app. 99% of people use their work phone for email, some means of text comms (WhatsApp, Slack), maybe 2FA, occasionally reading a doc, and, er, phoning people. None of those need your phone wiped. If you need anything more specialist than that, then yeah, maybe you do need a separate work phone.

dennyk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117978369#Comment_117978369

It varies from company to company, but some places who support BYOD will insist on installing apps which allow them to remotely wipe all data on the phone. They're used mostly for security reasons, e.g. if your phone is lost or stolen, they can (hopefully) remotely nuke any sensitive data on it. However, most will also trigger that function if you leave the company. (I suppose it's not as much of an issue here, with notice periods and all meaning you should have plenty of advance warning, but I recall back in the US, with at-will employment being what it is, there was always a significant risk that you might only discover you'd been arbitrarily fired without warning when your employer wiped your phone and disabled all your logins and keycards and whatnot...)

It's also one of those things that, while your employer might not require such an app for BYOD devices now, you never know when some exec will get a bug up their arse about data security and start demanding it, or some middle manager will read a white paper at some conference and figure that implementing such a policy is their ticket to that sweet, sweet promotion to slightly higher middle management. Having a separate work phone means never having to worry about that becoming an issue at all, though.

listermint

Dual SIM. Wouldn't buy anything else..did the two phone thing for years. Rubbish altogether. Awkward.

Learn to switch off. You don't have to have work notifications on it's not hard at all to silence them. It's actually incredibly easy

Vestiapx

Dual SIM is the only way.

wassie

A lot of new phones are already dual sim. However rather than taking 2 physical SIM cards, they are a combination of physical SIM card and an e-SIM, like the Google Pixel series or later model iPhones.

Ireland network operators are late to the party on this (as usual) - AFAIK Vodafone currently support this technology, whilst Three is planning on doing so.

They are easy to install - all is needed is the required code from the network.

https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/mobileesim-cards-are-coming-to-irish-phones-but-not-apple-watches-40577327.html

I have used both types (i.e. Dual physical SIM card) and (physical SIM + e-SIM) phones and sent back to having 2 phones.

You can switch a SIM off, but still get notifications for email and other apps. PITA having to manage these as opposed to simply switching my work phone off. Now I have an Android for my personal phone and iPhone for work so get the benefits of both - of course YMMV.

scottygee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117980431#Comment_117980431

I think it's also a matter of preference and where in the industry you work for. I mean just switching it off has worked for me for years, not just for my own peace but also it sets a barrier for your work as well. It's like your teaching them to back off everyone has a life outside of work too. I actually tried the dual sim option before but it just doesn't work on me. I work in sales for a SaaS company so pretty much my phone blows off during the weekdays (and even on the weekends) cause I have to keep every notification on whether it's a minor concern or whatever. But, As soon as I got the habit of switching it off after work hours and the weekends it has given me enough time to rest and do things I want and need to do after work.

NewbridgeIR

Two separate phones for me. I just turn off the work phone in the evening and back on in the morning. I've been working at home since March 2020 so it's even easier - no carrying issues - although that never bothered me when I had to go into the office. I usually kept the work phone in my briefcase while commuting and put my personal phone in my briefcase while in the office. One phone wouldn't work for me as my employer issues Samsung devices while I prefer an iPhone.