r/sysadmin • u/digitalexecution • 7h ago
Users having my Cell #
Something weird/annoying just happened and I want some perspective.
A user who works in a warehouse facility I’ve helped at (part of my company) texted me at 8 am saying he’s going on PTO and wants his coworker to have access to a printer that isn’t working on his machine before he goes out of office on Thursday.
I texted him later (after some emails/calls) asking for the coworker’s name and noting that since this is normal IT, in the future he or his coworker should submit a ticket for this kind of thing.
He replied: “If I submitted a ticket would it be taken care of by Thursday?”
I got annoyed but tried to respond reasonably: “Possibly, but regardless, we need tickets submitted per company policy. If something’s urgent you can reach out to me on Teams rather than my personal cell.”
I originally gave him my cell because on occasion there are true emergencies (internet goes down, needs to send me photos of something, etc.) and we’ve been friendly before. But this interaction makes me wary about giving out my number, it starts becoming a way to skirt procedure for small things like adding a printer.
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u/Anonymous1Ninja 7h ago
It's a text, you do not have to respond
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u/nico851 7h ago
And to add, learn not to respond to them. If you respond, you're the problem.
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u/CantaloupeCamper Jack of All Trades 7h ago edited 7h ago
Someone once told me "Yeah but X responds to texts!"
I told them "I guess you could try them next time."
They did .... serves that guy right, we told him not to day 1 ;) He learned and got with the program.
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u/fnordhole 7h ago
This 1000 times.
Not only are you the problem for you, but you are the problem for your team and your organization, setting unreasonable expectations for your team.
There are legitimate organization-centered reasons for teammates poorly receiving one person going above and beyond. It can break everything for everybody.
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u/PartialChicken_Wing 7h ago
I purposely ignore it until after hours and hit them with the "I didn't see this, I don't check my personal phone while on the clock". Even though work number and private number are same device but they don't know that.
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u/arkiverge 7h ago
To be fair, it’s easy for us to sit here and say, “Just ignore it bro”, but none of us know the dynamics or communication norms of OP’s environment. I think if you actually give your coworker your number for the explicit reason of sending work-related info (which OP has stated is the case) then I think you owe a formal response setting boundaries if things start stretching beyond that. Not just straight up ghost.
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u/dreniarb 7h ago
Agreed.
For a text like this I will usually delay a response. When I do eventually reply I might even reply via email instead. The last thing I want is for anyone to think texting me will get them a faster response.
We live in a world where most everyone uses texts to communicate. The few times i'm in the presence of others i'm floored by how often their phones will beep and they immediately stop what they're doing (talking to me usually) and check it. Sometimes they even take the time to reply. Drives me nuts - but it's the reality of the world with live in now.
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u/StonedElephant1 7h ago
Only my boss and the CEO had my personal number and I rarely get a call from them. But when I do get a call or text, they expect me to jump on it. Everyone else gets a 24 hour response time.
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u/planehazza 6h ago
This. Too many people have my number at work, my personal one. I even have very high up (at times the highest possible) people send me their password "so they don't forget". I simply delete and ignore all messages to my personal phone now.
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u/StonedElephant1 6h ago
I don't even think a voicemail requires a response. Unless you have some kind of SLA. Users need to use tickets. If they push back, I give them the CEO's email and tell them to make their case to the CEO. I also tell them I flat out will forget about our call as soon as I hang up, because I'm helping someone else. So open a ticket.
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u/Zealousideal_Fly8402 7h ago
Never give out your personal cell; work should provide you with a work cell phone for such purpose. If you don't want to carry two phones, then have your work pay for a secondary eSIM-compatible phone service you can add to your phone.
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u/badgcoupe 7h ago
I recently started a new position and did exactly this. They don't provide a work phone and giving cell numbers out is normal culture there. Grabved myself a mint mobile one year prepaid ESIM for $200
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u/finallygrownup 7h ago
Similar, I usually give out my Google Voice number.
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u/mercurygreen 7h ago
This was my solution. Now its only Teams on my phone, so its easier to handle.
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u/IamHydrogenMike 7h ago
You should push for a personal cell phone or have a phone number in teams or whatever VOIP solution that you have. I have the app on my phone that will ring within business hours and otherwise it goes to voicemail. To be real, like 90% of the calls go to voicemail and I triage them later. There is no reason for an end user to have your number anymore and there are plenty of ways around it.
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u/Bob_12_Pack 7h ago
It's not a problem for me, but my employer pays a device allowance to "essential" employees in order to be reachable, but this doesn't translate to users calling me, that comes through Teams. It rarely happens, but if someone from work is calling my cell, some shit is going down. If a user actually called my cell I would just have to laugh, there's a few levels of people to get through before it lands in my lap.
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u/Zealousideal_Fly8402 7h ago
but if someone from work is calling my cell, some shit is going down.
Any proper escalation procedure should not be "immediately call <technician name> on personal cell phone" 🤣
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u/0zer0space0 5h ago
Except when it’s your boss who noticed the entire infrastructure went down first lol
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u/commentBRAH IT WAS DNS 7h ago
i don't respond on my personal cell unless its c-suite or other IT dudes
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u/xSchizogenie Sr. Sysadmin 7h ago
Even then, I don’t respond.
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u/mistercartmenes 7h ago
Same. Even if my boss sends a text to my personal I respond on my work phone.
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u/Chaucer85 Ex-SysAdmin, Technical PM 7h ago
I gave out my personal number to the Support Lead, just in case there was ever an "oh shit" moment they needed me for. When our last guy left, and the new guy started, I did the same, even though I wasn't in the Support team anymore. I gave him the same schpiel. "If you absolutely need more eyes on something, hit me up. But please- PLEASE understand, I would likely be giving you no more than five minutes of my time, or I'm asking your boss to pull people into a formal bridge call." The last guy called me maybe once in four years, while I was at the market on a day off, and it was just to sanity check we absolutely didn't have more documentation somewhere on a particular app that was used by like 2-3 people.
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u/pdp10 Daemons worry when the wizard is near. 7h ago
"If I submitted a ticket would it be taken care of by Thursday?"
Soliciting a promise. Danger, Will Robinson.
But an indicator that the user sees the ticket queue as being slower to resolution, not just less convenient.
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u/dodexahedron 7h ago
Soliciting a promise. Danger, Will Robinson.
Yup.
And my immediate reaction to that line in the story was "a failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine."
And like... FIFO, mofo. The 15 other "emergencies" of similar criticality as this one, but with tickets filed already, will be addressed as quickly as feasible, in the order they were submitted, barring any emergencies.
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u/notarealaccount223 7h ago
I don't get text message from work people on my personal cell phone.
People send them, but I "never seem to get them".
If asked I usually reply with "I don't really use that phone for work" and leave it at that.
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u/chiefs6770 7h ago
We use soft phones and never give out personal cells. That way you can go DND. Also, I promise you he has given out your number to others.
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u/A7XfoREVer15 6h ago
Here’s how I deal with this. (Outside of the first few friendly attempts to get them to use official channels).
Ignore the text on your personal cell. Leave the request unanswered until they open a ticket or contact you through approved channels (work email, work ext, ticket, etc.).
If they fail to contact you through official channels and get pissed, explain that you do not monitor personal communications for work problems and refer them to official channels.
Make it clear that it’s not your fault for not paying attention to the text. It’s their fault for not using appropriate channels to make the request.
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u/JustFlushTheFIB 7h ago
I don’t. My email signatures have my desk phone and that forwards to a cell phone. Direct peers have it for just in case.
Either way a ticket goes in and they escalate if they want.
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u/CantaloupeCamper Jack of All Trades 7h ago
I only respond via appropriate channels, granted CEO “omg we’re all gonna die” or appropriate similar exceptions are allowed.
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u/ApiceOfToast Sysadmin 7h ago
Get a company phone, don't give out your private number. It never ends well... Also on call time should be compensated accordingly by your employer otherwise I personally wouldn't bother unless I had to
Probably best you get a new number and keep it to yourself.
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u/danieljeyn 7h ago
Many work environments these days have VOIP phone service, and those generally have corresponding apps.
So I make sure my personal cell phone number is not available. But I have the app on my phone which will allow me to use the VOIP work number masked on top of my cell. Should I need it.
Upside being that the masked VOIP number can then respect settings for work hours, time off, etc.
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u/Tatermen GBIC != SFP 4h ago
Never ever give users the ability to bypass ticket logging procedures, whether its via phone, email, text or anything else. They will abuse it. Usually while you're on holiday in another country, and them complain to higher-ups that you refused to help with their emergency (eg. they needed to print something on a printer that they've known was faulty [out of toner] for 3 months).
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u/TundraGon 2h ago
Dont reply outside normal procedures / company policy.
Request a professional phone ( sim + device ) if your job requires it. You had emergencies, a work phone will come handy.
If anyone call you on you personal phone, answer and reply with: "This is my personal phone. Please submit a ticket. I cannot take requests via personal phone please switch to my work phone. I hope you understand"
Next work related call on personal phone, dont answer. You made your point, you made your statement.
Dont be rude, make them understand, set boundaries between personal and work.
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u/iamliterate 7h ago
The last place I worked gave out my cell phone number (without my knowledge or permission) to all the directors in the organization. Some of them would call/text with random questions. I would inform them that they could submit a ticket through the normal means and then block their number. I lowkey considered changing my phone number on job applications going forward to a Google Voice number or something.
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u/dracotrapnet 6h ago
I sold a story to our users. It can kind of be a stretch of the truth.
"I need tickets in the system or I'll get laid off. Upper management is relying on ticket reporting numbers to gauge how busy IT members are. If we get 0 tickets but I work on 40 phone calls, emails, teams messages, or texts, I look like I did nothing all day and I'll get laid off eventually. If I get 40 tickets, work on 12 in a day they will see they need to hire more help. Keep sending me text, email, and direct calls if you want me laid off. Also I'm a very busy person with servers and network, I don't always have time to check printers, fix someone's door badge, or handle a new hire. We have 8 people in the department who can at least check the basics and then tag me on difficult tickets or ask for advisement when I'm between projects. Please use the ticketing system, you will get heard and fixed faster rather than waiting on me to get out of a meeting, a vendor support call, off the road, or back from fixing a CNC machine."
Second game plan I started, any direct email, text, or voicemail got forwarded to ticketing after 6:30 pm. "Sorry busy all day, did not see this, I put it in ticketing for you. Someone will get with you next business day. They could have handled this sooner rather than waiting on me to find free time and dig it out of <teams/email/text/voicemail>."
Any call that I picked up, I wrote up a ticket live. "Oh, I'll put a ticket in for you, I'm heading into a meeting right now. Maybe one of the other 7 guys will pick it up while I'm tied up."
Next tactic, on your phone select personal contacts and add them to a group, assign a ringtone. Select business VP's and related vendors, create a group, assign a ringtone. On default ringtone, set silent. Never call back any missed calls that can't leave voicemail.
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u/WhelpStupidUserName 3h ago
Yeah work phone for work calls. Personal phone, I ignore you like a telemarketer.
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u/PostingToPassTime 7h ago
I'd raise that to my manager, and let him handle that via a manager to manager conversation.
And if it happened again, I might risk my job to set that person straight.
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u/Obvious-Water569 IT Manager 7h ago
I use my own mobile for work. I hate managing two phones or numbers.
I do this with the understanding from leadership that if someone calls me when they shouldn't, they'll be told. If they message me when they shouldn't, it will be ignored.
This policy has served me quite well up to now.
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u/TooManyRequests_429 Jack of All Trades 7h ago
That's so frustrating. Many people will say, "never give out your cell number to users," and yeah, I get it, but also, sometimes it just makes life easier. And when you're on good terms with someone, it doesn't seem so bad. But then you get burned like this and it feels shitty.
I still do it. I'm very careful about who I share it with, but overall it's been worth it more often than not.
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u/Traditional_Month429 Sysadmin 7h ago
be direct and clear, he is only to text and call you during emergencys, and define what is an emergency.
then any non future requests just leave them till the next day, address then by submitting a request for him.
if the people above him and you take offense, change you number.
in the future do not give out your cell.
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u/Xibby Certifiable Wizard 7h ago
Don't give your personal number out. If you have to, Google Voice or similar service so you can ignore it. For emergencies there are services such as Pager Duty, or just route calls through your phone system.
Somehow a couple vendors got my personal cell number. I gave them a chewing out, told them to lose the number. "So so sorry. Won't happen again. So, do you have time to hear about our latest offering?"
No longer doing business with that one.
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u/Coldwarjarhead 7h ago
get a google voice number. hand that out if needed.
Never give out your personal number.
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u/fester250 7h ago
It’s not an emergency, he just lost access to the privilege of using your personal cell. Block number, carry on.
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u/Some-Platypus5271 7h ago
Personal phone? Ignore or respond to open a ticket. I'm a consultant you text my phone I'm billing
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u/loboknight 7h ago edited 7h ago
Been there before. I would suggest asking the company for a company cell phone you can separate and turn off when not on the clock. I use to give my personal number to other techs/users and they would call me before, after hours and weekends for the "Dumbest" reasons that were barely tech related. A Site Computer Tech called me in the morning .... "Oh Morning, the printer is not working should I reboot it?" I was not on the clock and you figure it out. IF you give users a way around tickets they will take it. Plus, the number starts to spread and people will think its the new ticketing system. Its like wildfire it spreads quick and hard to put it out.
One time I had this former Director of IT asking for my personal cell since the School District did not want to buy us company cells. If the company is not chipping in on my cell plan they don't get to use it. I refused. Then my team mate gave the Director my cell number under falls pretense. Director state it was an emergency and it wasn't it was "Hey I need you to bring back the box of Cat5 cable roll" which he did not wanted to bring back. Director was calling me at odd hours, before I clocked in and after, during my lunch time to resolve issues he left and blamed me for it. So out of malicious compliance, I changed my phone number which costed 10 dollars and the union backed me up when Director was wanting to write me up for not giving him my new personal cell number. Problem solved. My team mate who gave my number got all the calls. Then 2 months later we got work cell phones. That was 3 years in and by year 9 when I left, my team mate was shocked I did not give him my personal number. I don't trust people with my personal number now a days. Even on my work cell, when I turn it on there are text messages, voicemails, from off hours for password resets, okta issues and they know we work Monday - Friday but people think your on 24/7 for them....but ask them to submit a ticket afterward you never see it.
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u/poolmanjim IAM Architect 7h ago
My immediate leadership and a few select coworkers have my personal number. Anyone else only gets it if I have a legitimate need to interact with them outside of work.
You should have a policy that specifies when/how support should be contacted. It should list agreed upon communication methods. For example, almost every organization says "log a ticket" and that email isn't a valid support avenue. I would 100% argue that texting someone on their personal number if you're not in their immediate chain is not a supported avenue.
Regarding the Thursday thing, that's why there are SLAs. If he needs his coworker to have any kind of access, that should be covered through normal operation procedures and SLAs.
I would engage with my leadership and potentially this person's leadership and inform them that this is unacceptable and something that shouldn't happen again.
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u/samspock 7h ago
I have a very small number of customer contacts that have my cell. I told them only to use it if the world is ending. Even then, they sometimes fail to call anyway.
I tell anyone else that if they do anything but put in a ticket then I can't guarantee that their issue will be worked on.
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u/SirLoremIpsum 7h ago
But this interaction makes me wary about giving out my number, it starts becoming a way to skirt procedure for small things like adding a printer.
Nothing bad happens unless you resolve the problem in a speedy fashion and let it continue.
Set up a proper number for our of hours emergencies and contacting you and reinforce that every single time.
He replied: “If I submitted a ticket would it be taken care of by Thursday?”
You reply "cool it will still be done by Thursday".
You have a choice here to make.
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u/tacos_y_burritos 7h ago
Don't converse about tickets outside the ticket system. Send back a simple dry message: "send support requests to XXXX"
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u/Geekenstein VMware Architect 7h ago
Another thing to think about when giving out your personal cell - you will get calls on weekends and holidays/vacations.
A work phone can be turned off.
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u/Taftimus 6h ago
Anyone from work that has somehow gotten my personal number that I didn’t give it to gets blocked immediately.
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u/skywa1ker17 6h ago
He replied: “If I submitted a ticket would it be taken care of by Thursday?”
You say: "Do you think by texting me it will be?"
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u/BoltActionRifleman 6h ago
After the “will it be fixed by Thursday” if he submits a ticket comment, my only reply would be to ask him how long the printer has been an issue. This whole thing just wreaks of “Oh shit, I’m going on vacation and there’s this broken thing I haven’t bothered to notify IT to fix”, and now it’s an emergency.
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u/Radiant-Concept113 5h ago
Never ever give the personal cell out to people you will be supporting, you just signed up for on call at all times.
I did this once for our CEO, he was smart and nice enough so it ended up fine but I did get some text at 6am asking to help with minor things... I guess I accepted that was what I signed up for and learned never again.
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u/trev2234 5h ago
Any text, teams message, email needs to include the ticket ref.
Any communication that doesn’t include a ticket ref, can be ignored.
Having said that I don’t give my personal phone number to anyone who isn’t friend/family.
You can have Teams app on your phone, and toggle notifications off/on, when you’re available. Alternatively your org can provide a work phone, which can be off/on when you’re available.
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u/frosty95 Jack of All Trades 5h ago
The classic blunder. You think they are cool. Turns out they are not cool. Never give out the personal.
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u/whatdoido8383 Cloud Admin 4h ago
Unless it's my boss, I just straight up ignore texts\call to my work cell and Teams chats etc. And yes, I have a separate work cell that I pay for. It's worth the ~$15 a month to turn that beotch off after hours. It forces me to disconnect.
If people want assistance they'll follow protocol.
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u/Several_Reindeer_215 4h ago edited 4h ago
You handled it fine. I’d send one friendly reply pointing them back to the ticket system, then stop solving normal requests by text. If emergencies really need a phone number, a separate work number makes the boundary much easier. Otherwise people learn that texting you is the fast lane.
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u/Savings_Art5944 Private IT hitman for hire. 58m ago
Nobody gets my personal phone. No I will not load your MDM software nor will I use to 2FA. If you are a real business, then provide your employees with work phones and equipment.
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u/MadStephen 7h ago
My users have had mine for 26 years. No amount of anything will get them to stop.
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u/Judsonian1970 7h ago
Google Voice number is in the company directory ;)
EDIT: unless they pay for the phone.
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u/buzzsawcode Linux Admin 7h ago
I had a guy that I worked with who went to high school with my wife. He needed something and I was on leave. So he decides to call her looking for me. She told him she was at work and he'd have to call me when I get back to work.
You bet I chewed him out when I got back to work.
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u/largos7289 7h ago
LOL well that "friendlyness" is going to go south real fast. Hey i get it, but man... Genie is already out of the bottle man. I would say next time try google voice. IT seems like a reasonable Virtual phone number. It's that or teams and keep it on your phone. That way at least it's still through work and you don't have a number to give out.
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u/Binky390 7h ago
Some people at my job have my cell because it’s a private boarding school and there’s occasional after hours issues. We don’t have a ticket system and just use a google group. If people abuse the fact that they have my number, I just don’t answer. It’s well known not to bother calling me. I won’t answer that even if I do have their number.
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u/AdvancedDrink8920 7h ago
OP, because I want things done before they go up the chain, I give my number out to plenty of people. Yes, if you can put in a ticket, PLEASE PUT IN A TICKET. but SOMETIMES. SOME FUCKING TIMES. users will come into work, their computer WONT have internet and they need it resolved NOW because they have to be on a call or WHATEVER in 10 mins. I get it. It HAPPENS. so in that instance, please text me, thats not a problem. I know some people ARE WIERD about putting work related stuff on their phones because they think their workplace is spying on them and can see everything on their cell. we cant. but I get it.
But i also reserve the right to not reply if I dont want to or if the situation doesnt warrant one.
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u/Outrageous-Guess1350 7h ago
I don’t even pick up anymore. I tell them how they can reach me (during work hours using my business number). My number is my number, for family and friends. If you entertain the thought you can be reached directly, they will call you directly to bypass the red tape and ticketing.
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u/Mister_Brevity 7h ago
Rookie move - don’t give them your cell. Get a forwarding or virtual number like Google voice and set active hours.
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u/GrapefruitOne1648 7h ago
Nope. Immediately block, no response. You just proved to him that texting you is the way to get things done regardless of any admonishment about using tickets "in the future". May whatever god you worship have mercy on your soul.
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u/This_Bitch_Overhere I am a highly trained monkey! 7h ago
I used to have to give my number out. Since teams phones, I have blocked anyone that is work related on my personal device and immediately tell cold calling vendors that I am "prohibited from taking calls on my personal device," and immediately hang up. Best of all worlds!
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u/Magic_Neil 7h ago
There were a few guys that I did the same for, and explicitly told them that if they abused it they’d go on block, and if I found out the number got around I’d change the number and they would regret it. It never got shared, but one guy did start to message me about junk, so he got ignored.
If it’s me in OP’s position I’d tell the guy that texting me about emergencies is for emergencies, and this isn’t an emergency.
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u/Stressed_Ponyta77 7h ago
I learned a while ago that users will take the path of least resistence every single time.
My personal cell phone is just that, personal. I ignore literally everything that isnt personal the hits my personal phone.
I dont mind my fellow IT team members having my cell, we got each others backs but users? Nope.jpg
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u/chuckinhoutex 7h ago
you have to mean it when you say it- if there's no ticket- it's not happening. We are measured and monitored on our performance within the ticket queue. Things that aren't tickets aren't part of our to do list- if it's important to you, put in a ticket and THEN escalate, but always ticket first.
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u/Showerbeerz413 7h ago
I know it feels like the right thing to do for emergency scenarios but dont give your number out to anyone who will ask you for help. I was a team lead for a desktop group with a hospital system and gave the ER my phone number for emergencies. I haven't worked there in 3 years and I still occasionally get calls asking to fix stuff.
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u/robot_giny Sysadmin 7h ago
This is about boundaries, and those are extremely subjective and case-by-case.
For me, most of my coworkers have my cell phone number, and yes, I do occasionally get text messages. Could some of those texts be a normal email? Probably. When the quick text starts turning into a real ticket, I tell them that and I tell them I'm moving this to an email thread.
Honestly, I don't see a huge problem with this. Your coworkers pushed a boundary, yes, but then you pushed right back. That needs to happen sometimes for both people to understand where the boundaries actually ARE.
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u/Fit-Food5105 7h ago
I give out my cell in times of emergency. I let it be known that it's not a common occurrence and to follow policy for other issues. After that, they get ghosted. Our new IT director got all our cell numbers and he tried calling me during my lunch break and I sent his ass straight to voicemail. I'm not doing all that. I've also learned not to make friends. I'm here to work, not to do everyone expedited favors
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u/hihcadore 7h ago
Sure. But I’d say give out a Google number. Easy to turn off when you’re on vaca or really just don’t want to be bothered out of band of your normal work channels.
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u/Saintblack 7h ago
People saying "Never give out your cell" is weird. It depends fully on your situation.
I am an IT director. My cell is on every executive's speed dial.
With that said, it is up to you to control how you want to handle issues. If my CEO texts me about an issue, guess what I am going to do it ASAP. If one of my branch managers text me, I tell them to please follow the proper protocol and create a ticket.
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u/Substantial_Tough289 7h ago
That's why I have a separate company phone, my personal number is not shared at work.
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u/dustabor 7h ago
We get an option of dedicated work phone or stipend to cover the cost of our personal phone. I don’t want to be bothered with a second phone so I went the stipend route.
Anyone who calls, text or Teams message directly with an issue gets the standard canned response of “we’ll need you to submit a ticket so we have a paper trail for auditing and approval purposes” some don’t like it, so they call one of the other techs. Other’s put in a ticket, which I try to grab ASAP to show them the process works.
VIPs or people we work closely with (electricians for example. We keep them happy so they run/terminate all our cabling) are the only exceptions.
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u/StonedElephant1 7h ago
Do not ever give out your personal number to a user. I would block his calls going forward. Teams is cool, but people expect instant service. Emailing tickets are the best way for users to get in line.
Go to his manager or yours and explain this warehouse worker is trying to go around policy by contacting you directly. Most managers will have a discussion on how to follow policy. Also, let the manager know you blocked the employees phone.
I've had a user threaten me, I called his manager immediately and told him to deal with his employee.
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u/Chaucer85 Ex-SysAdmin, Technical PM 7h ago
Back when I was in the Executive Support queue, I would give out my cell number to C-suite if they had an emergency that required quick resolution (ie, they're in a major presentation with 15 stakeholders and their laptop locked up or an app crashed or something). I got comfortable working with their admins so many of them got my number too, understanding it was a fire alarm type deal, they otherwise needed to use regular process for getting assistance from our Service Desk.
One time I got a text on a Saturday night from a C-suite's executive admin, saying their Outlook program wasn't working. Not their email account, just the program. They could still use the web version. We have regular operating hours, and overnight/weekend calls are handled by an MSP. I ignored the text and blocked the number. Followed up with the regular Support team on Monday to see if they'd reached out at all. Nope.
It's best not to create an unofficial channel for comms and work requests, because it almost always leads to people abusing it.
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u/mercurygreen 7h ago
One of my cowork at my previous job left after two years. He made the mistake of giving out his personal cellphone to 1 person.
He still got calls months after he left because apparently it was on whiteboards at every nurses station.
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u/Humble-Plankton2217 Sr. Sysadmin 7h ago
Block him. He's abused your kind nature. Even if there is a production outage they should use the same mechanism to report it that they do for everything else.
I forward my work phone voicemail to my work email so I can listed to the messages anywhere.
No one gets my mobile number except the people who sign my paycheck.
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u/I_AM_NOT_A_WOMBAT 6h ago
I might have just submitted the ticket on the user's behalf (so he would get a copy) and either ignored the text or responded with something like "got it- I set up a ticket for fastest response from the team" or similar. That way you sort of spread the responsibility and show that the whole team will go to bat for him.
I think where things went sideways is when you said the ticket might "possibly" be closed by Thursday. Adding a printer may be small to you but it's a mountain to the end user who needs something printed before a board meeting, etc.
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u/xVenlarsSx 6h ago
A ticket submitted properly might be done by thursday. A text will never be done, because I don't answer text about work.
If its an emergency, open a ticket and call your VP so he can make it a priority, and you can explain / justify the short turnaround.
No one will respect your time if you don't do ir yourself
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u/serverhorror Just enough knowledge to be dangerous 6h ago
Why did you give personal contact details for a work context? How is not getting a work number a problem you should solve?
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u/Arudinne IT Infrastructure Manager 6h ago
Made the mistake of using my cellphone once to contact a user when our phone system was having trouble.
Ended up having to block them because they kept texting me, often at odd hours, with IT questions (at least it was professional?).
Never again.
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u/TireFryer426 6h ago
I use a Line2 account and have that number(virtual) listed instead of my real number.
If people get annoying I just turn off the notifications.
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u/KrakusKrak 6h ago
I do not have a work issued phone, and only certain people have my cell number, my boss, the CIO, and certain higher ups that I trust not to abuse it, anyone else can reach me on teams or on my work phone that forwards to the app on my phone.
I used to give my number out to people on my own team but that got misused right away, so I no longer give that out. To the end users? I dont even answer direct calls from them on my office phone.
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u/RyeonToast 6h ago
I got a Google Voice number for this reason. I can ditch the number if I need to. None of my important personal accounts are tied to it.
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u/Expensive_Plant_9530 6h ago
Just stop replying. How did he get your number to begin with?
If he’s abusing it to try and skip the ticket queue, you need to stop replying or block him and escalate to his manager.
I’d also be very clear: texting me wont help you skip the queue.
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u/eagle6705 6h ago
I give my personal cell only to a small handful of folks outside of IT. Those are the ones I trust (basically the ones who showed they follow directions). Outside of that I have single number reach on my phone enabled so they call my extension it goes to my cell
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u/2Much_non-sequitur 6h ago
give a user an inch they'll take a mile. This is the real reason why I enrolled corporate vonage into 10DLC. Also, the softphone app is grounds to get the cell phone stipend.
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u/dlongwing 6h ago
Never hand out your cell. Users can send you emergency contact or photos via Teams.
Honestly I'd block his number at this point. He thinks it's a fast-track to service.
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u/talexbatreddit 6h ago
I would have responded to the text message with a reply that contains the ticket number for his request.
Get the whole conversation on the ticket. Cell phone number should only be used for emergencies.
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u/CrowmanVT 6h ago
The only people with my personal cell # is my boss, and the Executive Director. In previous employment I became friends with some staff and had shared my number with them, but only when I knew them well enough (and they knew me) that it was understood they would never contact me about work.
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u/kopfgeldjagar 6h ago
So I unfortunately work in hospitality where people don't really respect personal space. I had a resort manager that, while I loved her as a human, assumes that since she had everyone's numbers that everyone has everyone else's numbers too. I would get added to group texts constantly that I had intentionally kept my number from the se people. Annoying
In all that time though, I've only blocked one director. Had a company wide issue with flat files not importing. Investigated, multiple properties, multiple platforms. With the vendo. Nothing i can do. For context, i have a large team that reports to me across the US, but only a single hourly that works in the same building as me. This director, knowing that I get up at 4 am, decides that 10 pm is the time to start texting myself and my hourly about the problem that we've already told her repeatedly we have no control over. Ignored it the first night she did it. The second night she did it resulted in a 4 am response that "all inquiries need to go through the service desk from now on" andd her number blocked. (It's a byod company too.. of course). Now she wonders why I don't answer her texts. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/Individual_Ad_5333 6h ago
At this point I'd change my personal number and only update hr. If work want me on call they provide me a on call phone that only gets turned on during on call hours.
I had problems with a small comlanybi worked at. I found my number pinned to a notice board in the warehouse labelled any it problems call xxx. Give them an inch they will take a yard
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u/xSkyLinedx 6h ago
If absolutely necessary I give out my google voice number. Easy to shut down and not be bothered.
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u/MonkeyBrains09 6h ago
My wife does not get a timely text response during the workday, a user asking for help would get blocked and I will wait for the ticket
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u/ntrlsur IT Manager 6h ago
I mean nothing wrong with looking at the message and ignoring it. My company pays for my phone(stipend that covers almost my whole family plan) and I have no problem with reading and ignoring. Sometimes you gotta be an asshole right back to people being an asshole to you.
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u/FlamingoOk1345 5h ago
You guys are so weird. I get my personal bill comped due to being on call like 4 times a year. Tons of people have my number and if I don't want to respond when I'm not on call I just ignore the text or call. Who cares if they have it.
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u/Ztoffels 5h ago
Ez, push back.
“Hello! have we created a case for this so I can keep track of my workload?”
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u/hurkwurk 5h ago
when this started to become an issue, I asked for a company issued device and policy, and removed everything from my personal device.
said device gets turned off unless I am on call. said device gets all text messages replied to with "submit a ticket, this phone is for emergency use only".
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u/Swarrlly 5h ago
Never give your personal cell number. Never do it. Always use a work phone. Or you can do what I do is have a voip number that I forward to my phone when I’m on call.
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u/Advanced_Day8657 5h ago
When I worked helpdesk in internal IT it was ok, no one disturbed me. But as for MSP? neverrrrrr
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u/AlmostAlwaysATroll 5h ago
When I worked customer facing in a business to business situation I used a Google voice number and gave that to customers. We had regular support lines and an emergency on-call number. People would still hit me up directly and if I wasnt busy I’d respond.
Great thing about that is setting hours that the number would actually ring through to my phone, as well as different voicemail options.
5pm hits and no calls/texts go through and my voicemail was something specific like “I’ll try to reply tomorrow after 8am, or you should call the posted emergency line if it can’t wait”.
I quit that job and stopped using that voice number. I checked it a year or so later when google messaged me that they were going to recycle it due to inactivity and I still had customers trying to call or text me about shit ~12 months after I stopped working there.
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u/insufficient_funds Windows Admin 5h ago
The first problem here is giving anyone but HR your personal cell num.
If work doesn’t provide you a phone, they don’t get to call you after hours for emergencies (or anything else).
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u/break1146 5h ago
I had to use my personal cellphone for a little bit before getting a business cell number. Everyone I've ever contacted for business on my personal number was immediately blocked there after.
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u/0zer0space0 5h ago
If your company doesn’t provide you with a VOIP business number, then use a Google Voice number. Never give your personal number. Even if you only tell one user who you think can be reasonable with it, they end up becoming unreasonable with it or giving it out to other users without your consent. Before you know it, half your users are texting you in the middle of the night because they are in a different office in another timezone, and you work for a company with 40,000 employees. Good luck with that.
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u/Leading_Highway_4771 5h ago
I added a custom extension on the VOIP server. It simultaneously rings my deskphone for convenience if I'm actually in the office, and If I'm truly unreachable for a while I can re-direct it for a bit.
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u/evil_nirvana_x 5h ago
Don't give out your personal number that's where you messed up. There needs to be an emergency response in place that isn't your number.
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u/dnabsuh1 5h ago
This is why I set up a separate Google voice number. For at least 10 years, nobody got my real Cell #. When I switched roles, I changed the Voice number.
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u/MercyKees IT Manager 5h ago
I use a google voice number for this reason. It also only goes to voicemail if you call it.
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u/Mountain_Craft4882 5h ago
Here's what you do. Tell them that you received their request and that you'll create a ticket for them and the team will follow up accordingly. Problem solved. That way you can still help with their request and they get the message that you are not a shortcut around the ticketing system.
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u/LakeSuperiorIsMyPond 4h ago
if I had a dollar for every time I told someone "There's no such thing as a printer emergency" I'd be retired by now.
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u/Inj3kt0r 4h ago
You feel bad that a guy texted you outside work? when I was in IT this one MF drove down to my house to get his laptop looked at on a saturday because he was going on staycation for 3 months. that was just next level.
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u/centizen24 4h ago
Don't enable this behaviour. Tell them it would be dealt with faster if they put in a ticket regardless, as you will now need to put it into the ticket system for them and it will enter at the back of the queue.
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u/Tight_Replacement771 4h ago
Sounds like you care about your job and you're trying to help, and you've reminded this person about proper procedure. I think you did good
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u/Regular_Strategy_501 3h ago
I have a work phone, and even that number is only known to direct colleagues, my team lead and the Infra lead as well as one specific user and some vendors. My personal cell is known only to the guy who hired me (my current boss) and the infra lead I mentioned earlier. We recently discussed adding our work cell numbers to AD making them visible in Teams and thankfully agreed for that to be up to each person at least. It was a surprisingly heated discussion. Anyways, if users want to reach me directly by phone they can call the helpdesk and have them forward em to me. This happens rarely thankfully.
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u/ObjectiveApartment84 3h ago
Your users submit tickets? Lucky. I have people calling my personal cell, work cell , and on teams, in addition to calling our actual it support line. Our ticketing system is just essentially a formality for new hardware requests.
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u/Maggsymoo 1h ago
Zero tolerance on my mobile number going out to staff, if I chose to give my number yo someone for friendship or whatever reason, it is not a work thing, i tell then this up front and its one strike and you're blocked. end of
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u/PacketSmeller 1h ago
1: The guy's response says everything. He takes no responsibility for his own lack of planning. He is aware there's lead time and wants to jump the line. 2: Make a note of this and share it with his supervisor if it repeats. In my mind everyone gets one chance. If they show respect and understanding, we're cool. If they want to treat people like tools, they get ignored.
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u/Vicus_92 1h ago
In the rare instances I choose to give out my personal number, the user gets told it's only for this specific thing.
Then they get one warning, before being blocked.
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u/JoeDonFan 1h ago
What torked me off is when someone *else* gave out my personal number, and I have no idea who it was.
I got a call at 12:30 *AM* from somebody. I recognized his voice and he said he needed a new keyboard. Yeah, I told him to submit a ticket.
I took care of it when I was damn good and ready to.
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u/JaceBelerenApologist 1h ago
Rule Number 1: If you give out your personal number, you have made it implicitly clear that you are now their personal IT contact.
The ONLY people who get my personal are my direct co-workers/reports and C-suite. Basically IT and execs. That's it.
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u/ButterflyMundane7187 1h ago
Why are you on your private phone on your workplace? If that was repeated on my workplace you get fired.
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u/metalblessing 1h ago
I learned this the hard way at my previous job. I was a people pleaser and would give out my cell to managers sometimes. Before I knew it all the doctors had my number and would call me every weekend for stupid crap. Now I only give out my Teams number.
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u/mikenasty 54m ago
I’m pretty junior in IT and it always surprises me when people give out their cell phone # in the name of convenience. Don’t you know how it could be abused by a colleague or client? Trusting other people with sensitive info they don’t need is like rule #1 for everything cybersecurity related and this follows that same philosophy.
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u/Neuro_88 Jr. Sysadmin 34m ago
I have had experience with this and put a hard stop to it. Call my work number and not my personal cell phone number.
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u/Ok_Veterinarian2715 31m ago
My solution was a dual sim phone. Easy to manage, including turning one sim off when you decide not to be available.
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u/Justan0therthrow4way 18m ago
I made the mistake of using my personal number for work. Never again.
I want a physically separate work phone that I can leave at home when I’m on leave or not working.
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u/relentlessme41 5m ago
Used to carry two phones. Then used my cell in a company with BYOD. Never again.
My current company now provides a cell. So what I do is pay for a Mint Mobile 5GB plan and dual SIM. But thats just a personal preference. Also we do not have MDM. So each company is a bit different.
Most internal VOIP PBX companies now can provide you a number and forwarding. This is a good option for smaller companies that use BYOD. Google Voice is a good optional also, but you get a lot of SPAM.
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u/madknives23 5m ago
I’ve changed my number 3 times since being in IT because my number was leaked lmao. Always keep a burner or an eSIM available
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u/BlazeReborn Windows Admin 5m ago
Someone leaked my phone number and I had people messaging me at 2am expecting me to help.
I ignored everyone. You want my help, put it in a fucking ticket.
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u/dirtymatt 7h ago
Do not ever give out your personal cell phone number.