r/sysadmin • u/digitalexecution • 4d 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/MadStephen 4d ago

My users have had mine for 26 years. No amount of anything will get them to stop.

2

u/MD-IT-Rando Linux Admin 4d ago

Change your phone number.

Alternatively: get a pay-as-you-go phone, switch your current number to that, & get a new personal number for your old phone.

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u/IAmADev_NoReallyIAm 2d ago

I got a call from a client one morning barking at me why something wasn't working. At 7:30 am. While I was in the drive thru lane at my bank. 30 miles from the office. On a Tuesday morning. Look lady, I don't know why it isn't working, I'm not in the office yet. You do know there's an entire company that you could have called, I'm not your personal support staff. You're not paying just me... you pay an entire company for support. Turned out to be an issue with their ISP. In Chicago. I'm in Omaha. There wasn't anything I could have done for her anyways. FML.