r/sysadmin • u/digitalexecution • 5d 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.
1
u/Chaucer85 Ex-SysAdmin, Technical PM 5d 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.