Work/Personal phone - one account for multiple devices?

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Blurtie

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#272639 7-Jul-2020 12:53

Hi All,

Just after thoughts/experiences on how you manage your work/personal mobile devices in terms of accounts you use etc.

I've recently been provided with a 'new' work phone - a Samsung S9+; I already have a Note 8 as a personal phone so didn't actually need a phone, but due to company policy on keeping my personal number should I leave the company (in the event I wanted to use my personal number as my work number) I opted for a new phone/different number.

Just want to know what the best practise is for managing these two devices?? Is it a good idea to use my own personal accounts on the work phone? Why/why not? Or should I set up an entirely new/separate account for the work phone? I do want to try and keep them separate if I can for obvious reasons - but if there are no issues in using the same account on multiple devices then I might go for the easier option.. I've already had to use my google account to use the play store..

Am I overthinking things?

Thanks all.

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#2518475 7-Jul-2020 13:09

The "cleanest" way would be to keep the work/personal segregated by device, but then you are effectively carrying around two devices during the work day, and potentially after hours if you are on-call. I didn't mind it when I had to do it, but YMMV.

Really though, it comes down to your work mobile usage policy first, then secondly, how comfortable you are using personal accounts on a device that may be admin'ed under a device management policy; this means things like monitoring usage, accessing files on the device, restricting app downloads, and even the ability to remote wipe it.

One way could be to make use of the Secure Folder app (if its not locked down) on your work-phone to keep personal apps separate if you don't routinely need calls/texts, but then you are using company data.

I have the opposite setup, where my personal S20 has dual SIMs (personal and work), but defaults to the personal for calls/text/data. I can receive calls and texts to my work number, but apps used for work (email, cloud storage etc) are all using my personal data. Its not a problem for me, as I don't have overlap between apps and they use bugger all data, but could be a problem for some. I don't really need to make work calls/texts often, but when I do, I can explicitly choose the SIM to use in the respective apps.

sdavisnz

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#2518476 7-Jul-2020 13:22

i just buy dual sim phone, put both sim cards in it,

use samsung email for work email

use gmail for personal email

parking app with work account details,

all other sign in's are my own, don't install any device policy,

hand the work handset back to office and say you wont be using it.

Voice gives context

1101

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#2518478 7-Jul-2020 13:34

"but due to company policy on keeping my personal number should I leave the company"

?
Your personal number belongs to you. The company cannot take it off you if you leave (is that what you were saying?)
Any company silly enough to let staff use personal ph numbers for company use deserves all it gets .

I have 2 phones, my personal ph, and my company ph. It means I carry 2 phones around in work hours , thats no big deal.
I did give a few of my most important clients my personal ph no (they wanted it) , but now they keep ringing my personal ph rather than the company ph , they should be ringing the company ph.
I try to keep my personal ph separate from work as much as possible.

To be fair, if supplied a company ph, there is no real reason you also need to carry a personal ph around with you. Thats a choice you make .
The big advantage of a Company ph, is they replace it if/when you drop/loose it .

Wade

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#2518484 7-Jul-2020 13:48

I bought my own dual sim phone and stored away my company provided handset as a spare, we have no company device admin policies which makes it easy, I use work sim for data, make outgoing calls/txts on company sim, receive incoming calls/texts on both sims, top up personal sim once in a blue moon, I believe this is the best of both worlds, personal phone with majority of monthly cost picked up by employer.... carrying two phones around is just the biggest pita

Blurtie

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#2518535 7-Jul-2020 14:16

1101:

"but due to company policy on keeping my personal number should I leave the company"

?
Your personal number belongs to you. The company cannot take it off you if you leave (is that what you were saying?)
Any company silly enough to let staff use personal ph numbers for company use deserves all it gets .

Unfortunately it is our company's policy. As a benefit, I get a mobile phone - with the option of transferring my personal number to the phone. As part of the policy, doing the transfer would mean my number is then owned by the company... Naturally I said no... I just assumed that it was standard?

Thanks for all your responses so far guys. Looks like a good reason to upgrade my personal phone! But happy to carry round 2 phones for the time being. Have also thought about turning on call forwarding as a work around.. I don't expect to receive many calls on my work phone to be honest..

Blurtie

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#2518536 7-Jul-2020 14:20

Wade:

I bought my own dual sim phone and stored away my company provided handset as a spare, we have no company device admin policies which makes it easy, I use work sim for data, make outgoing calls/txts on company sim, receive incoming calls/texts on both sims, top up personal sim once in a blue moon, I believe this is the best of both worlds, personal phone with majority of monthly cost picked up by employer.... carrying two phones around is just the biggest pita

Thanks! This is actually a great suggestion! Another great reason to buy a new phone! :D

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PolicyGuy

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#2518540 7-Jul-2020 14:29

When I used to be in paid employment (retirement is great, thanks :) ), I worked in a highly sensitive area.
I had a work phone, but it was clear that the number belonged to the employer, not me, and that I couldn't take it with me if I left.

The phone was locked down and remotely managed with an MDM system - this meant it could be remotely wiped at the employer's convenience.
The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) made it clear that if I used the camera to take any pictures, the IP rights explicitly belonged to the employer, not me. Any text messages sent or received were discoverable as part of any legal proceedings that might involve the employer.

The AUP said words to the effect of "employees are not to have any expectation of privacy in their use of <employer's> IT systems", and "to the extent that employees wish to maintain privacy of their personal communications, they are advised not to use <employer>'s devices"

What does your employer's AUP say?

What does your Employment Agreement say about your on-call accessibility / availability to the employer?

I carried two phones - my own and my employer's.
When I wasn't on call, and certainly when I was on holiday, my employer's phone was off with a voicemail message that matched my Outlook OoO

1101

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#2518545 7-Jul-2020 14:47

PolicyGuy:

The AUP said words to the effect of "employees are not to have any expectation of privacy in their use of <employer's> IT systems", and "to the extent that employees wish to maintain privacy of their personal communications, they are advised not to use <employer>'s devices"

From what Ive seen , this usually isnt spelt out to employees .
They use company email for personal use , then get a shock that their personal emails in the company email system arnt private and may be deleted or
not imported into new systems

restecp

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#2518562 7-Jul-2020 15:46

I don't think you are overthinking it at all but in your head think its a far harder thing to do than it is.

This is what I have done:

1. Set up secure folder on the work phone
2. Put personal things in secure folder
3. Use the work SIM but maintain the personal number just on prepay for if i absolutely need it.

You can set up things like whatsapp etc in secure folder using a separate number so it's not really an issue (that's how most people contact me on my personal number)

I found this to work well. You can even set a specific finder to launch and open secure folder. I have this set up to be my left thumb (probably easier with a forefinger with a rear mounted FPR) so I know if I use my left hand its to access secure folder for personal stuff and right hand is work stuff.

Due to these being totally separate environments it's easy to stop there being any crossover and more so easy to wipe one/the other if need be.

Using the same Google account is fine depending on if you use services such as Google photos and don't want your work ones / personal ones mixing. It only takes 2 mins to set up another Google account really....

Hope this helps

ShinyChrome

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#2518570 7-Jul-2020 16:13

TIL that Android enterprise device admin has been deprecated and the recommended way is Work profiles.

Sounds like a more fine-grained enterprise solution, since it allows different management policy for the device (or none at all in the case of a BYO device) AND per profile (ditto for a 'personal' profile). Looks like Samsung puts its own spin on it, called Knox Workspaces.

Neat.

In other words, I'd review your work mobile usage policy.

BlinkyBill

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#2518631 7-Jul-2020 16:50

Blurtie:

1101:

"but due to company policy on keeping my personal number should I leave the company"

?
Your personal number belongs to you. The company cannot take it off you if you leave (is that what you were saying?)
Any company silly enough to let staff use personal ph numbers for company use deserves all it gets .

Unfortunately it is our company's policy. As a benefit, I get a mobile phone - with the option of transferring my personal number to the phone. As part of the policy, doing the transfer would mean my number is then owned by the company... Naturally I said no... I just assumed that it was standard?

Thanks for all your responses so far guys. Looks like a good reason to upgrade my personal phone! But happy to carry round 2 phones for the time being. Have also thought about turning on call forwarding as a work around.. I don't expect to receive many calls on my work phone to be honest..

the phone number is ‘owned’ by whoever is billed for the use of that number. If you transfer the number to your company so they pay for it, it becomes theirs and it’s no longer ‘personal’. No reasonable company would refuse you transferring the number back when you leave. There are plenty of asshat companies out there.

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Blurtie

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#2518919 8-Jul-2020 08:50

BlinkyBill:

the phone number is ‘owned’ by whoever is billed for the use of that number. If you transfer the number to your company so they pay for it, it becomes theirs and it’s no longer ‘personal’. No reasonable company would refuse you transferring the number back when you leave. There are plenty of asshat companies out there.

Yep, this is exactly how I see it as well, if I transferred my number over and they pay the bills then they would own it - which I completely understand. But I'd rather not roll the dice and hope they give my number back should I leave at any point in the future.. They made it quite clear in the mobile phone policy as well as highlighting it via emails from HR that they own it... So I'm just going with the easier option of getting a new number instead.

I've had a look at the policy and it says that personal use is allowed - apart from the obvious dodgy use exclusions i.e. bullying, porn etc. and paying for any excess use over and above the allocated amount - which shouldn't be an issue. So it looks like getting a new double sim mobile might be the go here.. But would still be interested in seeing how others manage - do you just happily rock two phones?

thewabbit

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#2518946 8-Jul-2020 08:59

I have a personal phone, that I pay the monthly bill. However each pay slip I get a 'contribution' to my phone bill which over the course of the year pays for ~70% of my total yearly phone bill.
My signature and business cards have that number on it. Works for me. Some people have company phones, but I refused that.

Tzoi

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#2519041 8-Jul-2020 10:30

I imagine the rules about the company keeping your personal number if you use it for work are for restraint of trade type of scenarios where you leave to work for a competitor (maybe on bad terms) but since you still have that number, former clients may continue to call you and the company is concerned that you will steal those clients?

mudguard

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#2519408 8-Jul-2020 15:58

thewabbit:

I have a personal phone, that I pay the monthly bill. However each pay slip I get a 'contribution' to my phone bill which over the course of the year pays for ~70% of my total yearly phone bill.
My signature and business cards have that number on it. Works for me. Some people have company phones, but I refused that.

I'm the opposite, I prefer having two phones. I've had my personal number for nearly twenty years, I don't want work customers having anything to do with it. It helps that all my personal stuff is Android and work is iOS. But then our work phones are completely locked down, nothing can be installed, email is in it's own container etc. We are told to not use our work phones for personal stuff. I do remember an awkward conference call where an employee was asking where all her music had gone off her work iPhone...

The best thing is I get to 5.30 and turn my work phone off and forget about it. Worst thing is carrying two phones in my pocket during the day. That said, the work phone is also the device I do my work on, we used to carry a massive Motorola PDA as well.

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