Using Employee-Owned Technology in the Workplace?

digitalvengeance asks: "As of Monday, my company is initiating a 'no cell phone' policy at all of our offices, including the IT department, where I work. I consider my cellular phone a necessity both in my personal and work lives. I have a number of servers and custom applications configured to notify me by text message, in the event of a problem. I am considering refusing to take work calls or text messages on my personal cell phone, and even quitting in protest of the new policy. How have other Slashdot readers dealt with policies regarding use of employee-owned technology at work? Any suggestions as to how I can get this policy overturned without looking like someone who wants to spend my working time on my cell rather than coding?"

Way to get em

[l810c]

my company is initiating a 'no cell phone' policy
I am considering refusing to take work calls or text messages on my personal cell phone

Reminds me of the old cartoons where they talked the other guy into saying what they want.
'no your not'
'yes I am'
'no your not'
'yes I am'
'yes your are'
'no I'm not'

and even quitting in protest of the new policy

Now That's a bit drastic. Surely if there is a business need, they would allow exceptions.
On second thought, just go ahead and quit. Stick your tongue out and say 'na-na-na-na-na-na' when you do.

Who do you work for?

[Realistic_Dragon]

So I can send an application. Cell phone free work place, bliss.

I'd just reconfigure your alerts to be transmitted by email and kick back and let the good times roll.

Quit over CELL PHONE POLICY?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just tell me where I should send my resume so I can replace you.

Sounds like a plan...

[Bald Wookie]

and even quitting in protest of the new policy

I hate the damn things, you go ahead and quit. On your way out could you put in a good word for me?

easy answer

[glen604]

Connect the servers to the company's paging system. A few weeks of hearing "THE SERVER IS DOWN!!" at 120 decibels ought to make them reconsider.

Re:Show them the money...

[pertinax18]

It seems cell phones cause people to become sort of useless on the job

Sounds kind of like reading /.

Re:Government and Hospitals

[Anonymous Coward]

the other with interference of pacemakers

It's a good thing those pacemakers are only used inside hospitals. Just imagine what would happen if they let those people walk around outside where the cell towers broadcast.

Oh yeah.

[Perianwyr Stormcrow]

Then you can set up some techno music too, and it'll be like homestar runner.

Refuse to wear pants

[ddelrio]

Pants are an employee-owned technology. They're your personal pants and not for business use. That'll fox 'em.

Re:Mr. Anderson, what good is a phone call...

[Anonymous Coward]

No cell phones is a retarded rule. I have 3 kids all under age 5. Plenty of emergencies arise--as you can imagine. Without cell phones, how would we be able to deal with them?

The same way your folks did when you were that age?

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[Anonymous Coward]

I couldn't agree more.

Like a fun little policy I have to partake in: no alcohol x hours before your shift starts. OK.

Go home. Drink beer. Receive call.
"Oh, the servers down? Can't help you. I've had alcohol." Click.

Job hunting?

[raider_red]

How the hell are you supposed to look for a new job if you can't use your cell-phone at work? Oh, you mean that was the point. Never mind.

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[Anonymous Coward]

man, I can see this backfiring...

PHB: So if notifications come to you when you are at your desk then what are you doing away from your desk?

PHB: you'll have to buy yourself a catheter and you are expected to bring your own lunch and eat at your desk from now on... I'm going off to type a memo about people remaining on duty at the desks at all times, no exceptions and still no cell phones.

Well first...

[tenasius]

Any suggestions as to how I can get this policy overturned without looking like someone who wants to spend my working time on my cell rather than coding?

Hmmm... That's a tough one. Have you considered not posting on Slashdot during work hours?

quit working at mcdonalds

[Anonymous Coward]

you don't need a text message from the frickin fry machine to tell you when its done.

get a real job. wendys!

Re:First step

[Kenja]

"So how do these IT heads know when a server goes down at 2:30 in the morning? They use The Force(tm)?"

I have a RF transmitter hooked up to my nuts. I've not had one server outage since the first one two years ago.

Re:Get a Nextel handset.

[Joe the Lesser]

Oh my yes, This is just a simple ordinary company rule.
'So we can use our cel..'
THIS IS NO SIMPLE ORDINARY RULE!

Re:No alcohol X hours before shift starts

[tomhudson]

I solved that one easy. Brought a case of 24 of Molson High Dry (6.2) to the office, and told everyone that I was getting pissed off at answering dumb questions that they could figure out themselves if they gave it 2 seconds thought, instead of wssting a half hour of my time arguing as to why something should work a certain way.

Every time someone asked me something stupid, I opened 2 beers - one for me and one for my Newfie.

Boss comes in, sees 8 empties lined up behind the monitor, and a drunk dog passed out on the floor snoring ...

End result - fewer stupid questions. Sometimes you've got to go completely against the grain to make a point.

Re:Steps 3-5

[asjo]

1.> Have a little frigging

back-bone, people. state the issue to your boss in an e-mail.

(Emphasis mine). Say whaat?

Re:First step

[Saeed al-Sahaf]

and a billion other ITheads out there survive without cell phone alerts

Really? You *know* this? Since 1996, I've never met one of these. But then, I don't work in some shit hole with a server attached to a DSL line either.

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[tomhudson]

Call your boss on his cell. Guaranteed he's still got it on him (or his boss does, or his boss' boss).

Go high enough, and you'll find the exception. Then point out to whoever's complaining that "Gee, I guess you didn't get an exception, like so-and-so has." You know, BOFH-style :-)

The moral of blanket decisions

[litewoheat]

This kind of reminds me of an asinine decision made at my first real job. The CIO decided that every computer in the organization would all be the same and contain the same exact software located in the same place. No extra software, no customization of anything. The thought being that an employee can be trained once and use any computer in the company. When they implemented it, IT went around an basically backed up and wiped every computer then installed all the accepted software. When I, any my co-workers came back in on Monday we were greeted with a PC that had nothing but Office and custom internal applications. We knew what was going on but just assumed it didn't include our department which did all the custom development for the company. Our compilers and other development tools were gone. They were not on the list and hence not allowed. The brianiacs at IT would not let us install anything on the PCs. That lasted about 3 days while the committes talked and finaly went to the CIO for a decision. Of course exceptions were made for us, the programmers and soon for other groups and soon it was totally reversed. So basically, the moral of the story is blanket directives like that and the no personal tech are lame brained and are indicitve of management that will soon drive the company into the ground.

Re:A little touchy, aren't we?

[general_re]

Have them pay for an alpha pager and move your alerts there.

Plus, if you frame the alerts in really arcane and scary-sounding language ("WARNING: CRITICAL SUBSYSTEM FAILURE! ERROR: 0xDEADBEEF"), you can use your pager to get yourself out of endlessly dull staff meetings. Your boss doesn't need to know that 0xDEADBEEF means that one of the network printers is out of paper ;)

Employee-Owned Technology

[lemsip]

In response to their decision to ban employee-owned technology in the workplace, I would recognise that my brain is employee owned, and therefore I should switch it off on entry to the building.

Re:Obey the establishment, you insensitive clod!

[jcoy42]

the quickest way to eliminate a policy or new set of particularly stupid regulations is to follow them to the letter.

Oh, I have a good story on this one.

Engineer at IBM was told to start wearing a tie. Again and again. Finally passed as policy. So he got a tie. Not outrageous or anthing, just a plain dark tie. Waited by the elevator for the policy maker to show up & got in the elevator with him.

Then, in the elevator, he blew his nose on it, and left it like that all day.

The policy was dropped, and he was told he didn't have to wear a tie anymore.

Re:How perceptive of you.

[MrRTFM]

executives do not pull powerpoint presentations out of their asses.

you sure about that?

Re:First step

[CmdrGravy]

"...so you don't generate resentment from coworkers who think you're above the rules..."

Are you mad ? What else is the point in working in IT ?

Re:First step

[femto]

If it's really required that this guy get 24 hour notification (as opposed to something he did as a gee-whiz application or to feel empowered), they'll cough up the money no problem.

You have a naive faith in the business process. Read more Dilbert [unitedmedia.com].

Re:First step

[MrBlue VT]

Not to be pedantic or anything, but shouldn't that be an RF receiver on your nuts? Unless you broadcast whenever you have sex...

Re:This is true.

[WCMI92]

" When my phone is near my computer speakers, my speakers "ring" before my phone does. Used to freak the girlfriend out when I'd pick up my cell phone before it rang."

When I'm in the car, I am usually listening to my Nomad MP3 player (plugged into the car stereo via an auxillary jack). The sound gets distorted just as the phone rings...

On the upside, I can crank Van Halen until the windows break and know the phone is ringing ;)

The downside is I know the phone is ringing ;)

Re:No alcohol X hours before shift starts

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, be honest. You just made that crap up.

Re:First step

[KarmaMB84]

Suggesting a Slashdotter ever has sex? You must be new here....

Re:Nobody knows

[Anonymous Coward]

Funny thing happened at my work. I worked for a small law firm and our (psycho bitch) boss didn't want us surfing the web when she wasn't around(usually taking long lunches to drink with her friends and charging it to the corporate card) so that if her boss walked in he wouldn't accuse her of leaving us with nothing to do. So she would turn off the DSL modem/router and leave it off until she was bored and wanted to browse the web. Well she left it off one day when she was 'sick' and the next day when she turned it on, it wouldn't work. Apparently, our old style uncoupled DSL (not like the newer ones where you can talk on the phone and use dsl on the same line) doesn't make much noise when the DSL modem is off. One of the idiots who wire the phones for our buliding listened to our DSL pair on some other floor, found it silent and stole it to set up a phone line for a new tenant. It took over a month of bullshit to get it fixed and the whole time her idiot boss blamed her because she was the one who insisted on turning it off all the time.

Re:First step

[MurphyZero]

Well if you found sex and marriage before you became a slashdotter, like myself, then you probably do have sex. I have found that having kids reduces your chances of sex probably as much as being a slashdotter.

Re:Nobody knows

[fm6]

You should,

• Hook up Miss Psycho Bitch with Mister Nobody's Using It. Obviously made for each other.
• Submit this story to Shark Tank [computerworld.com].

You're fussing about this?

[barfarf]

I am considering refusing to take work calls or text messages on my personal cell phone, and even quitting in protest of the new policy.

Cool! Can I have your job?

Re:First step

[HD Webdev]

Not to be pedantic or anything, but shouldn't that be an RF receiver on your nuts? Unless you broadcast whenever you have sex...

It does both, it's bi- It gives and receives.

Now we know more than we ever wanted to.