Advice on use of google voice vs porting vs carrying two phone

[brdnboy]

Hey everyone,

I am looking for some advice on an upcoming decision I have to make. I have an iPhone 4 which I bought retail price about 2 months ago. I am still under contract with AT&T but have less than a year left. I am on a family plan with some buddies and pay my share ($52) each month for unlimited everything (text, data, and enough minutes to call it unlimited, we never use em all). This has been great but the company I work for is mandating that I use a company owned and issued iPhone 4 that they will pay for. I have to now make a decision about what to do. The way I see it my options are as follows, but I am looking for some advice from anyone who has done something similar.

-keep my current phone and get the company phone too. Carrying two iPhones? Probably a hassle but provides flexibility. costs $52 a month still, cheap, but not free.

-port AT&T number to google voice (pay etf, sell iPhone, profit?). Then forward the number to my work phone. I text a lot and don't want to "change" my number with all my contacts to make it convenient. I want to continue using my number as if nothing happened (at least as much as possible). Any better solution than google voice as I know this won't be perfect?

-port number to company account, and use it on the company phone. Super convenient, but this means they own it and I can never get it back.

-something I am missing?

Thanks everyone.

 

[MacManTexas56]

I'd pay the ETF and port number to google voice, that's what I did a few months back. It works awesome. No need to carry 2 phones when u can just use with google voice. It costs $20 to port to gv but definitely worth it. Just run ur idea by peeps at ur work to make sure they are ok with it....

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Personally I would go with have 2 phones but that is just me. I would not want to have work to be link for my entire personal life.

 

[IrishVixen]

Personally I would go with have 2 phones but that is just me. I would not want to have work to be link for my entire personal life.

This this this--can't emphasize it enough. Your work-provided phone is legally theirs. They have the right to examine all data that goes through it, even when you're not "on duty"--and in most cases, they're under no legal requirement to tell you when they do. They can restrict what you put on it. They have the right to reclaim it at any time if their policies on paying for it change, you switch to an internal job that doesn't require a corporate phone, or when you leave (by your choice or not).

No way in hell would I give up my personal phone for a corporate one.

 

[MacManTexas56]

This this this--can't emphasize it enough. Your work-provided phone is legally theirs. They have the right to examine all data that goes through it, even when you're not "on duty"--and in most cases, they're under no legal requirement to tell you when they do. They can restrict what you put on it. They have the right to reclaim it at any time if their policies on paying for it change, you switch to an internal job that doesn't require a corporate phone, or when you leave (by your choice or not).

No way in hell would I give up my personal phone for a corporate one.

obviously his company isn't the standard corporate company or otherwise he wouldn't be able to do personal things on his phone. My bro in law has a work phone that the company pays for 100%. He CANNOT use it for personal reasons whatsoever. So he has to carry around a second phone with him and he thinks it's a complete pain in the butt.

If his company is gonna let him use it for his personal as well obviously they are pretty cool and not very strict. Just imagine yourself carrying around 2 iphones, what a pain in the arse that would be.

 

[crackerman327]

obviously his company isn't the standard corporate company or otherwise he wouldn't be able to do personal things on his phone. My bro in law has a work phone that the company pays for 100%. He CANNOT use it for personal reasons whatsoever. So he has to carry around a second phone with him and he thinks it's a complete pain in the butt.

If his company is gonna let him use it for his personal as well obviously they are pretty cool and not very strict. Just imagine yourself carrying around 2 iphones, what a pain in the arse that would be.

This can change. I moved into management at my company 4 years ago. We got smartphones as standard issue - HTC at the time, but moved to iphones a couple of years ago. Up until now, there were absolutley no restrictions. In February of 2011, the bean counters started perusing the phone bills and questioning everything. At the time everything was unlimited. Since then we have to watch the minutes and pay for unlimited texting if we want it. Right now we've managed to keep the unlimited data plans with ATT, but it's just a matter of time until all the contracts have to renew, etc. The CFO is sitting around going through phone bills for 20 people, so it's got thier attention. I fully expect to get an email one day laying down the law about iphone use.

For this reason, I now carry my Verizon phone with me. Never depend on the co to provide something personal. If they do, they can stop any time and leave you in a bind, plus they can play big brother at any time without warning.