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No more company phone

BJMRamage

BJMRamage

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Oct 2, 2007
2,811
1,346
So, a bunch of us got word late last night that our company will no longer be supporting our cell phones.

They will take back the iPhone 5S's they just bought a few months back and we can have our number back.
We need to turn the phones back to them on Friday so it is a scramble to figure out what to do next.

I have an old ATT iPhone 4. I plan on using that until the next iPhone is released. Not sure if I should do the Pay-as-you-go plan for ATT, Virgin, etc. or if I can since it is an ATT Phone.

Virgin looks to be $35 /mo with unlimited SMS and Data but limited Phone Calls
ATT looks to be $60/mo for decent but not unlimited service. (cheaper prices for stupid 50M/month which is insanely low)
 
BJMRamage said:
So, a bunch of us got word late last night that our company will no longer be supporting our cell phones.

They will take back the iPhone 5S's they just bought a few months back and we can have our number back.
We need to turn the phones back to them on Friday so it is a scramble to figure out what to do next.

I have an old ATT iPhone 4. I plan on using that until the next iPhone is released. Not sure if I should do the Pay-as-you-go plan for ATT, Virgin, etc. or if I can since it is an ATT Phone.

Virgin looks to be $35 /mo with unlimited SMS and Data but limited Phone Calls
ATT looks to be $60/mo for decent but not unlimited service. (cheaper prices for stupid 50M/month which is insanely low)
Click to expand...

Check out Aio (owned and uses AT&T network) $35.00 a month with auto pay.

https://www.aiowireless.com/shop/plans.html
 
I've been using AIO for about a month now. No complaints what so ever. T-mobile pricing with AT&T coverage, best of both worlds.
 
never heard of AIO.

Looking at Straight Talk (I at least see their commercials) and trying to see the coverage area.
 
rablat said:
If you go the Aio route your iPhone 4 needs to be unlocked. The straight talk route it doesn't.
Click to expand...

I was told this as well. However, a few days before my AT&T plan closed, I decided to see what would happen if I insert my AIO sim into my AT&T locked 5s.

I was quite surprised to see it reboot and saw the AIO logo in place of AT&T. Everything worked, calls, data, text and mms, it all worked. I did have to reboot a couple times to get voice mail work.

So idk if we're fed bad info or the reps just say that so we try to bail on AT&T. Either way, my 5s has since been unlocked and no issue has come up about it since.
 
We stopped doing it years ago, now certain supervisors and command staff get a $50 monthly allowance to put towards their phone bill.
 
I dont understand how this works.
they buy a bunch of iphones...and they changed their minds...now what are they going to do with all these nicked up used iphones? sell them on craigslist?
 
madsci954 said:
I was told this as well. However, a few days before my AT&T plan closed, I decided to see what would happen if I insert my AIO sim into my AT&T locked 5s.

I was quite surprised to see it reboot and saw the AIO logo in place of AT&T. Everything worked, calls, data, text and mms, it all worked. I did have to reboot a couple times to get voice mail work.

So idk if we're fed bad info or the reps just say that so we try to bail on AT&T. Either way, my 5s has since been unlocked and no issue has come up about it since.
Click to expand...

That's good to know. It never really made sense since aio is owned by att
 
teknikal90 said:
I dont understand how this works.
they buy a bunch of iphones...and they changed their minds...now what are they going to do with all these nicked up used iphones? sell them on craigslist?
Click to expand...

Probably. The bean counters are likely looking at the monthly recurring cost of the plans and deciding it's not something they want to keep paying for, even if it means taking a hit on the hardware expense and probably the contract ETFs. Or they're probably thinking they can dump the iPhones on Gazelle's lap and use that cash to buyout the ETFs and be done with it.

Another possibility: some security incident might have spooked them on the liability of paying for employee phones. Or, someone tried to sell them some overpriced MDM solution and convinced them that they needed it for liability reasons... then they saw the price tag and decided it was better to stop paying altogether.
 
I'd like to say that heart bleeds for ya'll……

BJMRamage said:
So, a bunch of us got word late last night that our company will no longer be supporting our cell phones.

They will take back the iPhone 5S's they just bought a few months back and we can have our number back.
We need to turn the phones back to them on Friday so it is a scramble to figure out what to do next.

I have an old ATT iPhone 4. I plan on using that until the next iPhone is released. Not sure if I should do the Pay-as-you-go plan for ATT, Virgin, etc. or if I can since it is an ATT Phone.

Virgin looks to be $35 /mo with unlimited SMS and Data but limited Phone Calls
ATT looks to be $60/mo for decent but not unlimited service. (cheaper prices for stupid 50M/month which is insanely low)
Click to expand...

…. but having only ever had insecure jobs for a pittance without perks, all I can say is, stop whinging.
 
BJMRamage said:
So, a bunch of us got word late last night that our company will no longer be supporting our cell phones.

They will take back the iPhone 5S's they just bought a few months back and we can have our number back.
We need to turn the phones back to them on Friday so it is a scramble to figure out what to do next.

I have an old ATT iPhone 4. I plan on using that until the next iPhone is released. Not sure if I should do the Pay-as-you-go plan for ATT, Virgin, etc. or if I can since it is an ATT Phone.

Virgin looks to be $35 /mo with unlimited SMS and Data but limited Phone Calls
ATT looks to be $60/mo for decent but not unlimited service. (cheaper prices for stupid 50M/month which is insanely low)
Click to expand...

Check out ATT's Go Phone Plans. Bring your own phone; no contract plans.
 
huge cost reductions company-wide.

Travel is being halted...(unless you have an office)
Overheard a guy talking with his Admin about a flight. it HAS to be the lowest rate, they are sending reports to VPs about any travel. The guy checked and the lowest flight is either early morning or late at night. and only a $20 difference...BUT he will then need to stay in a hotel an extra night. so it goes against the cost savings — but the flight still needs to be the lowest.

Silly.


So, I looked into the two options listed above. they are about $40-50 per month.
My wife is on a cell plan and in contract. I talked with ATT and got her on a lesser plan for the same benefits (same data, unlimited other stuff) and added in my bring-your-own Phone and it will be cheaper than going either of the above. This does NOT affect her plan or contract in anyway. Granted the other plans are unlimited/throttled but we can make do. and bump it up some with little affect on the overall price. and this way I can Port my old huber back...if/when my company decides to do that. and if they do, I get a $100 statement credit.

Overall not too bad.

and to the one saying I am whining, I was merely trying to see my options. I do think it sucks and is a "nut punch" as they could have said at the end of the month or something rather than in 3 days time. and on a Holiday week that some are on vacation.

----------
Micky Do said:
…. but having only ever had insecure jobs for a pittance without perks, all I can say is, stop whinging.
Click to expand...

yes, thanks for the reply. I tried to do a search for the "stop whinging" cellular service and didn't find it. so that doesn't seem like a good option for getting me back to a cell phone.
 
To the OP. Get a new number and don't give it to work whatever option you go with. Otherwise you pay for the calls and they get the benefit of calling you 24-7. I should point out at my firm some have iPhones some don't have anything. Yet they expect you to use your phone to pick up calls, texts and emails when out of the office!
 
Apple fanboy said:
To the OP. Get a new number and don't give it to work whatever option you go with. Otherwise you pay for the calls and they get the benefit of calling you 24-7. I should point out at my firm some have iPhones some don't have anything. Yet they expect you to use your phone to pick up calls, texts and emails when out of the office!
Click to expand...

Thanks. My cube-mate was saying the same thing. nobody will have the number (except for between us).

The one reason I would keep my number is I would do freelance and had cards made out years back...not a huge loss as I can get some printed for $$, BUT then all my relatives have the old number. Thankfully I CANNOT get work email on the phone unless it is a work phone, somehow they have to put it in their system.

and my work emails can be large as I am a designer and attachments can he big.
 
I have two words for you:

Consumer Cellular

(OK, more than two words as I need to now rave how what a terrific phone company they are. Based out of Oregon they mostly advertise to the AARP crowd, but anyone can subscribe. They use AT&T towers exclusively, so no need to unlock any AT&T iPhone. Their plans start out super cheap and having been with AT&T since the Cingular days can say I didn't miss a beat when I switched over to Consumer Cellular early last summer.)
 
BJMRamage said:
huge cost reductions company-wide.



Travel is being halted...(unless you have an office)

Overheard a guy talking with his Admin about a flight. it HAS to be the lowest rate, they are sending reports to VPs about any travel. The guy checked and the lowest flight is either early morning or late at night. and only a $20 difference...BUT he will then need to stay in a hotel an extra night. so it goes against the cost savings — but the flight still needs to be the lowest.



Silly.





So, I looked into the two options listed above. they are about $40-50 per month.

My wife is on a cell plan and in contract. I talked with ATT and got her on a lesser plan for the same benefits (same data, unlimited other stuff) and added in my bring-your-own Phone and it will be cheaper than going either of the above. This does NOT affect her plan or contract in anyway. Granted the other plans are unlimited/throttled but we can make do. and bump it up some with little affect on the overall price. and this way I can Port my old huber back...if/when my company decides to do that. and if they do, I get a $100 statement credit.



Overall not too bad.
Click to expand...

If you add a line to the account with a new number and they are on the same company you will not be able to replace it with your old number. It's only possible when you do a port (which is from a different company). You would be doing a Transfer of Billing Responsibility (tobr). While it would come from the company and have no contract but you would not be able to replace that extra number or receive the $100 bill credit.
 
Apple fanboy said:
To the OP. Get a new number and don't give it to work whatever option you go with. Otherwise you pay for the calls and they get the benefit of calling you 24-7.
Click to expand...

Consider porting your cell # to Google Voice, then getting a new cell #. You can then choose at what times of day Google Voice will route incoming calls to your cellphone.

I did this when I was working from home during one period; didn't give out my cell or home phone, company had only my GV number. I routed it to the house phone during working hours and it went straight to voicemail outside working hours.
 
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