My company is offering to let me use my personal number on the work phone they issue, or port my number to it. I have never done this before. Is it a good idea, or will I regret mixing the two? I mostly worry about losing my number if I ever leave the job.
Mobile Devices
A work phone that doubles as my personal phone
I did this at my last job and it was fine until I left. Getting my number back was a hassle. Took about three weeks and several calls to HR and the carrier. If you do it, read the fine print on who owns the number.
who actually owns the number matters more than the phone
I keep my personal number on a cheap prepaid SIM in an old phone. Work phone stays work phone. Not worth the risk to me. But I know people who ported and had no problem.
PineWhistle - that is basically what I do now. The prepaid SIM lives in a drawer most days, but it is mine. After the porting mess I am not going back.
Thanks. The policy here says the company owns the number if I port it in. That makes me nervous. I may just forward calls instead of porting.
Forwarding is a decent middle ground. You keep your number and just send calls to the work phone. Downside is texts might not forward depending on the setup.
Can you just use two eSIMs on the work phone? I have a work line and a personal line on the same device. Separate contacts, separate everything. No porting needed.
TinyOrbit that is what I would try first. Check if the phone supports dual eSIM and if your carrier does. Some employers also have mobile device management that can see or wipe the whole phone, so ask about that too.
MDM is the real issue. if they can wipe the device they can wipe your personal stuff too
I would not port. Just keep the numbers separate and forward if you need to. Less to untangle if you leave.