Wolfsblood March 23, 2014 Share Wolfsblood Member March 23, 2014 Ok, so we have an issue with an employee at my work who we believe is using her cell phone way too often, and we want to monitor cell phone traffic in a specific area. Has anyone used, or does anyone know of a reliable piece of technology that will note cell usage, wi-fi, and 3g-4g data? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaRvIn March 23, 2014 Share MaRvIn Member March 23, 2014 What carrier do you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfsblood March 23, 2014 Author Share Wolfsblood Member March 23, 2014 I use verizon, but we don't know her carrier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakgyrl510 March 23, 2014 Share oakgyrl510 Member March 23, 2014 do u mean shes using her personal phone too much at work? just tell her to staph. i dont think it matters if u have the data to back it up. pinpointing it to a specific device of someone's is prob not possible and maybe not legal.if you mean just monitoring the company's network traffic, thats definitely possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaRvIn March 23, 2014 Share MaRvIn Member March 23, 2014 Yeah, unless you have a business plan with her on it you can't track anything on her phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfsblood March 24, 2014 Author Share Wolfsblood Member March 24, 2014 we don't need to track what she's doing. we just want to be able to know if she's using it while she's in the restroom 6-7 times a day for 10-15 minutes at a crack. We don't care *what* she doing on it, but telling her to stop doesn't work. We believe it is taking time from her work, and want to know when she's using it. If she eaves her desk, and then the activity light kicks on, we know. We suspect, but can't prove anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaRvIn March 24, 2014 Share MaRvIn Member March 24, 2014 I think the fact that she is going to the bathroom 6-7 times a day is proof enough. Unless she has bladder problems there is no reason to be going that much in one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfsblood March 24, 2014 Author Share Wolfsblood Member March 24, 2014 I would tend to agree, which is why we want to have concrete proof because she could always challenge any discipline with "medical" problems if we can't prove that she is using her phone extensively. I don't even know if it's possible to do what we want to do. I'm just trying to find info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaRvIn March 24, 2014 Share MaRvIn Member March 24, 2014 To my knowledge there is nothing out there to let you track the usage of the phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crasx March 24, 2014 Share crasx GC Alumni March 24, 2014 put a signal blocker in the restroom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VooDooPC March 24, 2014 Share VooDooPC Member March 24, 2014 I've thought about your problem and I think I have a solution. Two words: Taco Bell No one will want to go into that bathroom for a few days after that bowel bomb lets loose. Fire in the hole! ....or on the walls.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakgyrl510 March 24, 2014 Share oakgyrl510 Member March 24, 2014 I think the fact that she is going to the bathroom 6-7 times a day is proof enough. Unless she has bladder problems there is no reason to be going that much in one day. or pms or preggo. she may go a lot for those reasons too lol but yea. best bet would be to tell her that her job is on the line if she doesnt stop these things or provide a good reason as to why these things are happening. A cut in work like that on a daily basis is not ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfsblood March 24, 2014 Author Share Wolfsblood Member March 24, 2014 we've thought about cell phone signal blockers too, but we have a relatively small building, and are concerned about the boss losing cell service as well, and many customers contact him through his cell. I'll look into those solutions too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage March 24, 2014 Share ZeroDamage Member March 24, 2014 This isn't a technical issue but rather an HR / Management problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingCat March 24, 2014 Share walkingCat Member March 24, 2014 Few questions: -Why does this concerns you and your coworkers? -What's your boss reaction to this? Why will he not talk to her directly? -Do you have any legal agreement that limits personal phone calls? -Are you unionized? As it was mentioned above, 15 minutes per 6-7 times a day it's a lot off time. This along can be a reason to fire a person. If this a medical condition then she must bring a proof of it. And yes, blocking devise can be useful and range can be limited. I bet if you call a company that installs such tech, they will be happy to explain. It's not cheap, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stutters March 24, 2014 Share stutters GC Alumni March 24, 2014 You're treading a really thin HR line. If you have concerns about her performance at work, I'd address that entirely independent of the assumed cell phone usage. That said, if you have a written network policy at work, chances are you have the right to monitor all traffic on your network. This will only work for her on wifi, but chances are she's using that instead of wasting battery and data usage on a 3g/4g connection. You'd need to find her MAC address to have complete certainty. You could get that with some effort, but I really don't think the effort is worth it. If you have concerns with an employee's productivity, address that. Don't make allegations. It's a bad look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky March 24, 2014 Share Sky Member March 24, 2014 (edited) Like stutters mentioned, she's likely using wifi. Cell signal can be finicky inside of some buildings, too. You could require users to log in with a specific username and password and track it over the network that way. Or, you could simply block all unregistered MAC addresses from using the wifi. Computers on ethernet wouldn't be affected, and you can always add exceptions for people like your boss, so their phones wireless can access the network. This would, at the least, force people to use their cell phones data. I imagine the signal inside the bathroom isn't amazing. You can also block cell signals from within the bathroom - and there are devices with that kind of range, so you can block it only in the bathroom. If you terminate them, remember... "Your services are no longer necessary." Edited March 24, 2014 by Sky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stutters March 24, 2014 Share stutters GC Alumni March 24, 2014 I imagine the signal inside the bathroom isn't amazing. I get an incredibly strong LTE signal in all of our restrooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfsblood March 25, 2014 Author Share Wolfsblood Member March 25, 2014 Few questions: -Why does this concerns you and your coworkers? -What's your boss reaction to this? Why will he not talk to her directly? -Do you have any legal agreement that limits personal phone calls? -Are you unionized? As it was mentioned above, 15 minutes per 6-7 times a day it's a lot off time. This along can be a reason to fire a person. If this a medical condition then she must bring a proof of it. And yes, blocking devise can be useful and range can be limited. I bet if you call a company that installs such tech, they will be happy to explain. It's not cheap, though. Why does this concern me? Mainly because I'm in a supervisory position, and the owner asked me to look into ways to monitor that she is in fact using her phone while taking 15 minute bathroom breaks several times during a 7 hours workday. yes it does effect her productivity. No we don't care what she is doing on her phone. What she does on her phone is her business. How much she uses it while on company time, is our business. We can write her up for it, sure, but without proof she could fight any discipline. The excessive bathroom breaks began after she was told not to use her phone as much while at her desk when she was supposed to be working. We do have a written policy regarding excessive cell phone usage while at work, but apart from having someone in there with her to make sure she isn't using her phone, What we are looking for is a device that will "ping" when activity is detected near the bathrooms. Honestly I think that even if we were to install something to block her signal, I doubt it would stop her. She would seem to me to be more likely to do it more just assuming that something was temporarily interrupting her phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakgyrl510 March 25, 2014 Share oakgyrl510 Member March 25, 2014 (edited) if you are observing her do these things on the regular(which i assume is the case since you said she is in FACT doing so), thats enough evidence. you do not need video or data proof that shes using her phone so much. but since u said she's using it more after being told, she's doing it to spite you guys. be straight with her and tell her if she doesnt stop, she will be fired. if you guys really need so called "evidence" of fear that she will sue or something dumb, go install cameras or something in the work space. it will show when she is and is not working and for all the times shes missing from her desk for whatever reason. Edited March 25, 2014 by oakgyrl510 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.