Best mobile phone tactic

[meandmygirl]

Probably a silly question but when I put the US sim in my phone what happens to calls/messages etc to my australian mobile number?

Does it go straight to message bank?

 

[Sugarglider]

Probably a silly question but when I put the US sim in my phone what happens to calls/messages etc to my australian mobile number?

Does it go straight to message bank?

That's what mine does - and then i pick them up when I get home and change the sim card over.
you are just making me think that if you want family / friends to be able to contact you in an emergency you'd better make arrangements with them/give them the US number

 

[Andona]

My understanding is that the texts will wait on your home Telco's system until you re-insert that sim into your phone again. It's like when you turn your phone off for a while, when you turn it back on you get any messages then.

Calls will probably go to voicemail as you are "unavailable" however, you can arrange to have calls forwarded to your American sim if you want, (just check with your Telco for that) but I don't think it's possible to forward texts??? ( Might depend on your Telco?)

Forwarding the calls to your American sim would be a bit pricey as you will pay the costs for the international part of the call ( not the person who is calling you) so if you do set that up you could tell family and friends your OS number and ask them to call/text the American number if they need to get in touch ( then they'll pay for the international call )

If you have Skype there's a rather neat trick that allows you to set up call forwarding from your Aussie number to your US number via Skype that is worth doing if you expect to receive a lot of calls on your home number while you are away. Info here.. http://www.ausbt.com.au/how-to-divert-your-mobile-through-skype-to-avoid-global-roaming-fees

I'm still tossing up about doing the Skype diversion, I'm thinking I'll just give my American number to family/friends back home and will just let any other calls go to Voicemail. I'll change the Voicemail message to include my USA number so that if anyone is desperate to reach me they can call me on the American number.

Andona

 

[meandmygirl]

you are just making me think that if you want family / friends to be able to contact you in an emergency you'd better make arrangements with them/give them the US number

Absolutely.

I'll change the Voicemail message to include my USA number so that if anyone is desperate to reach me they can call me on the American number.

Great idea!

Thanks for your help.

 

[battymum]

I am traveling to Japan and it is impossible to get local sim cards there with text/voice but you can get data cards and keep in touch using Skype. Anyway I was trying to set my family up on skype when the kids told me to use "viber" - it seems so much easier than Skype, you just download the app and it uses your current number as your username and it imports anyone on your contacts that also uses viber - seems to easy for free calls as long as you have an Internet connection!

 

[Andona]

I am traveling to Japan and it is impossible to get local sim cards there with text/voice but you can get data cards and keep in touch using Skype. Anyway I was trying to set my family up on skype when the kids told me to use "viber" - it seems so much easier than Skype, you just download the app and it uses your current number as your username and it imports anyone on your contacts that also uses viber - seems to easy for free calls as long as you have an Internet connection!

I agree, Viber is brilliant and it's great that it works off the contacts in your phone - no need to find people and be confirmed etc as you have to be with Skype


BUT the thing that keeps me with Skype is that ( for a tiny fee) I can call anyone , not just people who have signed up to Skype ( or Viber)

I've used Skype to make my calls to the Disney reservations people - very handy when you're sitting on a queue

Andona

 

[battymum]

Yes I think I will get some Skype credit for calling the parents - but for keeping in touch with each other it seems great!

 

[meandmygirl]

I know, I know, enough of the silly questions but ....

for people to ring me in the USA, is this what they will dial - 0011 1 949-xxx-xxxx?

 

[Minniemum]

for people to ring me in the USA, is this what they will dial - 0011 1 949-xxx-xxxx?

You've got it!

 

[Andona]

I know, I know, enough of the silly questions but ....

for people to ring me in the USA, is this what they will dial - 0011 1 949-xxx-xxxx?

You've got it!

or if they're calling from their mobile they can enter +1949xxxxxxx

Andona

 

[meandmygirl]

Thank you Andona.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Well I think you peeps have given me lots of great options for the US and once Andona gets back and updates me on how her different sims went I shall make a decision.

Now on to Canada. Has anyone been and what have you done in terms of mobile phone coverage? We are there for 7 days so I need something, just not sure what. I'm not fussed about internet as much as mobile phone.

 

[Rebekkap]

I also really want phone access while I'm away, I can't believe that really there is only two choices, but when in Australia you can buy a sim and from the supermarket and make a choice of so many different options.
I use my apps for a lot of things so really want the data as well.

There are heaps more options that two - but only those two that I know of where you can buy them before you go. If you want to go to a phone shop or somewhere else where you can buy a sim once you get there, there are plenty of other companies.

 

[BemaniAK]

I always say skype-to-skype for overseas and just a cheap nokia and a prepaid sim from Wal Mart or something.

 

[xxpinksaltxx]

We will be using viber too. There are a few places i won't have free wifi access but we will just send the odd text then.

This is probably a bit stupid but is it possible (on an iPhone) to turn off the call function but still receive texts? I get so many spam calls from telecos and honestly don't want to have those extra costs on my bill from them calling me.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

After much going backwards and forwards I think we have finally decided to buy 2 - sim cards from www.travelsim.net.au. We can buy sims that are iphone compatible and then just purchase credit. You can use it in over 190 countries, I've checked that it hits the countries we will be visiting in the next 2 years and it does.

I can't remember the exact rates for each country but they didn't seem unreasonable. Data is available also.

Another bonus is we will know that the phones are working correctly prior to leaving Australia.

The only hit is that if the sim isn't used within a 6 month period you lose your credit so will need to make sure to leave myself a note in my diary when I know we won't be using it for 6 months so I can pop it back in the phone and send a text or make a call quickly.

I think for the purposes we want to use the phones for - purely being able to contact each other when separated to arrange to meet back up, and to leave with family for emergencies, this will work well.

Well I hope so anyway hahaha

 

[coco392]

After much going backwards and forwards I think we have finally decided to buy 2 - sim cards from www.travelsim.net.au. We can buy sims that are iphone compatible and then just purchase credit. You can use it in over 190 countries, I've checked that it hits the countries we will be visiting in the next 2 years and it does.

I can't remember the exact rates for each country but they didn't seem unreasonable. Data is available also.

Another bonus is we will know that the phones are working correctly prior to leaving Australia.

The only hit is that if the sim isn't used within a 6 month period you lose your credit so will need to make sure to leave myself a note in my diary when I know we won't be using it for 6 months so I can pop it back in the phone and send a text or make a call quickly.

I think for the purposes we want to use the phones for - purely being able to contact each other when separated to arrange to meet back up, and to leave with family for emergencies, this will work well.

Well I hope so anyway hahaha

make sure you check that your I phone is unlocked if you are on contract. you normally can't put in another companies sim if you bought your phone that way. I think you can pay about $50 to have it unlocked

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Our phones are locked at the moment however we are going to go and see Optus on the weekend and see if we can get the phones unlocked. Hopefully it won't be too much of a painful process.

Has anyone been to Optus and asked to have phones unlocked? Was it simple?

 

[Aust]

Since I started this thread it's probably time for an update on what we actually did - we bought 2 Travel Sim's for communicating with each other in the parks, and put my (non-data-downloading basic prepaid) mobile on international roaming.

We put $30 credit each on the Travel Sim's and came back with about $27 left on each - they were easy enough to set up and use, a bit fiddly because you'd dial the number then wait for it to ring then answer before it connected, but not bad. They were fine for quick phonecalls and sms's between ourselves in the park, also my husband called his mum a few times at home.

I think I only used my mobile 2 or 3 times for sms's so no dramas there. Next time I'd probably just take the 2 TravelSim phones and not bother with the 3rd.

Other than that we used the laptop in the hotel for facebook and Skype (free wifi), and my husband could post photos etc from his phone at the hotel (even from the pool area). So all worked out well.

 

[Aust]

My husband had his phone unlocked by Optus, it wasn't a problem.